Campus Activities
CAMPUS VISITS CANCELED DURING COVID-19
Our campus is temporarily closed to visitors during Oregon’s stay-at-home order to slow the spread of COVID-19. We look forward to seeing you on campus when we reopen. All our tours, campus visits, orientations and events are canceled until further notice. Most of our buildings are also closed. We are happy to know you are interested in visiting Portland State. For now, please enjoy a virtual tour and email us at campusvisits@pdx.edu if you have any questions.
Virtual Information Sessions: We are now offering group virtual information sessions for prospective undergraduate and graduate students. Sign up using the Campus Tour calendar.
What’s happening at PSU
Portland State University invites you to experience our campus in downtown Portland, Oregon all year round. There’s always something going on at PSU, from concerts and plays to basketball games and art shows. We are home to Portland’s largest farmers market and the city’s newest art museum. Welcome!
Our campus
We are Oregon’s urban public research university, where 26,000 students power our city with new ideas in action. Our 50-acre downtown campus is a hub for people and events that inspire our community to think bigger and bolder, in Portland and beyond. The best way to discover our campus is with an open mind.
Our City
Portland is our home and our inspiration. We are a short walk or streetcar ride away from museums, concert halls, and the world’s largest independent bookstore. Take the aerial tram to OHSU for a panoramic view of the city, go for a hike in Forest Park, or rent an orange Biketown bike to tour the city. And that’s only the start.
POPULAR DESTINATIONS
PSU’s College of the Arts hosts hundreds of opera, theater, choir, dance and music performances each year in Lincoln Performance Hall, our premier 475-seat theater. It was fully renovated in 2013 and is the busiest fine arts venue in Portland. Historic Lincoln Hall, built in 1911, also houses a studio theater and recital hall.
The Viking Pavilion is a hub for PSU athletics in the South Park Blocks. A full renovation in 2018 gave it a new entrance, glass windows and more space for academics, athletics, the arts and community events. You can cheer for the basketball and volleyball teams in the 3,000-seat arena or host your event in a modern, flexible space.
Every Saturday year round, PSU hosts the Portland Farmers Market in the tree-lined South Park Blocks. More than 100 local venders fill the blocks with farm-fresh produce, baked goods and prepared food. Live entertainment, cooking demonstrations and kids activities make it a fun place to hang out while you shop and eat.
Smith student union is the living room of our urban campus. It has inviting places to eat, shop, study, meet and find support services. Our 7,000-square-foot ballroom with a balcony overlooking the South Park Blocks hosts popular events like our annual MLK Tribute speaker. There’s even a bowling alley and game room in the basement.
The Walk of the Heroines honors women who have made a difference in our lives. This educational park features stories, gardens, artistic paving, sculptures, a fountain, a stage, naming walls and engraved quotations by extraordinary women. You’ll discover spaces for quiet contemplation and public celebration.
Explore ideas through the lens of art in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU. This new museum in the newly renovated Fariborz Maseeh Hall has 7,500 square feet of gallery space featuring Northwest artists, faculty and students, as well as national and international artists. It is free, accessible and open to the public.
The PSU Library is open to the public and welcomes the community in the South Park Blocks. Visitors are welcome to use books, research kiosks, and most electronic books and journals in the library. We participate in the Oregon Library Passport Program, which allows Oregon library-card holders to borrow up to five books at a time.
This community gathering space empowers Native American/Alaskan Native/Pacific Islander students and celebrates their success with culturally relevant events and support. The building, shaped like a salmon, has a roof-top garden featuring tribal medicinal and ceremonial plants and a significant Native American art collection.
The historic Simon Benson House is home to the PSU Alumni Association on the South Park Blocks. Simon Benson, a logger and philanthropist, built the Queen Anne style house just after 1900. The house features rich detail and decoration, and each room is paneled in a different kind of wood. It welcomes visitors during weekdays.
Portland State of Mind
For 10 days in October, PSU rolls out the welcome mat for Portland State of Mind, an annual festival of knowledge and culture. We invite you to campus for a celebration highlighting the close relationship between PSU and the city. Events include films, inspiring talks, concerts and a homecoming football game.
MLK Tribute
PSU honors the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. every January with a week of community events and a speaker on campus. We partner with other Portland colleges to observe the MLK Day of National Service, a day of workshops, discussions and engagement with black-led nonprofits and community groups.
