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Portland State University activists, many dressed in black, protested Thursday at a Board of Trustees meeting, taking board members' seats after Chairman Pete Nickerson decided to reconstitute the meeting elsewhere by teleconference. During the four-hour occupation, Portland State continued to broadcast the meeting into the room through speakers to comply with Oregon's open-meetings law, as demonstrators spoke over the soundtrack.

(Richard Read/The Oregonian/OregonLive)

Portland State University students protesting the school's stance on racial issues shouted down trustees Thursday, prompting them to reconvene by phone as demonstrators occupied their meeting room.

Some of the approximately 50 activists welcomed a statement Wednesday by Portland State President Wim Wiewel that the university would create new campus gathering places and staff support for Asian and Pacific Islander students and for African Americans.

But protesters said Wiewel had met only one of their five demands, which ranged from disarming school security officers to cutting tuition by lowering administrators' pay. They also accused him of failing to vigorously oppose and hold discussions on apparent attempts to organize a "white student union" on campus.

"The president does not respect people of color on this campus," said Olivia Pace, a student of color who is one of the organizers of the PSU Student Union, the activist group that held the protest. "He is publicly disrespecting and demeaning, and breeding an environment that can cause violence toward us."

Pete Nickerson, Portland State University Board of Trustees chairman, reflects on the board's encounter Thursday with PSU Student Union protesters. Nickerson, Chinus Asset Management co-founder and principal, said he decided to relocate the quarterly meeting "because we couldn't conduct the business that we had before us."

The four-hour occupation struck themes similar to those at the heart of protests on other campuses locally and nationally, but also included long-running issues particular to Portland State.

Charges of racism dominated statements made by demonstrators during and after trustees left the downtown meeting room, as have accusations at Lewis & Clark College. A small group of students at the private school in Southwest Portland, where a black student and a transgender student were hurt in separate Nov. 21 attacks, continued occupying part of the administration building for a 17th day Thursday.

At Portland State, the Student Union demands that the school break ties with Aramark Corp., a Philadelphia-based corporation that provides university food services. The student organization, which is separate from student government, also wants a $15-an-hour minimum wage for campus workers.

Student Union members object to a recently established PSU White Student Union Facebook page, which has garnered more than 230 "likes." Wiewel sent students an email Nov. 30 saying there was no such group on campus, an assertion that some activists dispute.

"A hate group from outside the state created a Portland State University 'white student union' page on Facebook with racist and inflammatory comments that were offensive and violate all of our shared values," Wiewel wrote in the message.

School officials said they were unable to get Facebook to remove the page, but they did get the company to delete Portland State's logo as a trademark violation.

Pete Nickerson, chairman of the Portland State Board of Trustees, said after Thursday's meeting that he was disappointed to have to relocate the session, which was to have included a presentation by the school's chief diversity officer on some of the issues that concerned protesters.

-- Richard Read

503-294-5135, rread@oregonian.com

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