Commencement Address Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa Richard Pimentel Richard Pimentel is a storyteller whose tales have helped change a country’s attitude toward the disabled. Mr. Pimentel gives personal accounts of injustice in his motivational speeches and professional training programs for employers. His stories inspire people to let go of their stereotypes and embrace diversity. He was a major player in formulating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Emancipation Proclamation for the disabled community. When the act was signed into law in 1990, the chair of the U.S Equal Opportunity Commission publicly thanked Mr. Pimentel for educating employers on disability issues. Mr. Pimentel’s nationally renowned expertise on hiring and working with people with disabilities started when he was a student at Portland State in the 1970s, but this came after a failed first attempt to attend PSU. Following graduation from Jefferson High School as a speech champion, Richard enrolled at PSU with the intention of studying under the late Ben Padrow, professor of speech communication. He thought he was a shoe-in for the professor’s program. Instead, Prof. Padrow told him to come back when he had “something to say.” Following Prof. Padrow’s advice, Richard quit school and went off to fight in Vietnam where, within months, a mortar attack left him almost completely deaf. He returned to Portland State in 1970, and this time with Prof. Padrow’s backing, secured a rehab grant from the Veterans Administration to pay his full tuition, room, and board. Richard figured he was on his way to a lucrative career in the corporate world when he met PSU student Art Honeyman, whom he describes as “the smartest and funniest man I have ever known.” Art, who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from PSU, has severe cerebral palsy. He is hard to understand, but as fate would have it. Art’s voice was a perfect match to Richard’s limited hearing. The two became good friends and formed an even deeper bond over an unjust experience they shared. Late one night at a Portland restaurant, the waitress refused to serve them and threatened to call the police because she deemed Art the “ugliest, most disgusting thing” she had ever seen. 8
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