PSU Magazine Fall 2000

• olitics, economics, even nature stood in the way of the establishment of Portland State University. Support– ers fought each step of the way to take the institution from temporary exten– sion center to college to university sta– tus. Today PSU is the second largest university in the state, granting more advanced degrees than any of its sister institutions. Portland State has a unique story to tell, and Gordon Dodds reveals it in The College That Woul.d Not Die: The First Fifty Years of Portland State Uni– versity, 1946-1996. Dodds, emeritus professor of history, is well-suited to the task. A faculty member since 1966, he served as University historian and has written seven books on Pacific Northwest history. Drawing from years of research, Dodds introduces the peo– ple and events that not only played roles in PSU's first 50 years but served to develop the character of the college that would not die. The University can trace its root I to a campus in the dilapidated remains of Vanport, a World War 11 hou ing project. Nurtured by its founder, Stephen Epler, and with crucial sup– port from the federal government, the education center for returning veter– ans flourished. Unfortunately, two years into its existence a swollen Columbia River breached the dikes surrounding Vanport and destroyed the city and the center. During the next four years the in titution moved three times, all the while fighting for its very existence. In 1955, Portland State realized a major victory when it achieved college status. hroughout The College That Woul.d Not Die, Dodds uncovers the obvious and concerted attempts against e tab– lishing a major university in Portland. Naysayers included the state's other major universities, often with rein– forcement from the chancellor and state board and others who would do The sbbrt but ultuous history of PSU is tol Gordon Dodds' new the older schools' bidding. Besieged on many fronts by those who feared com– petition for students and resources (and by their charge of "duplication of effort"), Portland State overcame hur– dle after hurdle in its quest to serve the higher education needs of the Portland metropolitan area. entral to the formation-and, indeed, survival--0f Portland State is Epler, a man who until now has gone largely unrecognized for his role in establishing the institution that became PSU. Epler's contributions, sacrifices, and behind-the-scenes political maneu– verings on its behalf are revealed, as is his later snub by the very officials who cou ld have rewarded his efforts. While emphasizing the format ive period up until 1969, when Portland State finally gained university status, Dodds also introduces many of the individuals and ep isodes that were part of the institution's first 50 years. From Portland State's first female administrator (librarian Jean Black), beloved professor George Hoffmann, and student act ivist Joe Uris to the upheaval of the 1970 Park Blocks "riot" and the at times adversarial relationship between the administra- Meet Professor Gordon Dodds at a book signing on campus Thursday, Oct. 26, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Vanport Room (338 Smith Memorial Center). Books will be available for purchase. Cost is $40 and all proceeds go to scholarships. tion and the student newspaper, Dodds provides a revealing look at the people and events that not on ly made PSU a monument to survival but a model for what a modern university can be-an integral part of its community, where the healthy exchange of ideas feeds the ever-expanding horizon of higher education. Published in collaboration with Oregon Historical Society Press, The College That Woul.d Not Die is 544 pages and contains more than 60 black and white illustrations. Cost is $40 and all proceeds go to scholarsh ips. To order a copy, call 503-725-8250. (This article was written by the book's editor and designer, Lori Root.) FALL 2000 PSU MAGAZINE 7