Portland State Magazine Fall 2018

29 community outreach work. She was par ticularly interested in connecting PSU with members of the African American community, to which I had strong connections given my work with the NAACP and Urban League. In those days the work of diversity, equity and inclusion was just in its infancy.There was no formal office to house the work like there is today. I built relationships with organizations across Por tland and made sure those communities were connected with educational oppor tunities on campus. What is the most rewarding part of your community outreach work today? I’d have to say that it’s the regular tours of the Por tland State campus that I lead for young people.These tours came about rather by accident. It was the early 2000s, and by then PSU had established an official office of diversity separate from the president’s office.The chief diversity officer at the time, Jilma Meneses, got a call from a kindergar ten teacher in Beaver ton. She was interested in arranging a tour of the University so that her students could get exposed to and star t thinking about college. She had called around to the other campuses in the area and none of the others were willing to do a tour for kindergar teners.Would PSU be interested? I jumped at the chance. I worked with faculty in disciplines we thought would interest young kids the most.We developed a series of quick, 10-minute learning vignettes of academic projects, from exploring meteors with a geology professor to learning about how the PSU library cares for the over one million volumes in its collection. It became a hugely successful program that has over the years touched nearly 2,000 young people. It’s critically impor tant that these students feel like they have a place here and see themselves fitting into our learning community. Leading these tours and introducing these young people to PSU is the most rewarding par t of the work for me.You can just see the lights go on in their heads when they get inspired by a par ticular professor. What does it mean to you to receive the Urban Pioneer Award for Public Service from CUPA? It was the biggest surprise of my life. One of the greatest honors you can receive is to get recognition by your peers.To receive this award from the people at the place where I’ve spent the majority of my adult life is truly an honor and a privilege. I never thought of myself as a pioneer. But as I reflect now I realize that the pioneer spirit was always par t of my life, although I never thought of it that way at the time. I was the first black scout in my Boy Scout troop. One of two black students in my class at Irvington School.The first in my family to get a college degree. I always knew that I was representing not just myself but the many other sets of shoulders that I stood on. I’ve spent a lifetime studying and working at PSU. I consider myself very lucky for the things people have allowed me to do here and the ways in which they have suppor ted me throughout my journey.  Kurt Bedell is a staff member in the PSU Office of University Communications. Ed Washington received the Nohad A. Toulan Urban Pioneer Award for Public Service during the June graduation ceremony of the PSU College of Urban and Public Affairs. Photo by Nina Johnson