4 PAST TENSE The Vanguard: then and now n 1946 Vanport Extension Center (popularly known as Vanport College) emerged in Vanport City, OR. The college was located in North Portland’s dilapidated housing project, rehabilitated a bit to educate servicemen and women returning from World War II. Don Carlo, a military veteran blinded in World War II, enrolled in the first class of students and worked from his home to create and become editor of the college’s first newspaper, Vet’s Extended. Fellow student W.T. “Bill” Lemman, who also assisted in creating Vet’s Extended, later became Portland State’s Business Manager and eventually was appointed Chancellor of the Oregon System of Higher Education. In recognition of the student body’s expanding representation beyond veterans, Vet’s Extended was renamed the Vanguard, and its first issue under the new banner was published Jan. 14, 1947. The Vanguard’s initial editorial, “The Spirit of a Student Body,” demonstrated the newspaper’s role in its founding years to communicate the hopes of the students for an institution of higher education to meet their needs: “We, as students, are helping to start a new idea for colleges. For it is true that there was no school here before . . . . we have within us the insatiable search for knowledge that was born while waiting for the end of the war. Many of us waited years so that we might have an opportunity to attend such a school.” The Vanguard flourished and followed the college’s move to Portland in 1952, its elevation to Portland State College in 1955 and to university status in 1969. The Vanguard of today continues to be student run, employing about 60 paid student writers, photographers, graphic designers, and editors. The newspaper and its staff have won several collegiate journalism awards, including the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association General Excellence Award and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award. PSU’s Vanguard continues to be a dynamic and relevant student newspaper as it strives to provide comprehensive coverage reflecting the institution’s growth, urban mission, and service to nearly 30, 000 students. --Steve Brannan The second issue of Vanport College’s student newspaper Vet’s Extended, with WW II veteran Don Carlo as editor, was published Friday, Nov. 22, 1946. Sixty-five years after publication of its first issue, the Vanguard continues to provide comprehensive coverage of University and community activities. Vol. 66, No. 7 pictured directly above was published Aug. 9, 2011. (References: The College That Would Not Die; Portland State: A History in Pictures; Creating Portland State: 19461955; and www.psuvanguard.org) PAST TENSE features glimpses into Portland State’s history. To submit a story (or an idea for one), email the RAPS History Preservation Committee at raps@pdx.edu. I
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