PSU Memories: Crosswalk, Campus, and Community Richard Feeney remembers a general feeling held by community members at the time that PSU was going to dominate the downtown area geographically. What started as a small school on the edge of downtown, quickly grew into an important part of Portland. As campus expanded, so did the need to accommodate the growing student body. As part of the growing pains all universities must experience, conflict arose between students and downtown traffic as many students jaywalked across streets on their way to classes. The city sent the police to campus to hand out tickets for jaywalking between Lincoln and old Main on Mill. The administration warned everyone, but it was a time saver when there was little time between classes. In the middle of the night somebody painted a crosswalk with a can of paint from doorway to doorway along SW Broadway. Students used the fake crosswalk and stopped traffic. The police arrived and from the library floor above, furious students dropped water balloons on them. This all led to the closing of Mill and showed that PSU was here to stay. A spirit of community erupted around PSU with students saying, “This is our community, our campus.” Students paint their own crosswalk on Mill
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