The protest held at the Board of Trustees meeting at the Academic and Student Recreation Center on Jan. 26 continues to be a topic of conversation throughout the Portland State campus.
A previous article and video from Portland State Vanguard reported and showed how, at the beginning of the meeting, members of PSU Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (PSU-SUPER) and their supporters entered the meeting room with a bullhorn and began chanting for PSU to cut its ties with the multi-billion dollar weapons manufacturing company, Boeing.
This demonstration disrupted the meeting and forced board members and other participants to leave the room escorted by Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO) officers and resume the meeting over Zoom, with some members reconvening on the sixth floor of the Richard & Maurine Neuberger Center.
When protesters learned of the new meeting location, they moved to continue their demonstration outside the meeting room. As board members were leaving the building parking lot in their vehicles, protesters attempted to block them, which resulted in CPSO officers pushing and shoving protesters out of the way.
The earlier Vanguard article chronicled the experiences of the protesters, but Board Chair Benjamin Berry provided a written statement to Vanguard where he shared his experience at the protest on Jan. 26.
“As a board, we encourage the community to share their thoughts and concerns with us either through outreach to the Board of Trustees’ office or during the public comment period at our full board meetings,” Berry stated. “However, the path chosen by those individuals who participated in the January 26 protest did not allow for conversation to occur. Our meeting — which had to be adjourned and reconvened online when the board could not conduct business — was again met with a group of protesters convening in RMNC on the 6th floor. Although we concluded the meeting and some of our business, it was not without property damage, traumatized students and staff, and a missed opportunity to have a productive conversation on a matter of importance to the PSU community.”
Pictures captured by Vanguard reporters on the day of the protest showed some of the damage to the building, which included several “Free Palestine” and “Cut ties with Boeing” stickers on the walls and some writing on the walls echoing the same sentiments. However, the board provided additional pictures showing multiple dents to walls and several areas currently being repainted.
During Berry’s time on the board, he said the topic of divestment from Boeing has come to his attention three times. According to Berry, the first time he was made aware of this was through public comment at an Oct. 2023 board meeting; then through Associated Students of PSU (ASPSU) President Yousif Ibrahim at a Nov. 2023 Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting; and, lastly, at the Jan. 26 board meeting that resulted in the protest.
“While I respect that there may be instances where this has come up elsewhere, I assure you that, as a board, we do listen to the campus community’s concerns, experiences, and thoughts,” Berry stated. “As the Board Chair, I encourage you to participate in conversations and share your thoughts and experiences with us. However, disruption of business, property damage, and putting community members at risk is not a way to approach conversations.”
According to a statement provided by Shams Mahmoud, a student and PSU-SUPER member, PSU community members have been asking the board to cut ties with Boeing for eight years and have consistently been ignored.
“The PSU administration has chosen to attack students, staff, and community as we utilize our first amendment rights to tell them we don’t want our institution to be supporting or profiting off of the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Mahmoud stated. “The PSU community has been asking the Board of Trustees to cut ties with Boeing and divest from all weapons manufacturers for eight years but they have completely ignored us and other struggles on campus such as the Disarm campaign and issues with faculty and workers unions.”
In addition to the instances Berry described, previous Vanguard reporting indicated that, in both 2016 and 2021, ASPSU passed a resolution calling for PSU to sever connections with organizations which profit from human rights violations against Palestinians, like Boeing. In 2021, ASPSU called on the PSU administration to cut ties with Boeing specifically.
A Dec. 2023 report from Amnesty International said that U.S.-made munitions from Boeing were directly responsible for the deaths of 43 Palestinian civilians—including 19 children—in two airstrikes in Gaza in Oct. 2023. According to this report, there were no military targets at or near the locations of the airstrikes.
As of Feb. 16, 2024, nearly 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost 69,000 have been injured by Israel’s continued genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
A Nov. 2023 Vanguard article cited PSU’s Global Supply Chain Management undergraduate program. “PSU is one of only 13 Boeing supply chain focused universities, meaning that Boeing recruits PSU supply chain students every fall term,” the article stated.
The article also cited a press conference which Vanguard held with PSU President Ann Cudd, who explained that hundreds of PSU alums now work for Boeing and have donated money to dedicate a classroom in the business school.
“It’s evident that they are not interested in hearing the needs of the community by their outward rejection of meeting any of our asks,” Mahmoud stated. “They believe it will go away with time—they have said as much—but students, staff, and community are fed up and will continue to protest any ties to the genocidal zionist regime.”