Members of Portland State’s Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (PSU-SUPER) and their supporters held a demonstration during the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 26 to protest PSU’s continued partnership with the multi-billion dollar weapons manufacturer Boeing.
Protesters entered the meeting on the fifth floor of the Academic and Student Recreation Center. They began chanting for PSU to cut ties with Boeing, prompting the Board members to exit the room while escorted by Campus Public Safety Office (CPSO) officers.
The meeting was adjourned promptly due to protesters occupying the space and continuing to chant. The Board moved the meeting to Zoom, with some members re-convening on the sixth floor of the Richard & Maurine Neuberger Center.
When protesters became aware of the new meeting location, they gathered outside the space to continue protesting, chanting and demanding PSU cut its ties with Boeing.
A Nov. 2023 Portland State 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.
PSU alums who now work for Boeing have also donated money for a classroom in the business school.
A member of the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) said they attended the protest to show support for student organizations like PSU-SUPER, who have been campaigning for PSU’s divestment from Boeing for the past seven years.
“Palestinian civil society has put out the call for BDS—boycott, divestment and sanctions—and so we’re heeding that call to try to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza and supporting students in those efforts and in the struggle,” the DSA member said. “The on-campus struggle and the struggle in the entire city, in the country and in the world—these are all interconnected and so we need to be building bridges… By bringing these different arenas of struggle together and unifying our efforts, we can affect the most change.”
This is far from the first time PSU students have urged the administration to cut its ties with Boeing, with some supporters saying this fight has been ongoing for the past seven years to no avail.
In both 2016 and 2021, the Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU) passed a resolution calling for PSU to sever connections with organizations that profit from human rights violations against Palestinians.
In 2021, ASPSU called on the PSU administration to cut ties with Boeing specifically. These actions have yet to prompt PSU to revise its relationship with Boeing.
Korvin—a PSU alum and attendee of the protest—said they do not appreciate seeing PSU students put in a situation where they are encouraged to take internships with a company which is “manufacturing weapons to kill children in Gaza and around the world.”
Korvin explained they think PSU can do better, and the money the university gets from Boeing does not come without strings attached. They had hoped the Board would have been open to engaging in a dialogue around this issue, but said they have shown a lack of interest in the topic over the years.
“They have shown that they’re not interested in hearing other perspectives other than the one that they’ve already come to the table with,” Korvin said. “They’ve shut us out. At this point, I think that the one thing that I would hope that we could get from them would be a change of heart and an openness to listen to students in the community in the future.”
As Board members exited the Richard & Maurine Neuberger Center after the meeting concluded, protesters approached Board members while they were in their vehicles and urged them to cut ties with Boeing.
CPSO officers came in between Board members and protesters. Video evidence taken by and submitted to Vanguard shows clear instances of aggression by CPSO officers towards protesters, with the primary aggressor being Campus Police Lieutenant Marcos Jimenez.
In a written statement received by Portland State Vanguard, CPSO Chief Willie Halliburton explained how CPSO was met with destruction of property and physical altercations at the hands of protesters. “CPSO acknowledges and respects freedom of speech as a vital pillar of our society,” Halliburton stated. “But we cannot tolerate destructive behavior that harms our community. Campus police encountered protestors at the Jan. 26 Board of Trustees meeting whose actions resulted in property destruction, as well as physical altercations with both officers and board members. Unfortunately, these protestors chose to disrupt university business and damage multiple spaces on campus rather than engaging with the Board of Trustees and our university leaders through dialogue.”
Several Vanguard editorial team members were present for the entire protest. They captured videos of interactions between Board members, CPSO officers and protesters.
Though some protesters did deface university property by writing on walls and putting up “Free Palestine” stickers, no one from Vanguard’s staff witnessed any instances of destruction or irreversible damage done by the protestors.
While protesters did confront Board members and attempt to block their vehicles from leaving, there were no witnessed direct physical altercations instigated by protesters.
Multiple videos taken during the protest clearly show CPSO officers—mainly Jimenez—using force to push, shove and even punch protesters who tried to confront Board members.
The protest on Jan. 26 was led and organized by Mira, who is not a PSU student but a member of the PSU community.
Mira said that since PSU plays such a significant role in Portland, its relationship with Boeing affects everyone in the community. In multiple videos taken and obtained by Vanguard staff, Mira is pushed around roughly by CPSO officers, whom she did not appear to provoke in a physical manner.
“I was thrown around multiple times just because I wanted to tell [the Board of Trustees] and so they could hear,” Mira said. “In all recordings, I did not touch a single officer initially. I was pushed around and defending myself. It is pathetic. It is shameful. [CPSO] was completely not transparent—they were manipulative. They tried to trick us where the location was and quite frankly engaged to uphold the betrayal of our first amendment rights. So if anything, that is treason. That is treachery, and it is a shame that [CPSO] allege[s] to protect students when [they] target them and harm them.”
Mira—who has a relationship with PSU-SUPER—said she knows they have tried to engage in dialogue with the Board for the past seven years about divesting from Boeing. These past attempts have not resulted in any changes, prompting those supporting PSU’s divestment from Boeing to take more drastic measures.
When asked what she would say to the Board, Mira explained they had tried to engage in a dialogue about this topic but were routinely ignored.
“We engaged in everything that you asked,” Mira said, referring to the Board. “We played by your rules. You don’t dare question or become concerned when we raise our voices, because we did everything you asked us. And, keep in mind, our voices are only getting louder. We are going to insist and insist for the sake of the people—the people that you represent, that you are supposed to support. You are supposed to be a neutral institution. I know for a fact that you are in cahoots with Israeli influence and propaganda and are targeting students. That is egregious. It is mindless. It is something that cannot be comprehensible.”
In a recent press conference with Vanguard, PSU President Ann Cudd said she thinks it is important to maintain a politically neutral stance when accepting donations to protect community members’ free speech and academic freedom.
“I will never be in a situation where I will sell out the university for some donation,” Cudd said. “There is no donation that is worth our integrity, our reputation and our values, but things are complicated.”
Yet, students and community members have expressed discomfort with PSU’s relationship with Boeing as well as Cudd’s handling of the topic.
Mira explained that many PSU students come from countries devastated by the United States empire and its weapons manufacturers, such as Boeing. She said that these students—whether immigrants, first-generation students or international students—are often reminded that their university is complicit in the destruction of their people.
“That’s why I care, because I’m standing up for my people, our people, my ancestors and the people in the future,” Mira said.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” Mira said. “From Portland, from Mexico, from Sudan, from the Congo, from Armenia, from all the countries that are facing U.S. occupation. We will fight together and be liberated together, because they may have money, abuse and power, but we have solidarity that cannot be fought, that cannot be blackmailed, and thus the people united will never be divided.”
