Editor’s note: This article has been revised to incorporate additional details from a student witness, providing further insight into the previously reported harassment incident.
In an email circulated to the PSU community on Jan. 9, Portland State President Ann Cudd announced the formation of the Task Force for Building Community and Fighting Hate at PSU.
According to the email, two task force committees will work on improving violence prevention and response, as well as promoting a campus climate which nurtures the psychological safety of the PSU community.
After gathering input and recommendations, the two committees intend to have a plan that reportedly will be enacted on campus by March.
“We do not tolerate antisemitism, anti-Palestinian harassment, Anti-Arab discrimination, Islamophobia or hate in our community,” Cudd’s email stated. “While there might not be anything we can do or say to alter global conflicts, we can build the community we desire here at home by rejecting intolerance and co-creating an environment where peace and the pursuit of knowledge can thrive.”
The email explained that Cudd commissioned the task force to “support and strengthen the community in the wake of recent events.” The task force will comprise four committees addressing various topics, including intergroup dialogue and engagement, as well as education about antisemitism and anti-Arab bias.
Associated Students of Portland State University will work to ensure that each of the committees will have student representatives.
In a press conference on Nov. 17, 2023, Cudd described the task force, saying, “I am planning to charge a committee to work against Islamophobia and Antisemitism to find ways that we can help students to peacefully interact with each other, gain a more empathetic understanding of each other, and also debate and engage in dialogue.”
Former President Stephen Percy, who Cudd described as a “well-known listener, bridge-builder and convener at PSU,” will serve as the task force chair.
Dr. Ame Lambert—vice president of Global Diversity & Inclusion at PSU—will serve as a consultant on the task force and trustee Mark Rosenbaum will additionally join the effort.
The task force will work with Wajdi Said of the Muslim Educational Trust to engage the greater Portland community in this effort.
“PSU has an opportunity to prove that higher education can and should stand against bias, discrimination and hate while also encouraging complex thinking and dialogue across differences,” Cudd’s email read.
PSU circulated the email to students around the 100-day mark of Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
As of Jan. 11, over 20,000 people had been killed by the Israeli military, with an estimated 250 people dying each day, making this conflict the deadliest of the 21st century.
Before this email, Cudd had yet to address the current situation directly.
Shams Mahmoud—an Arab student and member of PSU’s Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER)—explained how their organization had been experiencing harassment even before the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which instigated the current aggression.
According to Mahmoud, members of SUPER were approached during a tabling event during Party in the Park in September by a male student who began screaming that he thought Muslims caused the Holocaust.
Two women at the table were wearing hijabs, and Mahmoud said the man saw their table and decided to approach them unprovoked.
A second incident occurred on Oct. 12, where the same man aggressively approached SUPER’s table at an event. Mahmoud said they were harassed repeatedly that day during their tabling event.
Mahmoud said things escalated and became physical as the man pushed an individual who was attempting to deescalate the situation into the table. This incident was reported through the proper channels at PSU, and they said SUPER has not done a tabling event since this incident.
Immediately after the incident, Mahmoud said they went to the Campus Public Safety Office, who sent an officer to the Smith Memorial Student Union to search for the individual.
“They did not look for him,” Mahmoud said. “They stayed on one floor of Smith on their phone.”
The incident was then reported and a video of the incident was sent to the dean of student life, who emailed Mahmoud with instructions on how to move forward. Mahmoud said a Palestinian student who also reported the incident did not receive an email.
“She was the only Palestinian there, and she never got an email,” Mahmoud said. “Even though I told them she was there and she also reported it, they completely ignored her.”
Since reporting this incident, members of SUPER heard very little from the university.
“From what we know, it doesn’t seem like much action was done,” said Natalie Khalil, a Palestinian student and member of SUPER. “As a Palestinian student, I don’t feel like my campus—that the people in charge—think that there are really people that act that way towards Palestinians. I just don’t think they consider that to be a big issue.”
Mahmoud said the student who harassed SUPER members has a history of racist behavior and has approached students in several campus multicultural centers.
“He has a history of being weird to people of color, and not even just Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians,” Mahmoud said. “He has a history being racist in general. There needs to be some sort of action taken, some sort of disciplinary action. They told me they can’t tell me anything. They told me nothing can happen, and essentially they just pushed it under the rug.”
In a recent press conference, Cudd seemingly spoke on this reported incident. “But there have been, of course, some interactions that may have been somewhat more confrontational,” Cudd said. “And I’ve heard about some on each side. I had heard about one incident where a student confronted some Muslim students, which violates the student code of conduct. We, of course, are taking it to student conduct to address the situation. That’s certainly a tool we have in our arsenal.”
Mahmoud said they hope the newly announced task force is effective, but said that it should include a Palestinian perspective.
When asked about the task force, Khalil said neither she nor other members of SUPER were consulted about it whatsoever. When she read the email about the task force, Khalil said she was surprised to see Palestinians finally mentioned.
“Palestinians were mentioned in one email after 100 days of genocide in Gaza,” Khalil said. “It took almost 100 days—almost 30,000 people dead—for my president at PSU to acknowledge my people as being a legitimate people. Not Muslim, not Arab. It’s a specific region. We are people. We are actual people. Not all people in Palestine are Muslims. There are Christians that are getting murdered. It’s not just Muslims.”
Khalil explained that if the university wants to support Palestinian, Arab and other marginalized students, it will need to make significant changes.
“I think that the university needs to cut their ties with Boeing completely,” Khalil said. “Not just for Palestinians, but for Syrians and people in the Philippines. There are so many ways in which Boeing profits off of war crimes. And universities have a moral obligation, I think, to live up to what our code of conduct is… I feel like a large body of us on campus don’t feel like we’re accurately represented by our relationship with Boeing. Whether that be done in this task force, whether that be done separately—I think that needs to be an issue that’s dealt with relatively soon, at least[…] in regards to the Palestinian ongoing movement, or the ongoing movement of all oppressed people everywhere, for solidarity reasons.”
Cudd discussed PSU’s ties with Boeing in the press conference, acknowledging ties such as receiving scholarships and having alums who work for Boeing.
“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. There are many values, including the value of academic freedom. And just stepping away from the Boeing situation, but considering, as a whole, from whom do we accept donations? From whom do we accept support? That is, often, a question of first, are they violating any laws? Are they violating any values that the institution holds as a value for everyone as opposed to a partisan perspective on that? And then, is there some way that this support is essential to the pursuit of an academic or educational research mission that some faculty or group of faculty are pursuing… I think it’s important to maintain a pretty politically neutral stance in accepting that so as not to chill the free speech and academic freedom of various members of our community.”
Mahmoud reported feeling unsafe and their rights not being protected by the university. “We’ve actually been the ones getting harassed routinely, receiving death threats, getting harassed by an actual Nazi,” they said. “We’re afraid to have the Palestine flag out. People are calling for the removal of SUPER here, and not just like our SJP, but other SJPs around the country being labeled as criminals. That’s a direct attack on our freedom of speech, our right to protest. When we’re the ones being attacked, it is very disheartening.”
Khalil explained that if this task force is going to occur, it should work to get to the root of hate itself.
“There is hate on campus, and it has made students very fearful, and it should not be suppressed and or ignored,” Khalil said. “It needs to be handled swiftly, and it needs to be addressed by people that are in charge, and it needs to be dealt with.”