Touchdown for student housing

Stephen Epler Hall, the latest addition to student housing at Portland State, opened to occupancy last month thanks, in part, to members of the Viking football team.

The building, which features Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, is home to a new residence life program, the Global Village. This program creates a “home for students from all parts of the world who are interested in community involvement and leadership,” said Julie North, director of auxiliary services.

Contingency funds allowed the university to furnish the Global Village rooms, housed on the sixth – and top – floor of Epler Hall.

However, the extra funds only allowed for the furniture to be purchased. Auxiliary services did not have the means to unload and install the furniture.

So the PSU Vikings stepped up and took charge.

On Aug. 27, 13 football players and two assistant coaches helped auxiliary staff members unload and move approximately 33,000 pounds of furniture to the sixth floor.

“Without the team’s help, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish our goal of having the Global Village floor ready at the beginning of fall term,” North said. “We would like to acknowledge each of them and thank them for their contribution.”

Tim Walsh, head football coach at PSU, felt it was about time to help North out, as she has shown athletics a great amount of support in the past.

“Our players need to understand that it is a privilege to play,” Walsh said, “and we need to be willing to do our part to help the school out.”

Brian Warner is one of the assistant coaches who flexed his muscles to help out.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for some of our players to get involved with the school,” he said.

The players who volunteered are David Lewis, Brandon Jones, Andres Reed, Jay Johnson, James Miller Jr., Brett Thielke, Darren Wood, Robert Anthony Powell, Matt Stark, Brandon Brooks, Keith Mullen, Kenneth Mackins, Dustin Arn and Steve Hanlin. Assistant coach Saga Tuitele also lent his support.