News
Longtime director retires
THE SIMON BENSON HOUSE, the stately Queen Anne on the corner of Southwest Park and Montgomery, looks like it has always been there while Portland State spread out around it. But in 2000, the century-old house was picked up and moved to campus from a few blocks away, then painstakingly restored into a home for the Alumni Association.
None of that would have happened without the efforts of recently retired alumni director Pat Squire, who took care of the details once community activist Gretchen Miller Kafoury MPA ’00 got the house rolling, so to speak. Those details included recovery of the house’s 12 stained-glass windows that were stolen close to the move date. Squire received a tip on the whereabouts of some of the windows, which she passed on to the police. The tip led to a stash of windows found behind newly installed wallboard in an antique shop basement. All were eventually recovered.
Since Squire first came to campus as alumni director in 1989, she has seen the number of PSU alumni increase from 45,000 to 130,000. She joined the ranks herself when professor Craig Shinn “made me excited about the Public Administration program,” says Squire, who earned an MPA in 1995.
Keeping Portland State and Vanport alumni connected to the University has been her goal for the past two decades. Squire started PSU Weekend, which returns Oct. 21-23 with free lectures and reunions. She also started a successful travel program for alumni and a spring awards program that recognizes graduates who have made a difference in the community and at PSU. Many of the award winners have been active in PSU Advocates, a program that Squire helped launch to connect alumni to their legislators. In the mid-1990s, advocates exerted pressure for funding of the PSU Urban Center Building and Plaza and successfully campaigned to keep engineering programs at the University.
Now that she is retired, Squire has “long-awaited” plans to travel with her husband, Fred, but she will likely return to campus this winter.
“I truly am a believer in life-long learning,” says Squire, “and my first activities with PSU will be to take advantage of the Senior Adult Learning Center and enroll for free in some interesting classes.”
Photo: Through the efforts of now retired alumni director Pat Squire MPA ’95, the Simon Benson House was moved to campus in 2000 and lovingly restored.
Board of Directors transitions
Dave Keys ’81, MBA ’92, executive vice president at Norris & Stevens in Portland, is the newly elected president of the PSU Alumni Board of Directors, taking office on July 1, 2011. Joining him are vice president Christopher Cooper MBA ’06, project manager with The Standard; treasurer Aubré Dickson ’98, acquisitions manager with National Equity Fund, Inc; and board secretary Kendal McDonald MA ’02, archeologist with Applied Archaeological Research, Inc.
Newly elected board members are Leila Aman ’99, development project manager with Metro, and Kelly Hossaini ’90, MURP ’93, an attorney with Miller Nash.
The Association extends thanks to retiring board officers Behzad Hosseini ’96, MBA ’97, president; Gina Leon ’95, treasurer; and Rick Watson MBA ’00, investment chair. Other board members retiring are Gary Barth ’86, Steve Brannan ’57, Eric Graham ’87, Linda Hamilton ’90, and Karen McCarty ’06.
You’re all members!
THE PSU ALUMNI Association Board of Directors has voted to create a new, all-inclusive membership program. We are proud to announce that we now recognize all Portland State alumni as Association members--no dues required.
Alumni participation is vital to the continued success of Portland State and its students. You are our best ambassadors in the arts, civic, business, and government communities, and vibrant communities are the cornerstones of a world-class institution.
There are many important reasons we have moved to an all-inclusive alumni association, but here are the top three:
1. Strength in numbers. When more alumni actively participate in the Alumni Association, you help us set the standard for a leading urban university. There are now more than 130,000 Portland State alumni worldwide!
2. Elevated support for PSU. Alumni membership dues were not tax-deductible contributions to Portland State. Now, when you make an annual gift to PSU, your investment is a tax-deductible contribution to the Fund for PSU. Your gifts provide scholarships for students, improve classrooms and labs, and strengthen academic programs. As an alumnus, you know how important it is to show your support.
3. More engagement opportunities. When all alumni are members, we can focus on creating more valuable opportunities for you to engage with Portland State and with one another. Soon we’ll be launching a new and robust online community, which will let you choose how you’d like to stay connected with PSU, help you participate in career networking, find “lost” alumni friends, make event registration easy, and much more!
MAKE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PSU Alumni Association membership official and request your alumni card today! Simply visit alumni.pdx.edu/membership to request your new alumni card.
To the thousands of alumni who have been dues-paying members of the PSU Alumni Association, especially our Life Members, we want to show our sincere gratitude. Life Members will always be recognized as PSUAA Sustaining Life Members in recognition of their outstanding support.
Serving PSU and our community together
“Let Knowledge Serve the City.” You may have noticed this motto of the University proudly gracing the pedestrian bridge over Southwest Broadway. What does it mean to you? It means a number of things to me, and in fact that message has taken on new significance now that I am president of the PSU Alumni Association (PSUAA). To me, the motto offers hope that you will use the knowledge and education you have struggled to acquire to serve not only the city, but also your family, friends, neighborhood, country, and the world at large.
The University continues to serve you as alumni, and I also invite you to consider supporting and serving Portland State as well. How? Attend a concert, play, or opera by the School of Fine and Performing Arts. Mentor an undergraduate student. Come to the campus and listen to a visiting lecturer. Attend PSU Weekend. Cheer on your favorite athletic team at one of its games. Support the Fund for PSU. Whatever you do, let your PSU degree keep serving you by being involved with your campus. The more you maintain your ties to the University, the more value will be added to your diploma. And, did you know that as a Portland State graduate, you automatically become a member of the PSU Alumni Association?
A great place to get information on the many activities occurring at Portland State, is our website at pdx.edu/alumni. On behalf of the PSUAA, we hope that we’ll get to meet you soon. Until then, “Go Viks!”
Dave Keys ’81, MBA ’92 Alumni Association President