PO RTL AN DXC) BSE R VE R O ct. 22, 1970
EDUCATIONAL CENTER GROWING—BUT DIFFERENTLY
general equivalency diploma«. We t r y to o ile r
a n y th in g th a t |K*ople can use q u ic k ly , subject«
w hich are to the point to r them and w ith w hich
the y can id e n tify in th e ir jobs and everyday living .
O ur program is geared to the people, not to co m
puters. T o be geared to th e ir need« and w hat they
w a n t o u t o f it — I guess this is the basic purpose
o f the Center.
We have e x a ctly three paid s ta ff mem bers —
m yself, an assistant and a secretary. O th e r staff
consists o f the b e a u tifu l vo lu n te e r in s tru c to rs
fro m the m ain campus and a lot o f o u ts ta n d in g
young students who give th e ir tim e to people a t
the E d u ca tio n a l Center. Some o f the stud e nts
here have an overload in studies, some d o n 't have
jo lw and need them , b u t they are s till here giving
th e ir tim e to the E d u ca tio n a l C enter. T h e y are
people concerned about the whole c o m m u n ity ,
concerned about th e ir u n iv e rs ity . T h e y are s tu
dents n ot necessarily interested in b lo ckading the
P ark Blocks. T h e y are giving th e ir tim e to th is
u n iv e rs ity and they are n ot given any c re d it fo r
it.
H a rve y Rice, a student in business a d m in istra
tio n and urb an studies, has been appointed assis
ta n t d ire c to r o f the P o rtla n d S ta te U niversity
E d u c a tio n a l Center.
A 1955 graduate o f Benson H igh School, Ric<
has studied co m p ute r program m ing, accou n ting
business m a n a g e m e n t a nd u rb a n p ro b le m s ai
E le c tr o n ic C o m p u te r P ro g ra m m in g I n s t it u t e
P acific Academ y o f A ccou n tan cy, P o rtla n d Com
m u n ity College and P o rtla n d S tate U n iv e rs ity .
(R eprinted by p erm issio n
P e rsp e c tiv e .)
of P ortland State
(Editors Note: The Portland State University
Educational Center uas established in 1968 in a
one-time furniture store at 2611 N.E. Union Ave
nue. Director Harold Williams has seen the stu
dent body of the “Storefront Campus;’ as it is
sometimes called, prow from 15 to nearly 600. We
asked Williams to report on the propress of the
Center which is run by three paid staff members
and a host of volunteer instructors, both students
and faculty members from the main PSU campus
His report follows.)
We d id n ’t s ta rt in the norm a l way most in s titu
tio n s do, by b u ild in g a b u ild in g and then have
some people o f a ll kinds come and be to ld , “ W e’ll
redeem y o u r souls.” We did it a lit t le d iffe re n tly .
We w ent o u t in to the c o m m u n ity and asked
people th e ir ideas. We went to the barber shop,
the pool halls, the churches — you name it — and
we got them involved w ith the Center. The people
gave us the ideas and we ju s t sim p ly executed
them .
T he purpose o f the C e n te r was to establish
so m e th in g re la tiv e to b oth th e U n iv e rs ity and the
c o m m u n ity and to become som ething w ith w hich
th e c o m m u n ity could id e n tify . O ur hope was th a t
the U n iv e rs ity w ould be looked upon as som ething
m ore th a n an island to its e lf w ith in the to ta l
c o m m u n ity .
W e have ju m p e d fro m 15 stud e nts to 550-plus,
and when I say plus I mean we are p re tty close
to 600 now. I believe the m ain reason we’ve grown
so fast is th a t the people can relate to som ething
now and th e y d o n ’t have to w o rry about feeling
ashamed o r embarrassed because o f th e ir educa
tio n a l deficiencies. T h ey can relate to themselves;
the y can relate to people in the c o m m u n ity ; they
can re la te to the professors and the people who
tu to r them ; the y can relate to the students; they
can re la te to a whole p a rt o f themselves th a t they
d id n ’t kn ow existed w ith in them .
T h e o n ly problem I can see now is th a t not
enough people outside the c o m m u n ity re a lly know
th a t we exist. Beyond th a t, I d on ’t th in k there
are any great problem s at a ll, unless there is a
c e rta in th in g called “ professional je a lo u s y ” on the
p a rt o f the old established pros who d o n ’t p a rtic
u la rly w a n t to accept new approaches to educa
tio n w h ich are w o rkin g here.
H arold W illiam s, D irec to r of Portland State
Educational C e n te r.
T h e advantage o f m ore people kn ow ing al»out
the C enter w ould be th a t people could find o ut
the w a y /o r them to cu t the m y th , cut th e ir fears
about college and find people in a no the r part o f
th e ir c ity who are to ta lly b lin d to them . T h is
w ould be a great advantage; it w ould also show
the whole legislative c o m m u n ity and the whole
state system th a t there is a need fo r this type
o f edu ca tion a l s tru c tu re w h ich is more a d v a n ta
geous to the people th a n a lot o f thing s going on
in the established s tru c tu re now.
A lo t o f people in the c ity th in k th a t we set
up ju s t fo r the m in o rity ; to make it m ore b lu n t,
ju s t fo r the Blacks. T he program w asn't set up
ju s t fo r Blacks; it wasn’t set up ju s t fo r th a t
c o m m u n ity m islabled as “ A lb in a ” ; it was set up
fo r the whole c ity o f P ortlan d .
T he ( e n te r is a to ta l o f people, an o rg a n iza tio n
o f a people’s program . I t ’s a good o p p o rtu n ity to
learn th a t no m a tte r w h a t race y o u ’re in, th a t
i f you don t take a bath you stin k. T h e program s
have re a lly offered us a lo t o f b e a u tifu l o p p o rtu
n itie s in race re la tio n s to let people become aware
of one another, o f one a n o th e r’s qua litie s, o f one
a n o th e r’s backgrounds, o f th e ir likes and o f th e ir
dislikes o f one another. T h e E d u ca tio n a l C enter
has helped tear down a lo t o f m yth s a bo u t race
re la tio n s th a t were in fe c tin g o u r c ity , o u r state,
o u r c o u n try and the w o rld in general. I t ’s an
o p p o rtu n ity fo r people to lie free w ith o u t hangups,
and ju s t be themselves fo r a few hours and to
o b ta in som ething else in the process.
T h e C enter happens to be located in the m id-
tow n o f P ortla n d , b u t anybody and everybody is
welcome to come in and be a part o f the program
am i to be accepted in to it. ’I here are no re s tric
tio n s on w hat econom ic bracket a stu d e n t is in,
o r w hat background he has, o r w hat his social
sta tu s is. A ll o f these thing s are irre le v a n t. People
can sense th is ju s t by com ing in to the C enter to
see fo r themselves th a t people are fieople.
E ig h ty -fiv e per cent o f o u r fieople happen to
be w hite. The sim ple fa c t th a t the p u b lic needs
to understand is th a t the C e n te r is not a “ Black
p ro gram ,” b u t a “ fieople p ro gram .” T he m a jo rity
o f the fieople who corne to the C e n te r come from
o u tly in g areas like G resham , Beaverton, T ig a rd
and fro m a ll over the southeast and southw est
p arts of the c ity . T h ey do n ot o n ly come from
the n o rth and northeast areas.
F ro m th e e d u c a tio n a l s ta n d p o in t, we o ffe r
courses in p s y c h o lo g y , s o c io lo g y , E n g lis h and
m athem atics. We also o ffe r courses w hich w ill
help high school d ro p-ou ts pass exams to o bta in
T h e y make it possible fo r us to o ffe r day and
n ig h t cla sse s, c r e d it c o u rs e s a nd n o n - c r e d it
courses. W e have a p p ro x im a te ly seven c r e d it
courses and nine n on -cred it courses going on now
— in m ath, English, psychology, sociology — the
whole background. We have a rt courses w h ich are
n on -cre d it; we have various e du ca tion a l courses
ju s t fo r general in fo rm a tio n if the stu d e n t plans
la te r to take a college cre d it course.
O u r classes s ta rt in the m o rn in g at 9:30 and
ru n u n til 10 at night. People can w a lk in o ff the
street any tim e and sign up fo r classes w ith but
one s tip u la tio n : T h e y can’t come in near the end
o f a q u a r te r and re g is te r fo r a c o lle g e -c r e d it
c o u rs e . I f th e y w a n t to e n r o ll in n o n - c r e d it
courses, or want tu to rin g help or ju s t to a tte n d
in fo rm a l sessions, th e y can come in a n y tim e o f
the year, a n y tim e o f the day we are open. T h ere
is no fear o f re g istra tion at the Center.
W e w o u ld lik e to e x p a n d th e c u r r ic u lu m
offerings at the Center, but th a t depends on the
c o m m itm e n t o f the requisite d e p a rtm e n t heads
w ith in the u n ive rsity. We w ould like to o ffer as
m any courses as there is a dem and for. T h e re are
a great nurn 1 s t o f courses we d o n ’t offer, like
h is to ry , p o litic a l science and some stages o f urb an
studies. We haven't got them because we have n ’t
got a co m m itm e n t fro m the d ep a rtm e nt heads
We need more courses in business a d m in is tra
tio n . People are asking th a t we give courses o f
th is type. B ut we are lim ite d in the things we t an
o ffe r to the young liecause o f the d ep a rtm e nt
heads and th e ir co m m itm e n t to us. T h e U n iv e r
s ity could be more d ire ct, in a sense, to what it
re a lly w ants o f the E d u ca tio n a l C enter
We need more d ire c tio n fro m the to ta l campus,
not ju s t from the people who are in o u r corner,
b u t from those who are not so fa m ilia r w ith what
we are doing at the Center. We can see ourselves
grow ing th is com ing year to an e n ro llm e n t o f
perha,is 1,500. We have a most d e fin ite need fo r
m ore fa cilitie s, more space, more equ ip m e nt, a few
m ore paid s ta ff me/nliers, more c o m m itm e n t from
the m ain campus, more c o m m itm e n t fro m de
p a rtm e n t heads and more c o m m itm e n t fro m the
people in general. In th is way we can prove th a t
we have som ething very relevant to the to ta l
e d u c a tio n a l stru c tu re .
T h e vo lunteers now are spending an average o f
15 hours a week at the Center. T h a t's like a c o l
lege professor on the mam campus who w ould
w ork at least 15 hours o r so over and beyond t he
n o rm a l w ork load. He doesn’t get any pay fo r it.
T h e o n ly recognition o r reward I can give to the
vo lu nte ers is a sim ple thanks. T h is sounds like
ve ry little . I t is very little . B ut t h a t ’s a ll we can
give now. I wish we had some ty p e o f rew ard to
show o u r real appreciation fo r what the y have
done fo r us.
T h e people who come to the C enter range in
age from 16 to 60. Some o f them have jobs and
are ju s t b e tte rin g th e ir skills fo r th e ir jobs. Some
need a m a th background fo r exam ple, so th e y can
a pp ly fo r ce rtain jobs w hich now are out o f th e ir
reach. A lo t o f people who have come to the
C e n te r have since ve ntured on to college. T h e y
mastered ce rtain awarenesses in themselves w h ile
a tte n d in g classes a, th e C e n te r; th e y becam e
aware o f w h a t’s going on in college and the expe
rience in the C enter helped them to break down
some o f th e ir fears o f going on to college.
Because o u r in s tru c to rs are volunteers, we can
give a non-credit course fo r ju s t one d o lla r. A
th re e -h o u r credit course costs six dollars. A s tu
d en t m ay take o n ly one th re e -h o u r credit course
|x*r q u a rte r at th a t rate. T he course allow s fieople
to take the three hours they m ight need to g ra d u
ate, to get a job, or, fierhaps, a p ro m o tion .
M a n y people w ith a b ility have been blocked
fin a n c ia lly fro m the U n iv e rs ity . Now, the E duca
tio n a l C enter allow s them to a tte n d a few classes,
fin d themselves, and, i f n o th in g else, learn some
th in g c o n s tru c tiv e fo r th e ir everyday life. People
can relate to the C enter - and w ith each o th e r
in th e ir own econom ic bracket.
We haven’t ventured in to vo c a tio n a l skills, be
cause th a t s a to ta lly d iffe re n t area. We s tic k w ith
the lib e ra l arts. Training fo r the in d u s tria l area
is n ot o u r purpose. We are based fo r people who
w a n t to decide fo r themselves where the y want
to go. We ju s t tr y to expose them to a d iffe re n t
area in th e ir lives and they take it front there.
T h e over a ll philosophy o f the C enter is sim ple.
I t is to g ive w it h o u t re m e m b e rin g , to re ce ive
w ith o u t fo rg e ttin g . A nd th a t, sim p ly, is it.