[inside student affairs]a weekly insider’s guide for those helping students reach their goals toward optimal health and well-being, engagement with learning, and sense of belonging at PSU
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Week of February 14, 2022
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Residence Life Open HousePSU students, faculty, and staff are invited to University Housing & Residence Life's Open House from 3 to 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 16. Housing staff will be available for exclusive room tours and to talk about on-campus housing options for this summer and the 2022-2023 academic year. Face masks and PSU ID cards are required. You can learn more about this event on the UHRL website.
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Queer Resource Center Food DriveThe PSU community is being asked to contribute nonperishable food in support of the Queer Resource Center’s mini-food pantry. This pantry is free for students to access outside the resource center (Smith 458) and available to all in need, no ID necessary. For drop-offs, the office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday. Call 503-725-9742 or contact qrc@pdx.edu to let them know when you are there.
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Altars to Our Selves: Creating Sacred Space as SurvivorsJoin the Women’s Resource Center and event facilitator, J. Von Saechao, for a hands-on session exploring the process of altar-assembly as a creative healing practice and a method of intimately honoring + returning to our selves as survivors. Participants will be guided by creative prompts with the opportunity to engage in group reflection while assembling their individual virtual altars. This event will be held Wednesday, February 16 from 4-6pm via Zoom. Participants can sign up here.
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Participate in the PSU Day of GivingThe next PSU Day of Giving happens this spring on Wednesday, April 13. Participants have the chance to raise money and build support for their area of impact by crowdfunding within their networks. If you would like to learn more or apply to participate, please complete this application by February 21. (Not sure if your fund is a good fit? View the “Is My Fund Ready” document here.) Please contact Carol Perales with questions.
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Free Menstrual CupThe Wellness & Health Action Team (WHAT), PSU Food Pantry, and Student Sustainability Center have joined forces with AllMatters, a sustainability-focused personal care company, to offer free menstrual cups to students for a limited time. To get a free menstrual cup, all you need to do is complete the form between February 7-20. You will receive an email stating when and where on campus you will be able to pick them up.
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Crafting with Little VikingsYour children are invited to join Services for Students with Children for a fun, comfortable online space to do crafts with Little Viking's teachers. Crafting with Little Vikings takes place on Thursdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. You can join for as many or as few as you wish; each week will be a different craft theme. If your children need access to materials, please let the SSWC know using the registration form, and they can send or arrange a pick up for materials. This free event is open to students, staff, and faculty on Zoom. Register here for the next event.
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Five Non-Basic Ways of Practicing Gratitude“Practicing gratitude not only benefits you as an individual, but it also helps your relationships with family/friends, coworkers, and even your partners. When you show gratitude towards various people in your life, it allows both parties to understand what you actually mean to each other. It makes both parties feel more positive emotions in the relationship, which leads to wanting to be around each other more. Having this great support system in college is one of the key ways to be successful.”
To learn more about ways you can practice gratitude, visit the PDX CampusWell and read more from WHAT-ster Whitney Murphy.
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On February 14, Portland State celebrated its 76th Founders Day! In 1946, Stephen Epler found a location in Vanport, and assembled facilities, faculty and staff in only three months to open the Vanport Extension Center, serving veterans home from World War II. "As you know,” he wrote to one of the first professors, “we are starting from nothing." To read more about PSU's history, click here.
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[from the vpsa]I've heard from many that this week has been particularly challenging, in part because once again, we are trying to see our way forward out of pandemic-times (to steal a phrase from one of my favorite students), but also mired in much that is unknown. A piece in the Harvard Business Review titled, "We Need Time to Rehabilitate from the Trauma of the Pandemic" resonated for me, noting the specific challenge of recovering from the prolonged psychic pain the pandemic has caused. Here in the middle of February, in the middle of winter term, and in the almost-middle of the academic year, in many ways there are still more questions than answers about how we find hope and resolve in the midst of what sometimes feels like a state of permanent ambiguity. I'm passing along a quote that I hope might provide some inspiration: "Hope is not the absence of despair-- it is the ability to come back to our purpose, again and again." - Alicia Garza
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[office of student affairs]
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[future editions]If you want to include something in an upcoming Inside Student Affairs, please email studentaffairs@pdx.edu. Archives of past issues can be found here.
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