OSPIRG told to vacate office

The Portland State chapter of OSPIRG must vacate their office in Smith Memorial Student Union within two weeks because they are no longer considered a student group, the Smith Advisory Board told the group Monday.

The advisory board made the decision because Student Activities and Leadership Programs (SALP), the organization that advises more than 100 student groups, declared that the PSU chapter of OSPIRG is not a student group, and should not receive student fee funding or space in Smith.

Chair of the Smith Advisory Board John Brown said the group has two weeks to leave their office in Smith M103. Because OSIPRIG is not a student group, he said it should not have an office in the student union.

“We wouldn’t allow any other organization to just take up student space,” he said.

Leaders of the group said they will leave the space if forced, but until then they plan to try to regain their office space and status as a student group.

To get the space back, Brown said OSPIRG would have to find a department or organization on campus to be housed under. Because OSPIRG is no longer considered a student group, the department would act as OSPIRG’s parent organization, taking in the group’s student fees and passing the money along to them.

If OSPIRG found a parent organization, it could then make an appeal to the space allocation subcommittee of the Smith Advisory Board, which Brown said, will soon form.

The Oregon Student Public Interest Group (OSPIRG) is an advocacy group that has been funded through student fees from Oregon schools for decades. Any group funded directly by student fees at PSU is advised and overseen by SALP.

In November, SALP said OSPIRG should not be a student group because PSU students do not determine its mission. A month later, the Student Fee Committee took away OSPIRG’s access to its $128,232 budget for this year, because of SALP’s declaration that OSPIRG is a corporation, not a student-run or student-led organization.

The advisory board discussed the matter for 15 minutes on Friday before making a unanimous vote to tell OSPIRG to vacate their office, Brown said.

The leaders of the PSU OSPIRG chapter said they were not completely shocked when they were told yesterday that they must vacate their office.

Losing the office space is another part of one large issue, said chapter Chair John Lewis. He said he thinks the timing of this latest setback is odd, considering the group is still setting up meetings with administrators to try to get their student group status back. Lewis said OSPIRG members plan to meet with Interim Vice Provost for Student Affairs Dan Fortmiller and Interim Dean of Students Michele Toppe on Friday to discuss their student group status.

Kate Neal, the PSU campus organizer, said that they are a student-run group with a mission that benefits PSU students.

“There’s no question that we are a student group,” said Neal, who is a paid professional. From deciding issues, to hiring staff, she said, “It’s all students making these decisions.”

The group has discussed fulfilling SALP’s demands by finding a department on campus to house them. Katie Kleese, also a paid professional who is the OSPIRG organizing director, said the group will likely not go in that direction, instead focusing on trying to change the mind of SALP about their student status.

The group will continue to do its work, including a rally for affordable health care today at the Oregon Health Fund Board meeting at 10:30 a.m. at Kaiser Permanente’s Town Hall. Until they have an office they said they will be meeting in public locations on campus, such as outside the library.

“Our work on campus is going to be more difficult,” Lewis said.