The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the City of Portland's 1972 Downtown Plan, one of the most consequential plans in the city's history. It put in place a vision for a public, pedestrian-scaled, multipurpose, and vital downtown. Through the requirements adopted in the Downtown Plan and subsequent public and private investments stemming from it, Portland's core area became an international icon for central city recovery. That plan also formally identified Portland State University as the city's "urban university."

In February of this year, PhD candidate, Kimberly Nightingale, and Professor Emeritus, Ethan Seltzer, wrote a paper entitled Portland, Portland State, and the Urban University Idea that examines the history of the urban university idea in the U.S. and presents a working definition of what an urban university is today. It then examines the way that being an urban university has been baked into Portland State's identity from its very beginning, and concludes with some thoughts about where we might go from here.

The following panel discussions pick up where the paper leaves off. These hybrid events are free and open to the public, with a limited number of in-person seats available for each discussion. Events will take place in the Dirce Moroni Toulan Library of Urban and Public Affairs on the 7th floor of the PSU Urban Center. Feel free to contact the CUPA Dean's Office if you have any questions and visit the website here: https://www.pdx.edu/urban-public-affairs/panel-discussions