Portland Community College
EN-2: Co-Curricular Activities

Seed Stories Club

Students are invited to cultivate a relationship with a plant they connect with by telling their story, through any storytelling media, that can be shared with others along with growing the plant from seed to flower to seed again and be able to save and share the seeds along with the story.

Landscape Technology Club - Providing students a safe space for peer interaction and support with opportunities in the fields of horticulture and landscaping. They explore community service and oversee a seed library at Rock Creek campus.

The following student clubs are focused on advancing racial equity and social justice. Additional support for advancing ecological integrity and racial equity and or social justice comes from various centers on campus, including the Dreamers Resource Center, the Environmental Center, Multicultural Center, Queer Resources, Veterans Resources and Women's Resources Center and are supplemented with additional programming such as the Men of Color Leadership Program. 

Asian Student Association
Our mission is to allow Asian students to engage with their ethnic heritage through positive events like cultural festivals and traditional dances, as well as learning about ethnic foods, heritage languages, and the diverse cultures that make up the Asian Pacific region. Additionally, organizing workshops on topics relevant to Asian communities, such as language, heritage, and ethnic identity, can broaden our reach and impact. Finally, collaborating with other cultural clubs and organizations on campus can create a more extensive support network and resources for our members. At the same time, our objective is to inform the public about the diversity of Asian communities. This will help us create meaningful conversations and unity and understanding between cultures.

Black Student Union
The mission of the Black Student Union (BSU) is to support and hold an intellectually engaging space for the diverse population of students who identify as Black and/or African-American on the campuses of Portland Community College and the surrounding Portland Metro area.

Hillel Club
Having a Jewish space on campus for student that feel connected to Judaism.

Muslim Students Association
To promote a better understanding of Islam & the cultures that make up the Muslim Ummah. To provide a welcoming community for Muslim students as well as other students. To understand and exemplify the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah on and off our campus.

Native Nations Club
The PCC Native Nations Club supports Intertribal Native American/Alaska Native students attending PCC, as well as students
wanting to attend with culturally responsive workshops, academic tutoring, community resource connections, as well as bridging the
community to create learning experiences around NA/AN history and culture.

Q Club
A welcoming space for all queer, intersex, and trans students to build community, gain societal and cultural awareness, and participate in activities!

PCC Sustainability routinely sponsors movies and speakers as part of Earth Week. As a college-wide event, students, staff and the faculty collaborate with the sustainability office to host a full-week of events. These range from tabling fairs at each of the main campuses (one fair per campus), events at each learning garden to a field trip. Faculty may arrange for a book-talk such as the Climate Fiction book talk given by PCC’s own Thea Prieto in 2024. In 2024, the maker’s lab at Rock Creek held an upcycling craft’s workshop and the Cascade Multicultural Center screened a documentary about the connections of climate change activism in the Pacific Islands to those in Portland, Oregon. Another notable event was the documentary screening of Tuvalu: A Country Being Lost to Rising Sea Levels.  Each earth week for the past three years has featured a pollinator painting exhibit of student work. While 2022 and 2023 were on-line and in person, the 2024 exhibit took place in person. A comprehensive list of our past events can be found here. https://www.pcc.edu/sustainability/news-events/earth-week/. Links to events from Earth Week in prior years can be found at the bottom of the page (2022,  2023.)

Throughout AY 2023 and into AY 2024, PCC hosted a series of workshops around Eco-anxiety and Climate Change. The following sessions were specifically designed for students; there were parallel tracks for faculty and staff.

• Eco-anxiety + Environmental Justice: How Young People of Color Experience Climate Change with Kiana Kazemi
• Climate Wisdom Lab - a resilience workshop for students with Kevin M. Gallagher and Josephine Linden
• Climate Grief: Strategies for Hope and Resilience with Dr. Kim Smith
• A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety - How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet with author Sarah Jaquette Ray 
• Climate Talks: Climate Migration Gathering 

We also host an artist from the Just Seeds Alliance every spring as part of an eco artivism event featuring a local print maker. Other features of this event include giveaways from our Basic Needs and Student Leadership program and craft activities. 

Students from the Basic Needs, Sustainability & Leadership Program are divided into our student leader teams: Basic Needs, Sustainability & Leadership Ambassadors, Panther Pantry Ambassadors, Legal Resource Center Ambassadors, HUS Program Peer Resource Navigators.

Basic Needs, Sustainability and Leadership Ambassadors

• Support BNSL programming such as Free Food Markets, Panther Packs and Earth Week events 
• Serve on college wide committees to represent the student voice on basic needs & sustainability issues 
• Uplift PCC’s Climate Action Plan though programming, events, campaigns and initiatives Provide support for campus learning gardens 
• Support upcycling & recycling through Basic Needs Hubs

Panther Pantry Ambassadors

• Support BNSL programming such as Free Food Markets, Panther Packs and Earth Week events 
• Staff PCC Panther Pantries at the 4 campuses 
• Develop and promote resources for students 
• Participate in civic engagement efforts to uplift basic needs support for college students 

Legal Resource Ambassadors

• Developed legal clinic marketing materials . 
• Support BNSL programming & resource fairs 
• Promote legal services information to PCC staff, faculty and students. 
• Collaborate with PCC centers to share resources 
• Organized workshops & events with LRC focus

Hus Program Peer Resource Navigators

• Resource Navigation Assistance in including SNAP/OHP/TriMet, Utility Assistance, Housing Resources, Mental Health Resources, Campus Resources 
• Staff Basic Needs Hubs 
• Outreach and Advocacy with tabling events, presentations & workshops and class raps
• Support BNSL Programming such as Basic Needs Resource Fair, Free Food Markets and Panther Packs 

Students play an important role in Portland Community College’s basic needs initiatives and efforts to increase food security, health and sustainability. This  mutual aid model centers peer to peer support through Basic Needs Hubs at PCC. Here are some highlights from 2023/2024 

• Staffed 4 campus pantries and the PCC Legal Resource Center providing support and services to over 12,000 PCC students 
• Planned, implemented and executed over 35 college events including:  
  • 15 Free Food Markets
    5 SNAP workshops & 6 classroom presentations focused on basic needs 
  • Renters Rights & Legal Aid Workshops 
  • Earth Week & WOW Week Tabling Fairs 
  • 3 off campus environmental justice focused field trips  
  • Bike Rental & Transportation events 
  • Hosted the college’s first Student Resource Fair with over 180 attendees 
• Allocated $60,188 to 7 Eco Social Justice Grants, including funding for refrigerated locker systems to expand Panther Pantry services & a pollinator garden installation at the Cascade Learning Garden
•  Helped raise over $18,000 on Big Give Day to Support Food Insecurity Programming & the PCC Legal Resource Center, including the Holiday Assistance Gift Program for 200 students Provided 16 Panther Pack Meal Kits to over 1800 households

BNSL student educators attend conferences such as AASHE and participate in other professional development opportunities. BNSL students regularly plan field trips. In the past three years, this has included a SOLV beach clean-up at the Peter Iredale at the Oregon Coast, a trip to the Oregon garden, LEECH Garden and trips to local zero waste stores.

At the beginning of the year, they receive a paid full week, including orientaions to a a variety of student resources and programing. These include:

• Tours of all four PCC campuses including sustainability resources, multicultural centers, food pantries, legal resources and our learning gardens
• An overview of the PCC legal resource center
• A training on trauma informed care
• An overview of Sutainability at PCC
• An overview of the PCC Climate Action Plan
• A leadership style assessment
• A full day of environmental / climate justice training; and 
• Information on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Our Learning Gardens teams, College Life and Leadership and the Identity Based Equity Centers hire students regularly for work on sustainability issues.

Learning Garden Assistants may

• Work with the learning garden coordinator and independently on gardening projects
• Prepare raised beds and in-ground areas
• Plant, weed, water, and harvest
• Maintain tools and supplies
• Interact with volunteers, students, and staff
• Help implement sustainability efforts

Basic Needs, Sustainability and Leadership Ambassadors - College Life & Leadership

• Support BNSL programming such as Free Food Markets, Panther Packs and Earth Week events 
• Serve on college wide committees to represent the student voice on basic needs & sustainability issues 
• Uplift PCC’s Climate Action Plan though programming, events, campaigns and initiatives
• Provide support for campus learning gardens 
• Support upcycling & recycling through Basic Needs Hubs

Equity and Diversity Coordinators - Identity Based Equity Centers

Our multicultural centers also employ Equity and Diversity Coordinators, two of which are responsible for climate initiatives. These coordinators are responsible for building relationships with campus identity based equity centers (Identity Based Equity Centers), coordinating with our learning coordinators to promote equitable access to learning gardens and break down stereotypical myths about gardening and collaborate with the multicultural center professional staff. This year they are collaborating with the Pacific Climate Warriors, a non-profit organization, to grow food specific to Pacific Islanders for campus food distributions at various college campuses. A portion of food is grown at Unity Farm, a community run plot of land next to the Oregon Food Bank Food Distribution warehouse. 

Our students run the bicycle rental and bike locker program through Student Life and Basic Needs.

Students also run the panther food pantry.

The Panther Pantry is a free resource to all PCC students (registration with MyPCC login information once a year and a current student ID is needed every visit). Our pantries are stocked with fresh food, canned food, hygiene supplies, and more. Panther Pantries are intended as a stop-gap to help students in periods of high need while they coordinate access to other food assistance resources. Student leader responsibilities vary and escalate over time. Eventually they research and order their own supplies, lead events and so on.

Entrepreneurship students are encouraged to start sustainable and other socially responsible businesses. 

Our Environmental Center and sustainability office host events around sustainable life choices, up-cycling, gardening, biking, etc. We also have classes dedicated to sustainable life skills such as our Personal Sustainability class and community ed classes that teach gardening, naturopathic medicine, disaster preparedness, DIY courses, etc.

The 95-acre Rock Creek Environmental Studies Center (RCESC) is an outdoor, educational facility that serves as an essential part of several PCC academic programs as well as a place of learning and connection for the wider community. Considered to be an important natural history area by the Portland Audubon Society and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the RCESC includes approximately 28 acres of upland conifer forest, 11 acres of ash forested wetland, 35 acres of emergent and shrub-scrub wetland, 19 acres of wet prairie, and 2 acres of Oregon white oak woodland. Several smaller unique ecosystems are also present in this area, including several springs and a small pond, all of which serve as an irreplaceable setting for ecological and cultural learning. These areas provide habitat for several groups of wildlife including nesting areas for waterfowl, quail, pheasants, and songbirds; as well as being homes to mammals such as deer, beaver, muskrat, mink, raccoon, elk, bobcat, and coyote.

The Ecosocial Justice Grant is a fund composed of monies from the Student Activity Fee, administered by a governing board primarily made up of students and is applicable to faculty, staff and students. Projects receive funding based on their carbon footprint reduction, waste reduction and/or supporting PCC's Climate Action Plan and other sustainability initiatives. History: In 2008 the Associated Students of Portland Community College (ASPCC) District Student Council approved a ten cent addition to the student activity fee, creating The Green Initiative Fund. At the beginning of 2018, the ASPCC District Student Council unanimously agreed to change the name of this fund to the Eco Social Justice Grant (ESJG), this name change better reflects the broader scope of what these grants have been and will be dedicated to. This fund exists so that students, staff, and faculty can participate in our culture of innovation and contribute meaningful advances to sustainable practices. At PCC, our goal is to achieve sustainable excellence in all operations, to live our commitment to social justice, and to meet our targeted greenhouse gas reductions as detailed in the Climate Action Plan. 

Our art galleries also regularly host sustainability themed exhibits on a regular basis. For example, in February of 2025, the Sylvania Art Gallery held an exhibit of Phyllis Trowbridge’s work, Painting in Time. This work features the Pacific Northwest landscape; she often returns to the same place multiple times in a year to complete a piece. PCC is fortunate that she also is offering her plein air painting workshop in conjunction with the Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference that we are hosting March 5, 2025.

We know that

• ~ 400 students attend the Earth Week tabling event (100 students per day).
• ~160 students attend the annual EcoArtivism event.
• ~ 190 students attend individual Earth Week events (24 events * 8 students per event).
• ~ 60-75 students participate in the ecochallenge each year.
• ~ 200 students participate in Harvest Week each fall.
• ~ 400 students participate in various other events activities throughout the year.
• At least 45 students volunteer at the learning gardens annually.
• At least 211 students visit our learning gardens each year through classes.
• Around 900 students attend the Week of Welcome/student orientation event each year.

Through the Basic Needs and Sustainability Leadership Program

• 67 students were provided with transportation wallets & 49 students were supported with emergency TriMet HOP passes
• HYGIENE ITEMS - Over 6,000 hygiene items and travel size kits were distributed to PCC students
• WINTER WARM UP KITS - 250 warm clothing kits with hats, gloves and socks were supplied to students in December & January
• STUDENT LEADERS - 15 students leaders  provided over 5000 hours of peer to peer mutual aid to PCC students
• PCC LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER - The LRC (formally CLEAR Clinic) saw 4,097 clients, 32.5% were PCC students and alumni, and 5.6% were immediate family of PCC students or employees.
• STUDENT RESOURCE FAIR - The college’s first PCC Student Resource Fair in May 2024 had 34 community partners and over 180 attendees.  Event will be hosted bi-annually at PCC .
• Criminal record expungements: 2,463
• FREE FOOD MARKETS - 15 markets were hosted in fall, winter & spring terms distributing  over  75,000 lbs of food to 2,326 households, supporting over 7,550 students & community members
• PANTHER SNACKS - 19 campus partners provided over 10,000 lbs of snacks to PCC students in fall, winter & spring terms 23/

Each of the college's four campuses and one of the centers is home to a learning garden.  PCC Learning Gardens provide students the opportunity for hands-on outdoor learning as well as fresh food growing in the gardens. The Portland Community College Learning Gardens are safe, welcoming, educational spaces that were built for and by students. The gardens promote interdisciplinary academic achievement, leadership development, curricular and co-curricular opportunities and model sustainable food systems through dynamic and responsive hands-on education. These living classrooms work to offer equity-centered learning opportunities, cultivate a sense of belonging and promote community on campus in our support of food sovereignty.