Urban Rural Ambassadors is an immersive field-based class created jointly by the state’s rural university – Eastern Oregon University – and the state’s urban university – Portland State University. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at Eastern Oregon University or Portland State University in any major or program. Students with an interest in community development, environmental management, political science, public administration, urban planning, and more have taken this class. The class is also open to any member of the public wishing to take the class as a non-degree student through EOU or PSU.

Organized by the Rural Engagement and Vitality Center in La Grande and the National Policy Consensus Center in Portland, in this three-credit class, students learn about commonalities and differences across Oregon communities.

This perspective builds a critical framework for understanding the nuances of working across the state’s urban-rural “divide.” In 2025, the class will look at food systems in urban and rural environments. Students will participate in panel discussions, attend lectures from diverse elected officials and community leaders, and build relationships with people across the state.

Advancing solutions for the state

Urban Oregon and rural Oregon share many public challenges, such as environmental health, housing, and climate change, though the geographic and policy context, and the requisite strategies, may often be quite different. Oregon’s capacity to address important public issues is, in large part, dependent upon the ability of the state’s urban and rural interests to work together, and – where there are important differences – to work through those differences for the common good.

Media about the Urban-Rural Ambassadors Institute 

• Check out this brief film about the program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5_gn6QvRKw
• See a Time Magazine film about the program: Carlisle, Madeline. 2020. How Students in Oregon Are Bridging the Rural and Urban Divide, Time Magazine. https://time.com/collection/apart-not-alone/5809203/bridging-rural-urban-divide/
• See an article about the program: Urban Rural Ambassadors Institute challenges urban-rural ideas

Scott Fairley Memorial Scholarship

The Scott Fairley Memorial Scholarship Fund provides tuition for undergraduate students from Eastern Oregon University to participate in the Urban and Rural Ambassadors Summer Institute, a partnership of Portland State University and Eastern Oregon University. Those who worked closely with Fairley knew well his advocacy for eastern Oregon, whether it was through his work as a state employee or his time on the city council. He was known as a collaborator with an uncommon ability to bring people together on divisive issues. He took his positivity, combined with his breadth of knowledge, to bridge discussions in Salem often for the good of communities of Eastern Oregon. The memorial fund is a fitting tribute to a public servant who understood rural and urban issues and served the public across the state.

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