Dr. John Noakes, interim director of the School of Education, was featured in an online Aug. 24 news article published by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), which was republished on KLCC, Oregon’s branch of National Public Radio (NPR). The news report explores the 2020 protests for Black Lives Matter and against police brutality in Portland, Ore.

In the article, Noakes emphasized that the situation is not black-and-white but nuanced, and that each narrative uses specific information to present their perspective in the best possible light. 

“What I try to teach my students is not to think of it as one side lying,” Dr. Noakes was quoted as saying. “It’s that all the facts are true. Each side takes certain facts and highlights them and tries to generalize them.”

Dr. Noakes also noted that while it is true that some Portland protests damage property, this does not mean that the city is dominated by violent anarchists. 

In June, Dr. Noakes was quoted in multiple news sources for his expertise in policing and violence, including ABC News, the Toronto Star, FiveThirtyEight, The Marshall Project, Stars and Stripes, and Virginia Pilot.