AWP is very concerned about a recent situation at the DoubleTree Hotel in Portland, Oregon, in which an African American guest was treated inappropriately by hotel staff. This hotel is a key venue for our upcoming conference. AWP takes safety, dignity, and respect seriously, and we do not tolerate discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity/expression, age, national origin/ethnicity, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status. 

While initial follow-up reports indicate that this incident was a product of unacceptable behavior by two hotel staff who have since been fired, and that the hotel management is pursuing a resolution directly with the guest affected, AWP is reaching out to the hotel senior management to receive formal assurances that their management and HR practices are adequate to ensure that no such incident reoccurs in the future, and particularly while AWP conference participants are on the hotel’s premises.

We shall also continue to investigate appropriate hotel options available in Portland during #AWP19.

Cynthia Sherman, Director of Conferences
Chloe Schwenke, Interim Executive Director