Kenton Byrd

Disclaimer: While place descriptions and news events may coincide with the real world, all characters and the plot are fictional. 
== Biography ==
Kenton Byrd has been the President of Portland State University since about 2011.
=== Book 1: Stories We Tell ===
On Friday May 29, 2020 President Byrd is present at the 8am PSU Cabinet meeting in the President's conference room together with Provost McShane and VP of Student Affairs, Dr Davis. He thanks Ryan Matthews for joining them, and apologizes for not inviting John Cooper or Michelle Stewart. He then gives Dr Davis the floor. When Dr Davis asserts that EWN cannot use student fee revenue to cover the downtown protest, President Byrd supports Ryan. He confirms the Student Fee committee has no authority over how fees are spent once they're allocated, nor can they use editorial content in their decision making.
In 2020, he notifies the Board of Trustees that he intends to retire in June 2021, but doing a search for a new president in a pandemic isn't really possible
== Physical Appearance ==
In 2020, President Byrd is in his 70s. 
Ryan thinks he looks like an absent-minded professor who may need someone to remind him to tie his own shoelaces. 
=== Health ===
==== Book 4: Hold Me ====
* Tuesday December 1, 2020 - At 3pm on December 1, 2020 Andrew McShane is appointed acting president of Portland State University as President Kenton Byrd has contracted COVID and been placed on a respirator at OHSU.
== Personality ==
=== Book 1: Stories We Tell ===
Emily Andersen considers President Byrd to be a nice old guy, though a bit absent-minded. "Everyone knew that the person running the place was the provost."
Ryan Matthews has taken an Honor's seminar with him in Latin, and found him to be an amazing teacher. He thinks Byrd is a good man, and smart, and thinks he leads the university well.