News reports on Task Force recommendations:
Alexandra Wallachy in the Daily Emerald:
University Senate was action-packed and attendance-packed at its meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
The Senate Task Force to Address Sexual Violence and Survivor Support co-chair Carol Stabile presented the task force’s recommendations at the meeting held in Lawrence 115.
The recommendation is titled “Twenty Students Per Week,” addressing the statistic that one in five women is assaulted during college according to the Center for Disease Control and the White House.
“The problem of widespread campus sexual violence is not a new one,” Stabile and the report said. “But national attention to the problem, inspired by campus activists, scholars, lawyers, politicians and the leadership provided by the White House has broken the silence and secrecy upon which sexual violence thrives.”
Stabile emphasized the role of athletics and fraternity and sorority life in sexual violence.
“We cannot ignore the fact that, despite the relatively small number of students directly involved in their activities,” Stabile and the report said, “Athletics and Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) play disproportionately powerful roles in facilitating or tolerating conditions in which sexual violence occurs on campus.”
Andrew Greif in the Oregonian:
“We must not be reluctant to name sexual violence or to discuss its prevalence, even when doing so entails investigating and addressing problems within organizations that contribute to the social and cultural life of the university,” the UO Senate report states. “We cannot ignore the fact that, despite the relatively small number of students directly involved in their activities, Athletics and Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) play disproportionately powerful roles in facilitating or tolerating conditions in which sexual violence occurs on campus.
Josephine Woolington in the RG:
A suspension of plans to expand the number of sorority and fraternity chapters on the University of Oregon campus is among 23 recommendations presented this afternoon to the University Senate by a task force charged with studying the UO’s sexual violence prevention efforts.
The nearly two dozen recommendations are intended to improve the UO’s prevention and support policies for victims. The changes would cost the university at least $500,000.
Other recommendations put forth by the task force include forming a sorority and fraternity sexual assault task force; creating an Office to Address Sexual and Gender Violence; funding a campus “climate” survey to assess rates of victimization; developing proposals to mandate that all students take classes on gender, sexuality and social inequity; and empowering the University Senate Intercollegiate Athletics Committee to address sexual violence issues within the UO athletic department.
115 Lawrence, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
3:00 pm 1. Call to Order
3:00 pm 2. Approval of Minutes
3:00 pm 3. State of the University
3.1 Connie Ballmer, Chair of the Presidential Search Committee Presentation and Discussion
Very good sign that the Board is willing to talk with the faculty transparently about this. Presents basics from http://trustees.uoregon.edu/presidentialsearch. Emphasizes that we have a stable board, good interim president good place to start a search. [Be better with a big academic donation in the bag, instead of all this Duck nonsense, but it’s still good.]
Student Q: Why all these committees if board decides? Which committee really has power? A: The search committee. Q: Why no students on search committee? A: None: Q: Why 2 Moffitts but no students? A: I trust the Moffitts.
Bonine Q: What’s your view of the role of faculty, Senate, board w.r.s.t. shared governance? A: I’ll defer to Chuck Lillis.
Student Q: How long is the term of a president supposed to be? A: 7 to 12 years as goal.
3:20 pm 4. New Business
4.1 Presentation of Recommendations from Senate Task Force to Address Sexual Violence and Survivor Support (Carol Stabile and Randy Sullivan, Co-Chairs and Robert Kyr, University Senate President)
REPORT HERE, powerpoint summary here.
President Kyr thanks members, especially Carol Stabile. Huge amount of work.
[Blogging will be light, I’m listening.] Professor Stabile calls out athletics and greek life in particular, notes the “wall of secrecy” around athletics, calls for them to cooperate with IAC. Calls for a suspension of plans to expand fraternities and sororities.
4.2 Strategic Planning Process, Revision of the Academic Plan, and University Priorities (Interim President Scott Coltrane and Acting Provost Frances Bronet)
Coltrane thanks Senate TF, says he will consider their proposals along with the upcoming report from the ~$200K euphemistically named “President’s Task Force”
On to “Achieving Competitive Excellence” report. Same thing presented to BOT a few months back.
4.3 Motion (Resolution): GTFF Bargaining; Regina Psaki, Professor (Romance Languages) & UO Senator
Passed unanimously. How can a university with AAU pretensions, in desperate need of more grad students, give them the shaft over pay and benefits?
Giant waste of administrative time, effort, and money. Cut a deal and let’s all get back to work – Interim President Coltrane.
5:00 pm 5. Open Discussion
5:00 pm 6. Reports
5:00 pm 7. Notice(s) of Motion
5:00 pm 8. Other Business
5:00 pm 9. Adjournment
Did anything happen with the GTFF bargaining resolution?
Passed unanimously.
Never waste a crisis as a chance to advance your own agenda and ideology. Let’s hope common sense prevails and keeps the focus on the problem and what might actually work within our local context.
It’s understandable that Ballmer wants to defer to Lillis, however when asked twice, I found her lack of comment disingenuous. All she had to offer was a simple bit of political pablum — how hard is that? Instead, she wants Chuck to speak before she speaks as an equal board member.
Coltrane about the Senate Faculty sex assault proposals:
“The costs made my eyes bulge.”
Those are the words of an “interim” president, and again reaffirms my view of these administrators that is only about the money.
Their eyes never bulge when the sport hounds across the river overspend themselves to our debt. Your priorities, Scott. Should we be questioning them?
My eyes bulge at the cost of NOT doing anything.
“Q: Why 2 Moffitts but no students? A: I trust the Moffitts.”
gag! How can one have confidence in the board, in Ms. Ballmer or in the two Moffits when this kind of sh*t goes forward?
It was a rather disconcerting response. But at least Ms Ballmer answered questions. Coltrane and Bronet spent so much time talking, there was no time to ask them anything.