Dear Colleagues: We have a difficult message to share with you today about the financial outlook for our institution. Over the last several months, the university’s budget has been adversely affected by several factors, including sweeping changes to federal research funding, limited state support, and shortfalls in non-resident enrollment projections.…
UO Matters
At the Wayne Morse Center, “with invited faculty from Stanford.” OMG. From Stanford. How embarrassing. Of course to quote Senator Morse speaking about the campus protests against Vietnam, which really did “create disruptions and threaten health and safety”:
“I don’t think you have any idea of the power that you exercise on issues before the Congress. My plea is we’ve got to think of the future…your future, and we’ve got to come to grips with the issues that are going to confront your generation.”
But that was then. Now? President Scholz wants Provost Long to earn his paycheck by putting his name to this email from UO’s lawyers and PR flacks, and apparently Long needs the money:
Response to Student Worker Union Disruptions
Dear UO employees,
The University of Oregon firmly supports free expression, peaceful protest, and legal strike activities. These are essential rights protected by the First Amendment and core to our identity as a public institution of higher education. But those rights do not extend to behaviors that intimidate others, obstruct essential operations, or create conditions of physical threat or other harm to those in our community.
Over the past several days, protest activities organized by the University of Oregon Student Workers union (UOSW) have disrupted three important university events, two of which were private: the first hosted by the Division of Equity and Inclusion and the Office of Human Resources about employee engagement, the second, by Admissions designed to deliver college preparation resources to high school students, including those from underrepresented backgrounds, and the third, a Conversation on Democracy’s Future, sponsored by the School of Global Studies and Languages and Department of Political Science–as well as the Global Studies Institute and the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics–with invited faculty from Stanford and members of the public.
During these disruptions, protesters created a threat to health and safety by exceeding fire marshal occupancy limits, blocking exits and intimidating participants, which included invited guests and minors. Protestors also used amplified sound indoors and at volumes that not only violated the sound policy but also intimidated and caused physical pain to some attendees, including those with hearing devices.
In addition — and notably — protesters have interfered with the delivery of food and essential medication, affecting fellow students who depend on these deliveries. This includes interrupting and preventing a planned distribution of produce to food-insecure students.
These disruptions violate university policy, community norms, health and safety codes, and, potentially, applicable law. They are neither protected speech nor part of lawful protected work stoppage action. Actions taken by these protesters also threaten the integrity, safety, and inclusivity of our campus. They are especially troubling when they target programs aimed at supporting our most vulnerable and historically underserved communities.
The university is actively reviewing these incidents and will take all appropriate action, including possible legal and disciplinary action.
Our commitment to free speech is unwavering, but so is our responsibility to maintain a secure, respectful, and welcoming campus for all. These actions cross a line between peaceful protest and actions that infringe upon the rights and safety of others.
The university continues to come to the bargaining table in good faith. The most recent bargaining updates and FAQs can be found on the HR website.
Sincerely,
Christopher P. Long
Provost and Senior Vice President
Mark Schmelz
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
UO General Counsel Kevin Reed in 2019:
… Indeed, the Faculty Club has earned a reputation on campus as being an exclusionary group, dominated by white men. Exactly the sort of “good ole boys club” I think the Senate would want to distance itself from. …
This was received with well deserved ridicule – see the comments here, e.g.:
Wait, could this possibly be the SAME Kevin Reed whose SUV (parked in a privileged spot at the heart of campus) is ostentatiously plastered with “old-boy” Harvard and UVA stickers?
I wonder if poor Kevin actually objects to clubs, or if he’s just ticked off that there’s a club to which his extraordinary privilege doesn’t gain him entry?
Sour grapes anyone?
But now UO’s Student Workers have shut it down – not because they think pretending to be woke will help them, but simply because they want more money:
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The Emerald has more on the strike here.
And this despite all the money he let his VP for marketing Carol Keese spend trying to game it:
Q: Are university of oregon administrators overpaid?
Claude: Based on my research, here’s what I found about University of Oregon administrator salaries: …
In summary, while the data doesn’t definitively answer whether UO administrators are “overpaid,” it does show that administrator salaries at UO are nearly at parity with peer institutions (99.4% of AAU averages), while faculty salaries rank at the bottom of comparable universities. This suggests a significant prioritization of administrative compensation over faculty compensation at the University of Oregon.
They want to apply the Chatham House Rule, which would prevent a PI from telling their grant officer, say, “but I just followed the advice I got from my university’s general counsel.”
Sort of reminds me of this classic.