First UO President Mike Gottfredson tried to claim the Eugene Police hid their investigative report on the basketball rape allegations from him.
So the police released their timeline contradicting him. Gottfredson then refused to release the documents supporting his story, claiming they were redacted because of “attorney-client privilege”.
Then yesterday UO public records supervisor Dave Hubin tried to use FERPA to justify why his office had redacted an email from Mayor Kitty Piercy to Gottfredson’s chief of staff Greg Rikhoff, expressing her concerns about the rape allegations.
So today Mayor Kitty Piercy released the email, contradicting Hubin’s excuses.
Josephine Woolington has story in the RG here, complete with a quote from UO PR flack Tobin Klinger, still trying to pretend. And several from UO Journalism and First Amendment Chair Kyu Ho Youm, who nails it. FERPA does not require these redactions.
What else is hidden behind UO’s redactions – and, with 11 days until Gottfredson’s commencement speech to UO’s students and their parents, what’s coming next?
I’m not sure, but Hubin’s office is now trying to use fees to prevent the release of additional documents:
The University of Oregon has received your public records request for Dear “any public records involving communications to or from special assistant to the president and athletic director Lorraine Davis involving the March 8-9 rape allegations, from March 9th to the present”,on 06/03/2014, attached. The office has at least some documents responsive to your request. By this email, the office is providing you with an estimate to respond to your requests.
The office estimates the actual cost of responding to your request to be $60.00. Upon receipt of a check made payable to the University of Oregon for that amount, the office will proceed to locate, copy, and provide the records you have requested that are not exempt from disclosure. Your check may be sent to the attention of Office of Public Records, 6207 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-6207.
and
The University of Oregon has received your public records request for “any public records involving communications to or from Faculty Athletics Representative Jim O’Fallon involving the March 8-9 rape allegations”, on 06/03/2014, attached. The office has at least some documents responsive to your request. By this email, the office is providing you with an estimate to respond to your requests.
The office estimates the actual cost of responding to your request to be $90.00. Upon receipt of a check made payable to the University of Oregon for that amount, the office will proceed to locate, copy, and provide the records you have requested that are not exempt from disclosure. Your check may be sent to the attention of Office of Public Records, 6207 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-6207.
Not a Kitty fan but she surpassed herself today, in my book, by wading into the muck with a vote for transparency. Major thumbs UP.
Also, a major thumbs up for Josephine Woolington who hasn’t let this incident (episode, sad affair, unfair occurrence?) die. Good work!
Great quotes from Youm. Glad he’s stepped up to the plate on this. Courageous.
That hypocrite Tim Gleason doesn’t have anything to add?
I am glad Youm spoke up. But it doesn’t take any courage for a tenured senior professor to speak up on his or her area of expertise. I would think it is one’s duty, as a faculty member.
Indeed: what would we think of a professor, who specializes in freedom of speech, fearing to speak up about an important issue?
WTF? Is this a whole new level if JH stupidity being revealed? Come on already guys. Quit. Run away. Put thus behind you and move on. We need something to rebuild from once you are all through shitting all over our university.
Nothing you posted supports the contention in your headline that the UO lied. You are the one who is dishonest.
When you follow the link to the R-G story and read the Mayor’s e-mail, you see nothing that would require redaction under FERPA demands. The UO released a totally redacted version of the e-mail, citing their need to comply with FERPA demands as the reason for lack of transparency; ergo the UO lied about the reason and/or need to redact the document.
I’m sure there are those who would characterize a
Bowdlerisation of facts to be a “nuanced presentation” or “alternative telling” or one of many other euphemisms to obfuscate and spin, hoping that their prevailing noise shall hide reality, but that doesn’t change the fact that the UO lied when it redacted, based on the reason it gave for the redaction. And that, for me, is the crux of the biscuit, and very telling about the mentality of the JH bunker.
The way to phrase what you describe is, “UO overly broadly applied FERPA,” not “UO lied.” UOMatters does anything he can to generate controversy/negativity, but readers should have higher standards for linguistic accuracy.
Actually, it was Dave Hubin who lied, in his letter to the RG: http://registerguard.com/rg/opinion/31673906-78/records-eugene-laws-mining-park.html.csp I was being kind.
“UO overly broadly applied…” AND “linguistic accuracy” in the same post? Wow.
To be linguistically accurate, overly broadly applied means going beyond the boundaries set by rules; to apply that to this instance we are discussing, those rules that are required by FERPA, balanced against the transparency required by Oregon’s freedom of information statutes. To claim that the overly broad redactions provided in response to a public records request were made to comply with FERPA when that is the case is, to be linguistically accurate, a deceitfully dishonest misrepresentation.
To us lay folk: a lie.
Spin on…
A great step for the mayor. And her letter is very touching and humane. Complete opposite of Gott.
Did nobody in JH witness the recent General Motors apology? Can they not see their own futures and optimize now?
I think Jerry’s comments on the original R-G article make a lot of sense– I have been advised to invoke FERPA even as a buffer for questions from well-meaning, yet inquisitive, parents that I may bump into at events who are interested in their student’s general progress. As the family member of a sexual assault survivor on this campus (under similar circumstances as this story), I am as outraged as anybody by this whole situation and the well-documented lack of leadership at the top. However, there is going to have to be more damning evidence behind all those redacted words for this story to regain traction.
The city of Eugene is not subject to FERPA, that’s why the Mayor could release the email. The question is, since Register Guard is aware of FERPA, why not submit a request to city of Eugene for correspondence with UO. Then we’d see unredacted versions of the emails from Sgt Martes and Detective Hall to Julie Brown.
I was thinking the same thing after reading the article. Have reporters not leaned on the recipients of the emails from UO to produce them, or have they seen them and found nothing newsworthy?
I know that Ms. Piercy isn’t exactly loved in our community for reasons that opposition have yet to explain to me succinctly, but she showed me today that she is a pillar of strength. She will continue to get my vote.
“I worry that the girl is not getting the support she needs. She is being judged by everyone. I worry about the expected and unacceptable behaviors of all students in this matter, and particularly young males who can feel they are in an alter universe.”
Alter universe is spot on.
This attorney-client privilege is bullshit. Someone in General Counsel gives Gott some legal advice and they can hide anything they want under attorney-client privilege. it is just one more way UO can keep info from the public even if they are public servants who serve only themselves.