“Animal house is satire, the real UO is a nightmare.”
“Retaliation supports rapists.”
“Silence isn’t the same as safety.”
“Survivors aren’t aggressors.”
These are a few of the signs that were held by protesters outside Johnson Hall on Friday, protesting how administration is dealing with the recent termination of employee Karen Stokes as Executive Assistant to the Director of the University Counseling and Testing Center.
Stokes wrote a letter to administration in February stating she felt the University of Oregon had breached confidentiality by pulling the counseling records of a student involved in an alleged sexual assault last spring. The survivor of the alleged assault brought a case against the university, and the university may have pulled her counseling records to build a defense.
Stokes announced during spring break that she was being “forced to leave her position” by UO administration. Administration sources said she’s being transitioned into another position in the university. Stokes has not confirmed whether or not that’s the case. The university directory still lists Stokes as the Executive Assistant to the Director of the UCTC.
Ben Owaja, student activist, said administration accessed Jane Doe’s counseling records without consent to help strengthen their case against the survivor.
“They used spring break as a cover and called it a transition as a mask,” Owaja said. “Since the employee will not receive a paycheck, this is a firing, not a transition because transitioning doesn’t pay the bills.”
The rally was intended to demand an apology from administration and to be accountable for their actions, Owaja said.
Joe Henry, president of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, said administration is acting out of paranoia and fear.
“We’re talking about the future of this institution,” he said. “We deserve safety and protection.”
Administration released an email to students and faculty during the rally attempting to focus attention on spring term and how “April is traditionally a time of hope and renewal.”
Owaja read the email during the rally stating he felt the healing has yet to start and we haven’t seen any commitments yet.
“Lies,” he said.
The university has been actively running its “Ducks Do Something,” campaign, which is part of the national “It’s on Us” campaign. Graduate student Jessica Sarontay said although the campus is working hard on this campaign, “When we tell workers to shut up, that contributes to silence. Rape culture thrives in silence.”
She calls Stokes a hero because she stood up against administration and held them accountable for their actions.
“It’s unfortunately on us to change this campus culture,” Owaja said. “It’s on us to end the culture of silence and to stand up for victims of sexual assault because Ducks do something when students don’t feel safe.”