Members of the University Senate ad hoc committee on trademark licensing, in their final report to senate members, called on the University administration Wednesday to establish a new institute or curricula to further study global human rights.
The committee had been studying issues surrounding labor monitoring and code of conduct issues since student protests led to the University establishing relations with both the Worker Rights Consortium and the Fair Labor Association.
But those membership ties were never formalized because of legal issues, and a policy adopted in February by the State Board of Higher Education effectively killed any future University involvement with monitoring organizations.
Professor David Frank, director of the Honors College and committee chairman, said while the board’s decision made most of the committee’s work irrelevant, it was still able to conclude that the University should support greater research into human rights issues.
He said the one point all members of the committee agreed on was that the University should encourage the collaboration of research and education on human rights in the global economy.
“We envision the creation of a center for the study of global rights,” Frank said.
Many senators supported the motion, which was tabled to be voted on at the next meeting, and also expressed their dismay and frustration at the state board’s policy.
University President Dave Frohnmayer attended the senate meeting and said afterward that the administration wholeheartedly supports the intent of the ad hoc committee’s recommendation, but said it was far too early to guess at the plan’s specifics.
“We will embrace the spirit of the recommendation,” he said.
Frohnmayer also added that the board’s policy “doesn’t do anything to stifle” active debate on the issues surrounding labor and trademark licensing.
Adopted during the board’s Feb. 16 meeting, the policy requires all schools in the Oregon University System to conduct business in “a straightforward and politically impartial manner,” making it illegal for Oregon’s universities to become full members of monitoring groups such as the WRC and FLA.
Greg McLauchlan, an associate professor of sociology, said “it was a sad day in higher education” when a university is required to step back from organizations that he said offer some of the only truly accurate accounts of human rights abuses in international factories. He said it should be every university’s mission to rely on unbiased sources of information for intellectual discussion, and that the board’s policy prevents that flow of ideas.
Other senators said the policy defeated the spirit of student activism that helped keep the issue of human rights abuse on the campus agenda.
“The net effect of how the story unfolded is negative,” said Randall McGowen, a history professor who also called the board’s policy “a legal smokescreen.”
He said faculty members should implement the ad hoc committee’s recommendation to ensure that the student movement does not become forgotten.
Margaret Hallock, faculty director for the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, said she remains optimistic about working on human rights issues despite the board’s decision.
“There is still much we can do under the [Oregon University System] policy,” she said.
By staying in touch with monitoring organizations and continuing to look at the various issues around human rights, Hallock said the University will be able to maintain in active voice in the debate.
Other senators echoed opinion that the University need not take a defeatist or victimized stance.
Senators will vote on the committee’s report, which was introduced as a motion, at their next meeting in May.