Senior Vice President and Provost John Moseley asked faculty Monday to “speak now or forever hold your peace” regarding Moseley’s intent to appoint Interim Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity Charles Martinez to full vice provost status.
Moseley held three separate hour-long sessions – one for faculty, one for students and one for community members.
Martinez was met warmly during the faculty session and doused with broad questionsconcerning the diversity plan and Martinez’s background and thoughts on diversity on campus.
Martinez has worked at the University for nine years and has served as the interim vice provost for institutional equity and diversity since spring 2005. He said he began his work as vice provost during a controversial time shortly after the initial release of the University’s Five-Year Diversity plan.
“At this moment, as I contemplated regularizing this position now, I’ve certainly gotten the same set of questions about this: Are you crazy? This is so difficult; we have so many challenges,” he said.
Martinez said his motivating factor in taking on the position is to continue his work on campus, particularly with the diversity plan.
“Once you put your heart and soul into that, and you lose a fair amount of skin in the process, you feel like you want to see that through to some positive end,” he said. “But I’m not crazy. I have great passion for this work, I understand how important it is, I see where we have to go, and it’s very important to me to play the role that I can in seeing this through to a more positive place.”
Martinez said he is open about the challenges he faces at the University, which can be helpful but also can create anxiety. Martinez said he brings a unique perspective to the University administration because he wasn’t “raised” as an administrator, but he has experience as a faculty member at the University.
Martinez addressed questions about the University adequately using its resources to enhance diversity on campus.
The University has failed in the past to recognize that everyone on campus has something to contribute when contemplating the work of diversity, Martinez said.
“Instead what we do is we tend to marginalize who’s allowed to give voice to this, who’s allowed to be a legitimate expert to a select group of people,” he said.
During the student session, which drew only two attendees, Martinez touched on many of the same questions the faculty raised.
Martinez repeatedly said he is focused on his position as vice provost, which will limit his teaching opportunities.
“The reality is that this is where I need to be, this is where I’m putting my energy right now,” Martinez said.
At the community session Martinez fielded questions from about seven Eugeneans.
Leaders from Native American tribes, as well as members of the Latino community raised concerns about the disproportionate number of minority students at the University in comparison to minority high school graduates in Oregon.
Moseley pointed out that the number of Latino, Native-American and black high school graduates increased during a period when white high school graduates didn’t increase, yet the percentage at the University stayed the same.
“I can say that what we were doing wasn’t working,” Moseley said.
Martinez said he recognizes the challenges of attracting and retaining minority students and faculty and ensuring they feel safe and welcome on campus.
“I have a lot of commitment to get us somewhere where we haven’t been before, despite some of the real challenges we’ll face,” he said.

News reporter Ed Oser contributed to this report.