We are here today as a collective body to represent the voices that have been forcibly silenced by institutions of power such as the Student Senate and Program Finance Committee (PFC). The concerns and the incidents listed on our signs represent only a small number of the incidents in which students have specifically felt institutional oppression. We are not targeting individuals but rather the bureaucratic system that normalizes and prioritizes whiteness, heteronormativity, sexism, gender conformity, euro-centrism, dominant language (english), ableness, and classism, to name only a few.
Unions were created as a means to provide a safe spaces for students of various under represented communities on this campus. We, Student Organizations exist as a means to create community, empowerment, self-determination, and change. Student organizations are a crucial aspect of the University of Oregon because they act as a means to recruit and retain Students of Color, Womyn, and Queer Folks by filling pipelines and creating a critical mass that this campus so desperately needs. In order for these to become a reality Student leaders and representatives like Student Senate and PFC must be sensitive and respectful as well as understand the values of Student Organizations on campus. Student Senate and PFC’s commitment to support and contribution to Student Organizations will not only ensure its survival, and vitalization, but also build and add on to the long and overdue Diversity Plan.
Our presence today is a means to address the oppressive actions directed towards student groups, unions and organizations within Student Senate and PFC. We acknowledge that it is not always easy to understand the system of oppression but in no way does this make it an excuse to dismiss the opportunity of conversation and dialogue. If you are not willing to take time to do personal education work as a student body and representative of the University, you are refusing the opportunity to better serve the student body you represent.
Mai Vang & Josué Peña-Juárez
Representatives of the Multicultural Center and student unions