One or multiple unknown participants shouted racist slurs during a Zoom event hosted by University of Oregon students on Oct 2.
UO’s student chapter of the American Constitution Society invited Herman Lindsey, a Black man who was exonerated from Florida’s death row in 2009, to speak at a virtual Q&A. The event was widely publicized and drew participants from UO’s law school, Willamette University and the public, according to a campus-wide email from Provost Patrick Phillips on Oct. 5.
At least one unidentified individual yelled racist slurs at the beginning of the event, prompting the event organizers to close the meeting. The student group ultimately reopened the meeting to known participants, addressed the incident and discussed the role of racism in the criminal justice system.
“The University of Oregon — unequivocally — stands firmly against racism and all hate speech,” Phillips wrote in his email. “There is zero tolerance for this egregious and offensive behavior.”
Marcilynn Burke, dean of the UO School of Law, also sent an email to the UO law community denouncing the act. She asked that the university community be “courageous and not complicit” by calling out racist behavior, as well as acknowledging the harm that it causes and the progress that needs to be made.
“While we denounce this act,” Burke wrote, “at the same time as a law school, we are well-positioned to raise awareness and increase understanding around the issues raised by this hateful incident.”
She said the law school is working with student groups to identify ways to maintain security at public events.
“We want to encourage students to take advantage of all those student resources about remote learning and to do everything they can to protect themselves from this kind of assault,” said David Austin, communications director for the Provost’s office. In his email, Phillips encouraged people planning and hosting events to visit the UO webpage for preventing Zoombombing.