A Hawaiian freshman who lived in the residence halls left during his first week at the University because of alleged racial harassment and death threats, prompting a University administrator to devote part of a future trip to Hawaii to addressing concerns there.
Interim Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity Charles Martinez could be accompanied by University President Dave Frohnmayer, Martinez said.
The parents of Zane Lobetos e-mailed several administrators on Oct. 3, explaining the reasons behind their son’s decision to leave the University.
“We don’t know a whole lot” about the incidents alleged in the e-mail, Martinez said, but “it was clear to me that it was a stressful situation and that the student felt the need to leave the University because of stress.”
Facts about what happened to Lobetos are not available because no witness has come forward, no officials were informed of the alleged harassment until after Lobetos left the University, and University officials have been unable to contact him directly, Martinez said.
According to the e-mail, Lobetos “was verbally attacked with racial and derogatory remarks about his race, clothing and threatened with physical harm.” The e-mail also claims Lobetos received death threats on the message board on the door of his Carson Hall room.
Lobetos’ parents flew to Oregon on Sept. 30 to pick him up after he withdrew from classes, according to the e-mail.
Interim Dean of Students Robin Holmes spoke with Lobetos’ parents on the phone hours after receiving the e-mail, but they did not know more than what was included in the e-mail, Martinez said.
Phone calls to Lobetos’ parents in Hawaii were not returned.
Trips to Hawaii by top administrators are common because of the extensive ties the University has with the Hawaiian community, and the University saw those ties an opportunity to speak with anyone who may have heard of Lobetos’ situation and has questions about the support services available at the University, Martinez said.
“This wouldn’t be a reason or an extra reason to go, but it clearly is an opportunity to answer questions,” Martinez said.
Kirk Koenig of the University admissions department e-mailed career and college guidance counselors in Hawaii a couple weeks ago regarding the incident, said Linda Liu, associate director of the Office of Multicultural Academic Support.
The e-mail said the University administration was looking into the situation and that “they want to make sure that this type of thing doesn’t happen anymore,” said Nelson Chee, a career and college counselor at Castle High School in Hawaii who received the message.
The University is examining the support system in place on campus to see how a student was able to feel so unsafe that he felt it necessary to leave without first contacting any University officials or accessing any support services, Martinez said.
“We want to make sure we’re making it easy for students to get connected to support services when they need it most,” Martinez said.
Members of the Hawaii Club received Lobetos’ parents’ e-mail during the first week of school after they sent messages to Lobetos and other Hawaiian freshmen inviting them to the club’s first meeting of the year.
Liu attended the club’s Oct. 15 meeting to serve as a liaison between the Hawaii Club and the administration, she said.
“My biggest role, really, is to let students know that we’re here as a support system for them,” Liu said. “Unfortunately, it’s gotten out to other communities that the University may not be the safest place.”
Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of University Housing Mike Eyster sent an e-mail Thursday to all students living in the residence halls informing them of the variety of support services available to them and condemning the racist acts reported to the administration.
“As members of the University of Oregon community we must have the conviction and the courage to truly treat one another the way we would like to be treated,” Eyster wrote.
The Hawaii Club has a petition for students to sign in support of Lobetos.
“I wish there could be someone held responsible for what happened, whether it be a student or housing,” Hawaii Club Co-director and University junior Lily Bender said.
Club co-Director and University senior Nestor Ugale said it’s obvious the University wants to do something, but officials don’t know what can be done.
Eyster said he would like to see whoever was responsible for making the threats punished accordingly, but “we were unable to speak with anyone in the building who was aware of the problems the student had encountered.”
University Housing also held a meeting Thursday in Carson Hall with about 30 or 40 residence assistants and other students to discuss the incident.
“The meeting ended with, I think, a sense of commitment by everybody in the room to work together and try to prevent these kinds of things from happening,” Eyster said.
Publicizing the extensive support systems on campus, such as the Bias Response Team and the Office of Multicultural Academic Support, to parents instead of just students is one step Eyster would like to take to ensure anyone who needs the services are able to take advantage of them.
Students experience discrimination on campus every day and do not get the help they need, Ugale said.
“The only reason that the case is getting so much attention is because he went home,” Ugale said.
Ugale said there are serious holes in multicultural and academic support which must be filled.
“There are so many resources on campus that he could have touched, but it wasn’t readily available to him,” Ugale said.