Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz and 10 local public agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday morning as a recommitment to the issues of diversity and human rights in Lane County.
The MOU was signed for a second time at a ceremony held at the Springfield Justice Center. The ceremony was proceeded by a presentation on immigration in Oregon and Lane County by Bob Bussel, associate professor and director of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University.
“Immigrants are already woven into the fabric of our community,” Bussel said. “Between 1990 and 2000 the percentage of foreign-born residents of Lane County grew by 66.9 percent.”
The MOU was originally signed in February 2002 to create the Diversity and Human Rights Consortium, an association of 11 public agencies with the purpose of providing information for the advancement of diversity, equality and human rights.
The consortium was established in response to the county’s changing population with an expectation to raise participants’ accountability. The MOU holds consortium agencies to an agreement to maintain cooperative working relationships, facilitate interagency communication and collaboration on diversity, equality and human rights. “We (at the University) worked really hard over the last five years to articulate some really key objectives in terms of our diversity planning process,” said Charles Martinez, vice provost for the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity at the University. “This MOU, which the University has been involved in for a long time and the partners in the school districts and local organizations, really gives us a mechanism for partnership with those efforts.”
Various Lane County agencies formed the Task Force on Human Rights and Affirmative Action in order to face issues of affirmative action and to create a hospitable environment in the local community in 1991; however, it disbanded after a few years.
When established, the consortium was considered one of the first large collaborative efforts for the promotion of diversity and inclusion in Oregon.
The consortium includes Bethel School District, City of Eugene, City of Springfield, Eugene School District 4J, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Lane Community College, Lane County, Lane Education Service District, Lane Transit District, Springfield Public Schools and University of Oregon.
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