The Pacifica Forum is meeting again tonight in Agate Hall from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. because of scheduling conflicts at the University’s Downtown Baker Center, to which University administrators moved the Forum in March. This will be the third time in four weeks the group has met on campus.
As for questions concerning whether the University is allowing the Pacifica Forum back onto campus, Assistant Vice President of Administration Brian Smith said, “There was never any promise” about keeping the Pacifica Forum at the Baker Center.
“We’re just trying to find an appropriate place for (the Forum) to meet based on scheduling,” Smith said, noting that Department of Public Safety officers and other University administrators will be present at the meeting.
University student and Pacifica Forum protester Cimmeron Gillespie said the decision to move the Forum back to campus for meetings is “flippant.”
“The fact that they’re coming back to campus is disrespectful to all of the students who very clearly said that they did not want (the Pacifica Forum) on campus,” said Gillespie, who plans on attending tonight’s meeting in protest.
Instead of hosting a Pacifica Forum meeting, the Baker Center will hold an open house and community outreach event for the University’s Community Education program.
The event displacing the Pacifica Forum aims to inform community members who are interested in taking University Summer Session courses as non-admitted students, and Smith said the downtown property is appropriate for the event.
“The Baker Center is where Community Education is housed, so it’s natural for (this event) to be held there because that’s where they’re located,” Smith said.
Smith, who coordinates where the Pacifica Forum meets when the Baker Center is not available, explained that the Forum meets in Esslinger Hall or Agate Hall when the Baker Center is booked because of the number of attendees that the meetings draw.
As for why the Pacifica Forum is meeting at the University, Smith clarified that the Baker Center is still University property.
Gillespie thinks scheduling Pacifica Forum meetings on-campus could be avoided by changing the time of the meeting if it coincides with another event at the Baker Center, or moving to another University property that isn’t on the main campus.
“The University’s hands are tied by restrictions and laws and they’re afraid of being sued,” Gillespie said. “It’s the responsibility of the campus and Eugene community to take a stand for their beliefs.”
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