Members of the University of Oregon Campus Labor Council rallied today outside of the Lillis Business Complex and marched to Johnson Hall to deliver UO President John Karl Scholz “a letter of condemnation.”
The CLC consists of the four campus unions: Service Employees International Union 503, Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, United Academics and UO Student Workers. They are rallying in opposition to “extraordinary surveillance measures” implemented by UO, according to a media advisory sent to the Emerald.
“These measures include but are not limited to the University’s requests that students report their instructors’ political course content and targeting peaceful student protests using video recordings from the Board of Trustees public meetings. The CLC interprets these measures as threats to free speech on campus and the practice of academic freedom for educators at UO,” the media advisory said.
In the media advisory, the CLC states that UO has implemented these surveillance measures “to target and repress students, faculty and staff based on the content of their speech.”
Five representatives from the different labor unions spoke at the rally, including GTFF President Presence O’Neal, UAUO President Mike Urbancic, GTFF VP for Organizing Matthew Tuten, SEIU President Jennifer Smith and UOSW member Mae Bracelin.
“[CLC is] requesting that the president drop all the code of conduct violations against protest-related issuances, seize the extraordinary surveillance measures required to enter the Board of Trustees meetings and close the creepy course content email that students are being encouraged to use to rat on their faculty and their instructors,” O’Neal said.
According to O’Neal, UO has cross-referenced photos sent through emails from administration that were asking students to report their instructors for bias with photos from the pro-Palestine encampment to identify those involved.
“[GTFF] stands here today in total opposition to the increasing levels of surveillance and oppression coming from our university’s administration and response to ongoing Palestine student activism,” Tuten said.
Tuten said that the university “pretends to care about promoting an environment conducive to free and open exchange of ideas” after the code of conduct charges were administered to students who “spoke out about one of the most pressing issues of our generation.”
According to Bracelin, many of the students who received code of conduct violations were members of GTFF and UOSW.
“At our last bargaining session [with administration], UO’s Title IX director accused one of our lead negotiators of being ‘divorced from reality’ for believing that harassment and discrimination is a pressing issue in our workplace,” Bracelin said.
Bracelin said that the CLC feels that the university has gone “behind their backs” on the promises made in May at the end of the encampment.
The protestors marched to Johnson Hall where Smith, Urbancic, O’Neal and Tuten attempted to make the delivery to President Scholz, but Mark Schmelz, chief human resources and vice president, “intercepted,” according to O’Neal.
“Jenn Smith from SEIU spoke on behalf of all of us requesting a meeting with the president to discuss our concerns,” O’Neal said. “But we made it clear that either way, this isn’t over.”
