On Dec. 20, former University of Oregon Fraternity and Sorority Life leader Leonard Serrato announced in an Instagram video obtained by the Daily Emerald that he had been terminated from his position as assistant director of FSL at UO.
Serrato was previously placed on paid administrative leave in November after posting a video on Instagram telling followers to “jump off a f—king bridge” if they voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The video was then posted onto X, garnering millions of views, comments and retweets from the likes of Donald Trump Jr. and UO alumnus Chip Messenger.
“Once it went viral, the theme of my video changed. [The news media] turned the narrative into me telling all Trump supporters to unalive themselves,” Serrato said in his Dec. 20 video. “Because of this, I was then doxxed on Twitter. Not only was my work email, my personal email, my address, my family’s address back in Los Banos, and my cellphone number.”
Serrato said that he received over 2,000 forms of harassment and threats toward the university and himself. He said that the harassment included homophobic slurs, “fatphobic” slurs and racial slurs, as well as various threats of violence.
UO students were among his followers on his now-private Instagram account.
“At the time, my account was set to public, and because of that, individuals recorded what I said and posted it,” Serrato said. “It was students who did this, but I know it was students because it was originally posted to the anonymous app called Fizz.”
Serrato had been employed at the university since 2022.
UO spokesperson Eric Howald confirmed with the Daily Emerald that Serrato is no longer working at the university.
The Emerald has reached out to Serrato for comment on the matter and is waiting for a response.
MW • Jan 6, 2025 at 5:18 pm
Hey, can we change the headline to something accurate? The comments that got him fired were anti-Trump supporter comments, not anti-Trump comments. Everyone in the UO community is welcome to criticize Trump (or Biden) to their heart’s content, but nobody should be directing hateful comments towards other members of the UO community.
Laurie • Jan 4, 2025 at 5:52 pm
This guy doesn’t need to be working with any college kids EVER. Maybe a job at McDonald’s is more his speed since he thinks he was so educated & then made horrible remarks then blame it on the students. Sounds pretty uneducated to me. No accountability.
T • Dec 29, 2024 at 7:04 am
He’s going to be worrying about the price of groceries now, something he made fun of people for.
erik • Dec 23, 2024 at 8:10 pm
Very cool. That guys is bad news.
GLH #1 • Dec 21, 2024 at 8:33 pm
“What goes around. . . . “
Bad karma. Practice this line before a mirror for your next job application: “Do you want large fries with that?”
Jim Carter • Dec 21, 2024 at 7:34 am
Serrato was terminated?! Sounds to me like he fit right in with the rest of the UO community; he was just more open about it!
Dave • Dec 21, 2024 at 12:18 am
So what exactly did Mr. Serrato say that was inappropriate? He expressed what so many of us feel. Is there something wrong with that?
S. Gee • Dec 23, 2024 at 8:34 am
If you can’t even imagine that there’s ONE conservative in the frat/sor community on campus, you’re terribly naive. There are many students he worked with who he just endorsed their ending themselves. But, sounds like a pretty typical, siloed response.
Dave • Dec 23, 2024 at 8:00 pm
Who said anything about the presence of conservatives in the fraternity/sorority community? Mr. Serrato addressed his comment directly at them. He wouldn’t have done that if they don’t exist.
Bill • Dec 31, 2024 at 1:35 pm
“Mr. Serrato addressed his comment at them.” He sure did. He encouraged them to jump off a bridge. As an administrator, encouraging students to commit suicide is inappropriate. Quit being obtuse.
Joe Biden • Dec 23, 2024 at 10:33 am
Looking to lose your job Dave?
That’s assuming you’re employed.
Dave • Dec 23, 2024 at 7:57 pm
I don’t need to work. Have fun punching the time clock tomorrow. I’ll be doing whatever I feel like doing and I can guarantee you that work isn’t on my list.
Karl Hungus • Dec 23, 2024 at 10:05 pm
What was inappropriate? Imagine he was speaking about you and your fellow comrades that support the dem candidate. You’d want his head on a pike. You’ve been protected for long enough. Time for your side of the isle to face the consequences of your actions.
Dave is a Loser • Dec 24, 2024 at 2:18 pm
Yeah, there is. Remember 2020 when you probably said the same thing?
Thor Odinson • Dec 25, 2024 at 5:15 pm
The fact that you can’t figure this out, shows your TDS has reached stage 5. Fatal. Be careful what you ask for. If Conservatives ACTUALLY desire to “take out the trash”, there WON’T be any more Liberals.
Peter DiGaudio • Dec 27, 2024 at 1:37 pm
If you can’t figure that out, (a) I can’t help you and (b) you are part of the problem.