Tonight, the ASUO Senate will meet in the EMU Walnut Room to debate a resolution that, if passed, will affirm that University students believe the Pacifica Forum should no longer meet on campus. Based on what I’ve seen over the last few weeks, I don’t doubt that tonight’s debate will be intense and difficult for everyone involved. The debate over the Pacifica Forum strikes at the heart of many contentious issues surrounding the right to free speech and the right of students to feel safe and free from persecution on their own campus.
Regardless of the result of tonight’s Senate vote, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all of the students who have worked so hard so that their peers can feel safe on campus.
Because so many students have decided to organize against their hateful speech, the University of Oregon administration informed us last week that the Pacifica Forum will no longer be meeting in our home on campus, the Erb Memorial Union. This may seem like a small victory in the larger fight, but it’s still a tremendous testament to student power that we were able to force this group out of our student union.
This fight against hate will continue long after tonight’s Senate meeting. In the short term, the Pacifica Forum will still be allowed to meet on campus buildings and will be able to spout the same hateful rhetoric that has made so many students feel hurt and unsafe. We must continue to fight their intolerance by continuing to attend and disrupt their meetings, by pressuring the University administration to change the policy that allows them to reserve
meeting space, and by reporting any instances where students feel targeted or harassed by submitting incident reports to the Bias Response Team via their Web site at bias.uoregon.edu.  These reports will ultimately be passed on to the University administration and will provide even more evidence for why the Pacifica Forum should not meet on campus.
On a personal note, I believe that this issue is one of the most important things that I will address while serving as student body president.  I am dedicated to ensuring that students see the ASUO Executive as their allies in this fight.  I will continue to listen to the concerns of all students on this issue and will work to respond appropriately. All of your energy and concern for this issue has inspired and empowered me to keep working every day to make sure that all students can feel safe on our campus. I sincerely believe that we can change the standards of our community if we are strong enough to express ourselves in the way that students have over the past few weeks.
Thank you for all of your efforts to fight hate on our campus. I will always firmly believe in the right to free speech, but I will also fight for the right of University students to feel safe on campus, not just at tonight’s ASUO Senate meeting, but in the following days and weeks until the Pacifica Forum no longer meets at the University. We must keep fighting together until we can make sure that all students feel safe from hate or persecution on campus.
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