The University changed a controversial policy that reserved slots in certain low-enrollment classes for minority students before the federal government opened an investigation, according to documents obtained by the Emerald from a Freedom of Information Act request and an Oregon public records request.
The documents, obtained first from the U.S. Department of Education and later from
General Counsel to the University Melinda Grier, reaffirm administrators’ statements that they changed the policy in reaction to a student grievance in the spring, and that the decision was not prompted by the education department’s investigation.
The education department’s Office for Civil Rights is still reviewing the University’s new policy.
The University’s previous policy reserved at least 10 slots in 18-student English and math classes for minority students and required other students to meet with an Office of Multicultural Academic Support counselor on the first day of classes to enroll.
The new policy allows priority pre-authorization for students involved in several OMAS-affiliated programs, and some of those programs cater to students of all races. The new policy gives counselors and instructors the discretion to admit other students to the priority pre-authorization process, according to a copy of the policy. It also allows students who aren’t allowed priority pre-authorization to register before the first day of classes. This policy went into effect for this term.
In an Aug. 22 letter from Grier to an investigator at the Office for Civil Rights, Grier stated the University developed the new policy at the end of spring term, and officials reached a consensus on the final details of the priority pre-authorization period over the summer.
“During Spring 2005, the University learned a student had concerns about the priority
registration process and believed that the program discriminated against white students who are not of Hispanic origin,” the letter states. “The student did not file a complaint, but spoke to a reporter for the student newspaper. When the University administration learned of her allegation that students were excluded from sections or disadvantaged in enrollment based on race, we reviewed the practices that applied to these sections.”
The Emerald first wrote about the policy after former University student Stephanie Ramey told the Emerald she was denied access to an OMAS class.
After the first article, former student Melissa Hanks, who graduated from the University and is now studying at Oregon State University, filed a complaint with the University’s Bias Response Team, and then with the Office for Civil Rights, prompting the federal government investigation.
Grier, when asked whether the administration had concerns that the previous policy was illegal, wrote in an e-mail that “the change in the requirements was prompted by a concern that the requirements were not, on balance, as broad as the University wanted them to be.”
She wrote that the University tries to find a balance between the needs of students who may benefit from a priority pre-authorization policy and those who may want to access a class but may not qualify for priority pre-authorization.
“We believe the new policy provides a better balance between those competing interests,” Grier wrote.
Grier, when asked why the University didn’t conduct a public comment session or attempt to gather students’ opinions, wrote that “this is a program based on academic and pedagogical needs.”
“Although we appreciate that individual students may have personal perspectives they would have liked to express about the program, this is the type of administrative decision that is made based on other factors,” Grier wrote. “Further, the decision needed to be made as quickly as possible so that the changes would be in place for the upcoming academic year.”
The administration is confident the new policy is “fully consistent with the law,” Grier wrote. “We cannot know if the Office for Civil Rights will agree until we receive their response.”

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