United Academics at UO: working for racial justice

by Michael Dreiling, President, United Academics

United Academics members are active on many fronts this spring. We are hosting a panel on faculty diversity April 18 at 3:30pm in 117 ED to discuss how universities today claim to embrace diversity, yet rarely do we see this realized in practice. Indeed, institutional imperatives and policies often seem to work against diversification rather than for it. What are the barriers to creating faculty diversity and how can they be overcome? What role should administrators and faculty play in achieving this goal?  All faculty, administrators, and students are welcome to join us for a panel discussion with:  Nana Osei-Kofi (Director of the Difference, Power, & Discrimination Program and Associate Professor of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Oregon State University); and Ernesto Javier Martinez (Interim Department Head and Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon).

We look forward to sustaining the conversation on racial justice at the AAUP Oregon conference. Please join us at Portland State University April 23 –to register for this free event, lunch provided, go to the link.

United Academics members are also engaging the UO’s “strategic realignment,” a process that thus far has involved faculty cuts concentrated in the Humanities. On April 27, the University Senate will hold a forum to address the principles, goals, processes, and results of the resource realignment thus far—with an eye to our institutional future.

As part of sexual assault awareness month, we are asking members to participate in this year’s Take Back the Night event on campus. This event, held annually on campuses around the country, raises awareness of sexual violence and supports survivors in our community. Please show up at the United Academics office at 5pm on April 28 to help make placards and signs for the march across campus.