2-22-21 Emerald Media - Monday Edition

FEB. 22, 2021

Monday Edition

Emerald Media

FORMER ASSOCIATE DEAN SUES UO FORMER LUNDQUIST COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ASSOCIATE DEAN’S LAWSUIT SEEKS $1.5 MILLION

NEWS POTENTIAL TUITION RAISE PG 4

A&C NEW PLAY ADDRRESSES RACE PG 8

OPINION

SHOULD YOU TAKE INPERSON CLASSES? PG 9

SPORTS MEN’S LACROSSE RESILIENCE PG 10 M O N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 2 , 2 0 2 1

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NEWS

NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES PARTICIPATES IN UO PANEL DISCUSSION VOL. 122, ISSUE NO. 34

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HANNAH-JONES SHARED HER PROCESS IN CREATING THE 1619 PROJECT AND SPOKE ON HER LOVE FOR HISTORY AND JOURNALISM WITH UO STUDENTS

BY JANE GLAZER • TWITTER @JANEGLAZER

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Nikole Hannah-Jones, the lead writer for The New York Times Magazine’s The 1619 Project, talked about the process of her project, the future of journalism and race inequities in a panel discussion with University of Oregon faculty and students on Feb. 19.

The 1619 Project, published in August 2019, examines how slavery shaped many American institutions with multimedia reporting and personal essays.

The project “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narative,” according to The New York Times.

Hannah-Jones explained her project as ”not intending to erase anyone’s history, but focusing on centering the Black experience.”

Juan-Carlos Modella, the dean of the UO School of Journalism and Communication, said he started reaching out to Hannah-Jones in fall 2019. She was originally supposed to come in person in April 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the university rescheduled the event for a later date over Zoom.

Prior to working for The New York Times in 2015, Hannah-Jones reported for The Oregonian, from 2006 to 2011. Modella found this interesting, he said.

“One of her mentors was Jack Hart, and we inducted him in 2019 to the SOJC hall of achievement, which was a really interesting coincidence,” Modella said. “She not only has a connection to Oregon and The Oregonian, but indirectly to the SOJC.” Andra Brichacek, director of communication for the SOJC, said Hannah-Jones paneling with students is not only beneficial for students to learn about The 1619 Project, but to also hear about her journalistic process.

“And the question that I wish I would be asked more is really about the craft of journalism,” Hannah-Jones said to Around the O. “I mean, I love talking about race. I’ve built my whole career around it. It is my passion, but I’m also just as passionate about journalism and I love talking about writing as well.”

During the panel discussion, Hannah-Jones

said The 1619 Project was “kind of dropping a bomb in going after one of the most foundational myths of our country.”

She highlighted how the work was deeply traumatic for her, and that she cried several times throughout the project. She said that during lockdown, she focused on caring for herself to be able to continue producing work that she needed to produce.

Hannah-Jones won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for her introductory essay to this project. Modella said he thinks her work is one of the leading voices in terms of race inequities and history, and putting the world into context.

“It’s just amazing that she’s talking about something that began more than 400 years ago, but it’s more relevant today than ever,” Modella said.

By challenging the foundation of history many Americans were taught, and tying history into the present, The 1619 Project has been able to stimulate conversation among many listeners.

While Hannah-Jones said she read about 30 books for one essay alone, and that there is a huge “amount of care and research and factchecking that goes into a process like this,” one thing she wishes she would’ve done differently is provide more evidence for telling the history from a different perspective.

“Objectivity isn’t dead. It never existed,” Hannah-Jones said. “There’s not a human being who doesn’t have opinions, and there’s not a journalist who doesn’t have opinions about a thing they’re covering. Objectivity to me is a luxury you have if you haven’t dealt with something.”

Brichacek said that she hopes HannahJones’ talk will inspire students to continue the conversation about all the angles of the project concerning race in America — race inequities, the history of slavery in America and the consequences until the 21st century.

Hannah-Jones said she hopes this project will also pave the way for future conversations.

“I hope that the success of this project makes it much more difficult for editors to shut down the experience of people of color,” Hannah-Jones said.

Around OR REGIONAL AND STATE NEWS NATIONAL GUARD HELPS WITH POWER OUTAGES: There are still tens of thousands of homes without power in Northwest Oregon due to the power lines brought down by heavy snow and ice. The National Guard will first be deployed in Clackamas County, the hardest hit Oregon county, to conduct wellness checks and deliver supplies. Door-to-door checks on high-risk individuals began Saturday, and the delivery of supplies began Sunday. The National Guard will also be in Marion County starting Monday morning.

– JOANNA MANN OREGON MEN’S BASKETBALL SCRAPES OUT FIFTH-STRAIGHT WIN: After back-to-back losses to Oregon State and Washington State, the Ducks have won five straight games. The Ducks beat both Washington and Arizona State by double digits but have won their last three games by a combined nine points, 63-61 over Arizona, 60-56 over Colorado, and 67-64 over Utah. The Ducks now look to Monday’s matchup with a conference-leading USC team in Los Angeles.

– SHANE HOFFMANN

(Maddie Knight/Emerald)

AUTHOR RICHARD ROTHSCHILD LECTURE: On Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 12:30 p.m., Eleonora Refaeli and James Buckley will host a virtual conversation with Richard Rothstein, an American author and academic known for his work with the NAACP. His work revolves around the history of segregation in America and its impact on education and housing.

– SAM ANTHONY

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NEWS

UO TUITION ADVISORY BOARD RECOMMENDS TUITION RAISE Students, faculty and staff raised questions and concerns in an effort to make their voices heard before the final decision on next year’s tuition is announced. houseofrecords.wixsite.com/store

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BY JOANNA MANN • TWITTER @JOANNAMANN_ University of Oregon President Michael Schill held a virtual forum on tuition and mandatory fees Thursday night. Students, faculty and staff were invited to share their input on the recommendations made by the Tuition and Fee Advisory Board for 2021’s tuition and mandatory fees.

TFAB members met 10 times between October 2020 and February 2021, during which they discussed the university budget, the impact of COVID-19 on finances, the guaranteed tuition program, cost drivers and long-term financial projections. The committee then compiled all of the information that was discussed at the meetings and drafted a memo with recommendations regarding tuition and fees for the president to approve or negotiate.

The decision was largely based on assumptions made about the incoming first-year class of students in fall 2021, which has a significant impact on the university’s financial position.

Last fall, the university was expected to surpass its 2019 enrollment number of 4,600 first-year students, but that number dropped to just under 4,000 when it was announced that most classes would be conducted virtually.

If students return in pre-pandemic numbers for fall 2021, UO will only face a small one-year deficit for the 2022 fiscal year. However, if enrollment numbers end up being similar to last fall, the university will face recurring annual deficits between $20 million and $25 million.

The board recommended a 4.5% increase in full-time tuition and fees for residents, and a 3% increase in

full-time tuition and fees for nonresidents. TFAB took into account the financial challenges resulting from the pandemic, the increasing cost of higher education, ongoing uncertainty about COVID-19, market conditions and much more.

Tuition rates will vary depending on whether Schill implements a new ticket fee proposed by Intercollegiate Athletics. The proposed fee is the result of the ASUO Senate’s decision to reallocate the $1.8 million of Incidental Fee revenue from the Athletics Student Ticket Agreement to other programs that ASUO believes better serve the student body.

To continue providing student tickets to men’s basketball and football games, a proposed fee of $29.50 per academic term would be charged to new undergraduate and graduate students if implemented.

During the breakout sessions of the forum, the main topic of discussion was the Athletics Student Ticket Agreement.

Representatives from the Oregon Marching Band, Oregon Cheer and the student body advocated for keeping student tickets free, and many seemed to disagree with ASUO’s decision to reallocate the funds.

The next step is for Schill to consider all comments and concerns presented to him by TFAB, students, faculty and staff, and then draft his own proposal to recommend to the advisory board. In turn, the advisory board will make a decision as to whether or not to vote in favor of the Schill’s proposal. There will be another public comment session in March before final decisions are announced.

TUITION RATES WILL VARY DEPENDING ON WHETHER SCHILL IMPLEMENTS A NEW TICKET FEE PROPOSED BY INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS.

NEWS

UO MOVES AHEAD ON RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT, REJECTS APPEAL FROM PROFESSOR AND STUDENT UO administrators will approve a campus plan amendment allowing the construction of buildings and playing fields along the Willamette River, after UO Chief Financial Officer Jamie Moffitt rejected an appeal against the amendment.

BY COLE SINANIAN • TWITTER @COLERS928

UO Vice President for Finance and Administration Jamie Moffitt moved forward a Campus Planning Committee recommendation to approve a campus plan amendment that will allow the university to proceed with future development projects on the land between the railroad tracks and the Willamette River.

The amendment will now go to UO President Michael Schill’s office, where he will make the ultimate decision.

The announcement comes with Moffitt’s rejection of an appeal against the amendment’s approval. UO Geography Professor Peter Walker and UO senior Juliae Riva wrote the appeal after the committee’s recommendation to approve the amendment on Nov. 20.

Only two committee members out of the 15 present for the vote opposed the motion. The appeal asserts that campus planning failed to meet the community participation requirements outlined in the campus plan during the amendment’s development process.

“The Campus Plan sets a high bar for engagement and, given the long history of campus concern regarding the riverfront, any change to the plan requires nothing less than the highest level of outreach and engagement,” the appeal stated.

While the amendment designates the majority of the 42-acre area for conservation, it also allows for limited building development, as well as an additional recreation field. According to campus planning, there are currently no specific development projects planned for the area.

The appeal cites low student and faculty turnout at campus planning committee meetings during the fall term as evidence of outreach failure, which it claims is mostly a result of meeting times that interfere with class schedules. Other examples cited in the appeal include the committee’s failure to adequately discuss an ASUO resolution opposing the amendment on the day of the vote, as well as a general failure by the university to make information regarding the campus plan amendment easily accessible to the UO community, which the appeal states is especially important now given the unprecedented circumstances of the past year.

At a CPC meeting on Feb. 16, campus planning staff acknowledged the concerns brought up in the appeal and released a poll allowing members to vote on their preferred meeting times.

The appeal decision, written by Moffitt and UO Associate General Counsel Craig Ashford, asserts that campus planning provided sufficient opportunities for community engagement throughout the amendment’s development process, including multiple public hearings and informational sessions.

A chain link fence separates the Riverfront Field from the Willamette River. (Emerald Archives)

“The CPC may have reached a recommendation that is contrary to the firmly held convictions of the appellants, ASUO, the UO Senate and others, but that does not mean that the CPC and Staff did not ensure that these parties had meaningful opportunities to participate in the development of the master site plan, CUP and proposed amendment,” the decision stated.

The decision document highlights evidence of the department’s sufficiency in the changes made to the amendment at the request of community members.

These changes include emphasizing the need to give special attention to native vegetation in natural areas and a preference for natural grass over synthetic turf for future recreation fields.

Regarding the committee’s meeting times, the decision reiterates the campus planning staff’s assertion that they chose the times to accommodate the greatest number of committee members possible, and that low student participation in the committee meetings is partly due to there being two student representative vacancies on the committee.

According to the decision document, ASUO is responsible for electing student representatives to the committee.

On Nov. 11, ASUO passed a resolution calling for campus planning to designate all 42 acres as a development-free natural area. According to the decision document, the committee only briefly discussed the resolution on the day of the vote because campus planning staff “had already been taking the objections of community stakeholders very seriously over the course of multiple years.”

The appellants have questioned Moffitt’s neutrality in making the final decision. Associate Vice President for CPFM and University Architect Mike Harwood — who oversees CPFM — and Director of Campus Planning Christine Thompson work under Moffitt.

They are both CPC members.

Riva, who was not present at the CPC’s Nov. 20 vote due to a class conflict, is not surprised that Moffitt rejected the appeal. She said that given Moffitt’s role in UO administration, both her and Walker were fully aware of the appeal’s slim chances of passing when they wrote it.

She said that the appeal was meant to be symbolic and that their intention was primarily to let UO administration know that students and faculty care deeply about how the university uses the riverfront.

“Even if nothing comes out of it,” Riva said, “we want people to know that this is a very important issue that is going to change the landscape of the riverfront for years to come.”

Riva, who’s been a committee member since

2019, reiterated the appeal’s statement that campus planning’s level of outreach during the amendment’s development process was insufficient. She said that while planners made numerous attempts to engage with the community, they did not identify a benchmark to determine when meaningful community involvement had actually been achieved.

According to the Campus Plan, the university’s planning process is designed to ensure that “meaningful opportunities exist for participation in the planning and design process,” and that “planning decisions are coordinated and based upon overall institutional objectives.”

She said that, from her perspective, campus planning was simply checking the boxes outlined in the campus plan’s community participation requirements.

“I think a big part of it is just making more people aware of this,” Riva said. “Literally none of my peers had heard that this was even a thing that was being contested.”

Walker, who’s done extensive research on land use politics in the United States and internationally, said that there is a correct way for organizations to engage with community stakeholders in making decisions regarding land use.

“These processes can be meaningful and effective,” he said, “but they require a lot of investment of time, energy and resources. And sometimes inconvenience.”

He said that if the university is serious about ensuring meaningful community participation, he encourages administrators to look into case studies of how other communities have effectively engaged with stakeholders in making land use decisions, which he said he’d be happy to provide.

“I think right now, the process is pretty shallow,” Walker said. “But there are lots of positive examples out there of real, deep, serious meaningful participatory processes that the university could learn from if it chooses to do so.”

While the university will move forward with the amendment’s approval, Riva said that there will be more opportunities in the future for students and faculty to get involved. Campus planning will have to go through an additional approval process when the university proposes new development projects for the riverfront area, which Riva said she will continue to fight against for the remainder of her time at UO. Both Riva and Walker stressed that they truly believe campus planning staff want what’s best for the UO community, but that their intentions often get lost in the university’s bureaucratic processes.

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COVER

TERMINATED ADMINISTRATOR SUES UO, ALLEGING WHISTLEBLOWER RETALIATION A FORMER LUNDQUIST COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ASSOCIATE DEAN FILED A $1.5 MILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST UO AFTER SHE WAS FIRED LAST MARCH

BY SILAS SLOAN & ARDESHIR TABRIZIAN Lillis Business Complex is located on the corner of 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street of the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Ore., and is the home to The Lundquist College of Business. (Kevin Wang/Daily Emerald)

The University of Oregon contacted Monica Bray, associate dean of graduate programs at the Lundquist College of Business, on Dec. 3, 2019, to inform her that her employment would end in three months. Her position was slated to be cut as part of a reorganization within the business school, UO later said in a court filing.

Bray is now suing UO in Lane County Circuit Court, alleging she was fired in retaliation for whistleblowing, a protected activity under state and federal law. She filed the lawsuit on June 22, 2020, demanding a jury trial and seeking $1.5 million in damages.

The conflicts stemmed from Bray reporting what she believed to be potential evidence of discrimination in the LCB’s hiring practices and admission of international students, the court filing showed.

Bray’s complaint described an antagonistic work environment that she said caused her to develop a chronic voice disorder. The university did not reasonably accommodate her disability and revoked a prior accomodation approved by her supervisor, saying it had never existed, according to the complaint.

“The University of Oregon actively seeks to promote diversity among its student body, faculty and staff through a wide variety of recruitment and intentional retention initiatives,” UO spokesperson Saul Hubbard wrote in a statement to the Emerald.

“The university is also committed to providing equal employment opportunities and reasonable workplace accommodations to employees with disabilities and for sincerely held religious, moral and ethical beliefs.”

In its court filing, UO said that Bray’s claims in the lawsuit were without merit, including allegations that the university terminated her in retaliation. “The reorganization included the elimination of [Bray’s] position in order to provide better support for the College’s programmatic and financial priorities,” the filing stated.

Hubbard said UO could not provide further information in order to protect the privacy of the university personnel involved in the lawsuit.

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respond to detailed, written questions from the Emerald or further requests for comment. Hubbard responded on behalf of UO President Michael Schill, saying he did not have any comment beyond the university’s response.

Jose Klein, the attorney representing Bray, declined to provide a comment.

The Emerald requested public records referenced in Bray’s lawsuit seven weeks ahead of publication.

Citing UO faculty records policy, the university’s public records office did not return 10 of the 13 records requested, including performance evaluations, specified emails between Bray and Schill, a grievance filed

by Bray and a dated email from the university regarding her employment termination.

In addition to records of Bray’s employment termination, the office only provided a set of heavily redacted emails from Bray and other UO employees, which her complaint cited as evidence of discrimination against international students in the business school’s admissions. Nearly all references to employee concerns in the emails were obscured, and Klein did not respond to a request for matching, unredacted records.

Cause for concern?

Bray joined the LCB in August 2014 as director of graduate affairs and student experience for its master’s program. She served as interim assistant dean of graduate programs and later took over the full position.

Four months after her promotion, LCB Interim Dean James Terborg gave Bray a special commendation for her “exceptional accomplishments” in the role, including her work to grow new graduate student enrollment by 50% and boost the college’s revenue “significantly beyond expectations,” her complaint stated.

After UO promoted Bray to the college’s associate dean of graduate programs in September 2017, the university’s MBA program under her direction reached national rankings, including by U.S. News and World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek, according to her court filing.

The university appointed a new dean of the LCB, Sarah Nutter, in January 2017. Nutter showed hostility

toward Bray’s efforts at diversity and inclusion in the department “from the outset of her tenure at the LCB,” the complaint said. Bray believed the dean “harbored discriminatory animus” against her based on Bray’s national origin. Nutter did not respond to multiple email requests for comment or provide answers to 23 questions from the Emerald.

In May 2017, Bray forwarded an email message to LCB leadership from an official in the LCB’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, which she said complained about the college’s admission of international students, according to her court filing. Bray’s complaint said the message also “encouraged” admissions staff to “expect more from international students” than from other applicants.

The Emerald could not verify these allegations given substantial redactions in the email records.

International students made up eight — 35% — of Warsaw Center graduates in 2017, the official wrote in the email.

“Would it be possible for you and I [to] make time to talk about each international student before we make an admissions offer?” he wrote. “Since it is harder to place our international graduates, and the margin for error is smaller, I would like for us to try and be on the same page.”

He added that he wanted to discuss the “+/-” of admitting students to the general MBA program as opposed to Warsaw, “if we aren’t on the same page.”

“The WSMC did not have any admission decision authority, but hoped to weigh in on that one type of applicant,” Bray’s filing said. Bray found the email to be potential evidence of race and national origin discrimination in the college’s admissions, a violation of Title VI and UO policy. Title VI is a federal statute that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in the spending of public funds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The university discounted Bray’s concerns and “took no action to remedy them,” according to the filing.

In a written response to the Emerald, the LCB outlined its admissions process for both domestic and international students. The standard admission qualifications for

the college’s undergraduate business or accounting majors require two criteria: the completion of required lower division and a minimum 3.0 GPA in those courses.

International students, however, have some additional requirements for admission. A proficiency in English is required, which is measured by tests. The LCB also noted that the business school may require a higher score for certain graduate programs.

Federal law also requires international students to provide verification showing they can cover the cost of college, according to the LCB’s email.

In-house friction Nutter appointed Beth Hjelm in fall 2017 to conduct a “graduate program strategy” initiative, during which Hjelm “engaged in demeaning, aggressive and intimidating conduct” toward Bray, the complaint said. Bray reported the conduct to Nutter and requested a communication plan to facilitate future interactions with Hjelm. Nutter allegedly denied the request and “belittled” Bray’s concerns, according to the filing. Hjelm did not respond to multiple email requests for comment.

In response to her complaints of descrimination, retaliation and violations of law by university staff, UO — via Diane Del Guercio, LCB senior associate dean of faculty and research — retaliated against Bray by issuing a pretextual performance evaluation of her “to fabricate colorable grounds to discipline [Bray] while ignoring the legitimate concerns she raised regarding the University’s conduct,” according to the complaint.

The university denied the allegations in a court filing. Del Guercio did not respond to multiple email requests for comment.

In the weeks that followed, Bray’s increasingly hostile work environment and resulting stress caused her to develop a chronic voice disorder that significantly limited her ability to talk, the filing said.

In November 2017, Bray reported to UO’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity and its director, Tracey Tsugawa, what she believed to be unlawful discrimination in the

COVER An excerpt from a redacted email sent by Paul Allen, then LCB director of recruiting admissions for MBA and MSF programs, to Monica Bray on May 17, 2017.

(Silas Sloan and Ardeshir Tabrizian/Emerald)

An email from Connie Brady, Sarah Nutter and Diane Del Guercio sent May 17, 2017. (Silas Sloan and Ardeshir Tabrizian/Emerald)

LCB’s hiring practices. According to the complaint, she said that Nutter appointed two employees to new positions despite their lack of relevant experience compared to Bray’s, alleging that both appointments were discriminatory on the basis of her national origin and religious heritage.

Bray emailed Schill in January 2018 to complain about “the LCB’s hostile and discriminatory work environment” under Nutter’s leadership and to request a different job placement at the university, the complaint said. “Mr. Schill wrote back to summarily reject [Bray’s] request,” court documents stated.

Bray formally requested an ongoing accommodation of remote work to help manage her health condition as recommended by her doctor. The university’s ADA coordinator, Martin Stanberry, denied her request to work remotely, though he and Bray’s supervisor, Del Guercio, assured her that the university would provide her with regular breaks and would not require her to speak for more than 30-minute increments four to five times per day, according to the complaint. “Thereafter, the University failed to honor these promises,” the complaint said of the accommodations.

In its court filing, UO said it did not fail to accommodate her “alleged disability,” adding, “When [Bray] provided the appropriate medical documentation that she suffered from a voice disorder, the University provided her with reasonable accommodations consistent with and for the duration requested by her medical provider. [Bray] chose not to provide additional paperwork to support any continuing accommodations.”

Bray filed a complaint and grievance in early 2018 alleging the university conducted her performance evaluation “with improper and retaliatory motives.” This prompted UO Law School Dean Marcilynn Burke to begin an investigation into the grievance on Feb. 8, 2018, the filing said.

Bray reported to Nutter her belief that LCB leadership intended to implement changes to the college that would “disparately and negatively impact [Bray’s] position, and that those changes were discriminatory in

nature,” the complaint said.

According to the filing, Nutter responded, “I want to be clear that from my standpoint the role of Associate Dean of Graduate Programs is a mission-critical role for the College, and one that has been and will continue to be an essential one in achieving our goals in the area of graduate education.” Nutter forwarded Bray’s complaint to the AAEO in keeping with university policy.

Three months later, and during its investigation into Bray’s complaints of UO’s “unlawful discriminatory conduct,” the university reorganized its AAEO office, renamed it the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance and “abruptly ended” Tsugawa’s employment, the filing said: “The Office of Civil Rights Compliance ultimately declined to further investigate [Bray’s] complaint.”

In its response to Bray’s complaint, the university admitted that the complaint was not investigated because it was believed the allegations were unmerited.

Burke, the law school dean tasked with investigating Bray’s complaints, issued a decision on June 6, 2018, upholding Bray’s grievance. She concluded that the evaluation “failed to comply with the University’s performance evaluation policies for Officers of Administration on several fronts,” the filing said.

Burke’s investigation found that the evaluation was only supported “by incidents and evidence outside occuring outside the relevant review period,”didn’t provide guidance on how Bray could improve her performance and appeared to rely on third-party input while not identifying any contributing witnesses.

Burke ordered the university to strike the improper proportions of the evaluation and for the LCB to provide more training for employee performance evaluations. While UO issued a corrected performance evaluation, Bray alleged that Del Guercio refused to sign off on the evaluation, which left her “without sufficient resolution.” The university denied that allegation in a court filing but admitted it issued an amended performance evaluation based on Burke’s response.

In August 2018, Bray again reported

to Nutter what she believed to be unlawful discrimination in the LCB’s admissions practices. She forwarded an email to Nutter that showed minutes from an LCB staff meeting about the Masters of Accounting program, which said it was a “positive” that the program had a “small international population.”

Bray found the email to be potential evidence of race and national origin discrimination in the LCB’s admissions practices and a violation of Title VI and university policy, according to her complaint. In its answer filed in court, UO said it didn’t have enough information to confirm or deny the allegation and “on that basis denies them.”

Bray alleged that on Oct. 15, 2019, Del Guercio and Connie Brady, the college’s associate dean of finance and administration, “again retaliated” against her by issuing a pretextual performance evaluation “to fabricate colorable grounds to discipline” her, according to the complaint. She found that the evaluation was flawed, as it reflected the same issues for which Burke upheld her previous grievance.

Bray reported to the office of Employee Labor Relations that she felt the evaluation was retaliatory and she wanted to submit a grievance.

However, Associate Director of Employee Labor Relations Annie Herz advised against filing a grievance, saying, “the remedy for [your] concerns is a rebuttal, not a grievance,” according to the complaint.

In its response, the university denied the allegations that the evaluation was retaliatory and said the contents of the report “speak for themselves.”

Six weeks later, the university informed Bray that her employment would end on March 3, 2020, according to the complaint. Bray alleged that the LCB terminated her in retaliation for her “protected activities.” UO said in its filing that they were eliminating her position due to a reorganization of the LCB to develop undergraduate and specialized master’s programs and other strategic initiatives.

Bray formally complained to the university on Dec. 14, 2019, saying that she was being terminated for what

she believed to be retaliatory and discriminatory reasons. The university denied Bray’s allegations of the reasoning behind her termination in a court filing.

In its response to Bray’s complaint, UO said the Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance “reviewed [Bray’s] claims and determined that the information she presented did not meet OICRC’s standard to move forward with a formal investigation.”

University secretary Angela Wilhelms issued findings in her investigation of Bray’s October 2019 grievance three weeks after her firing. Wilhelms ultimately denied the grievance but partly sustained Bray’s allegations, finding that her supervisors again considered evidence outside of the evaluation period.

She “ordered that the evaluation be reissued without reliance upon the improper evidence.”

Bray requested in her court filing an order for the university to award her financial compensation for losses including “physical and emotional injury, pain and suffering, mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment and loss of enjoyment of life.”

In March 2020, Bray founded Silk Road Coaching and has since served as CEO and a success coach.

The program offers science-based business, career and life coaching, according to its website.

Bray took a position this past November at Colorado Technical University, a primarily online university, as an associate professor and lead faculty in its economics department.

A four-day, twelve-person jury trial is scheduled for June 22.

Editor’s note: Most parties involved in the lawsuit stayed silent when contacted by the Emerald. Klein declined to provide a comment. Del Guercio, Hjelm, Nutter and WSMC officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment, some or all of which were referred back to Hubbard. Hubbard later declined to comment on behalf of Schill beyond UO’s response. Burke, Herz, Stanberry, Wilhelms and Office of Investigations and Civil Rights Compliance officials could not be reached in time for publication.

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A&C

UO THEATRE ARTS’ NEW PLAY ADDRESSES RACE THROUGHOUT US HISTORY “Personal History” uses magical realism to explore race relations and the value of knowing where you came from.

BY JENNAH PENDLETON • TWITTER @JENNAHPEN

Stanley Coleman is the director of “Personal History,” a UO University Theatre production that follows an African American couple as they navigate three moments in American life, stretched out over a century in the city of Chicago.

(Kimberly Harris/ Emerald)

I think that when we look back at our own history, we see that there is still quite a bit of racial discrimination and violence that’s being perpetrated against People of Color.”

STANLEY COLEMAN “Personal History” director

Rehearsals have begun for the UO theatre department’s newest production, a virtual reading of “Personal History” by playwright Dominic Taylor.

The play follows the same African American couple as they navigate life in several different eras spanning nearly a century. Director Stanley Coleman said that “Personal History” is not only about race relations and identity politics, but it reflects on our nation’s history and social progression from the turn of the 19th century to the 20th. It takes place in three parts: the first in 1903, the second in 1953 and the final in 1996. The story is surreal in that the same cast of characters is present in all three eras without aging, but with shifts in class, social position and perspective.

One reason Coleman chose the script was because of its timeliness, he said. “Personal History” observes that the progression for the liberation of African Americans has not been a straight line pointing upward. He referenced the increased racial unrest in response to police brutality in the last year as connecting to this theme.

“I think that when we look back at our own

history, we see that there is still quite a bit of racial discrimination and violence that’s being perpetrated against People of Color,” Coleman said. “We’re still fighting the same things that we have been fighting all of our lives.”

The play came to fruition when a friend in the UO theatre department approached Coleman to direct a play concerning diversity and race relations. Coleman brought the script of “Personal History” to the faculty of the theatre department and they enthusiastically accepted it. Since then, faculty and students in the department have taken on roles as actors, production managers, lighting managers and costumers.

Hudson Willett, a freshman majoring in journalism, is cast as Patrick Kinney, one of the two White male characters in the show. Willett said that this is the first time he has participated in a play since he performed Shakespeare in the fifth grade. He decided to audition after being placed in an introductory acting class last term as a part of his First-Year Interest Group.

Though he doesn’t have much experience, he said that he is drawn to acting because of his love of movies.

“Personal History” will be livestreamed next month, but specific dates are to be announced. Scan the QR code to get more information!

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“I think right now is an important time to address the issues shown in the play,” Willet said. “Hopefully it will shed some light on day-to-day struggles Black people and People of Color face.“ Coleman sees “Personal History” as related to his overall mission as a theatre director, which is to tell the stories of minorities who don’t normally get to see themselves represented onstage. In 2017, Coleman co-founded Minority Voices Theatre, which is now a companion to Eugene’s Very Little Theatre. After the show wraps up, Coleman hopes to direct a play about Nat Turner with MVT. Though “Personal History” is very much about the history of race relations in the United States, Coleman says that it’s not just for African Americans.

“There is an incident in the last scene that plays out the idea of forgetting your history, forgetting who you are and where you come from,” Coleman said. “And I think that’s not just for African Americans — I think that’s for everybody. Once you forget where you come from, you sort of lose yourself, and you lose your identity.”

OPINION

SHOULD YOU TAKE IN-PERSON CLASSES? UO IS OFFERING HYBRID COURSES THAT WILL MIX IN-PERSON AND REMOTE OPTIONS DURING SPRING TERM. SHOULD UO STUDENTS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CLASSES, OR IS THE RISK OF COVID-19 STILL TOO GREAT?

BY JAEL CALLOWAY AND PARSA AGHEL

On March 11 last year, the University of Oregon announced that it wouldn’t hold in-person final exams for winter term and the first three weeks of spring term would be held remotely. Now, nearly a year later, the university is beginning to offer hybrid classes that will reintroduce students to in-person classes. While many see this as a slight return to normalcy, others advise students to remain socially distanced just a little longer until vaccination is more common.

CALLOWAY: CHOOSE ONLINE LEARNING FOR A WHILE LONGER As UO offers hybrid classes for this upcoming term, I urge all students to continue taking classes exclusively online. Lane County is still in the extreme risk category for COVID-19 cases, and according to UO’s COVID-19 case tracker, in the past week, UO has seen 52 new cases — 29 coming from off-campus students and 23 coming from on-campus students.

Right now, continuing online learning is the safest option for both students and faculty.

I understand the desire to get back on campus. I never thought I’d miss rushing through the EMU to get to my next class, but here I am wishing that I was there.

Especially for first-year students, the expectations of sitting in lecture halls and roaming around campus in between classes were never fulfilled. And now that hybrid classes are being offered, it shines a light on the possibility of a somewhat normal college experience.

However, we all need to

avoid in-person classes for just a little longer. COVID-19 vaccination distribution is ramping up in Oregon.

A future that mirrors our mask-free past is closer than ever. But that’s all the more reason to do our part while that reality is still out of reach.

Staying online is an easy way for all of us to eliminate the increase of cases.

Jael Calloway is a junior at the University of Oregon. She is an opinion columnist at the Daily Emerald and writes to help make students feel less alone. Follow her Twitter @ jael_calloway

AGHEL: WE CAN TRANSITION BACK TO IN-PERSON CLASSES The nation is beginning to pick up the pace with vaccinations and testing has become widespread and accessible. Despite these improvements, our school system has remained in the same state: Zoom.

Our education has suffered as a result.

Despite its convenience, there is no substitute for the engagement one has in a physical setting. It’s time for some students to return to in-person classes — we have the means to do it.

Of course, I’m not advocating for just anyone to be part of the in-person aspect of hybrid classes. Students who have recklessly gathered and continue to break social distancing rules have no business being a part of this. I’m talking about students who are vaccinated, or those responsible enough to be masked, distanced and tested regularly. They could begin this process alongside vaccinated faculty. It would add an engaged dimension to the classroom, which could help professors as a result — having students join them would add an engagement dimension that professors lacked. All students, then, stand to benefit from some being introduced to the classroom.

I understand that it is difficult to imagine some students sitting in their

bedrooms while others are in the classroom. However, encouraging some students to return to class would ease the infrastructural challenge we’d face by waiting to allow all students at once later. Hybrid classes are like a test run to better help us in the future.

Students already have to go to grocery stores and other public places —we have the means to make an even safer return to our crucial education with the proper protocols.

Parsa Aghel is a columnist at the Emerald’s opinion desk. He brings a critical lens to power structures and is an advocate for human rights.

Follow his Twitter @parsalona1

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SPORTS

The resilience and perseverance of Oregon men’s lacrosse How the hardships and roadblocks overcome by the program within the past year have prepared the players for anything.

BY DANIEL FRIIS

(Emerald Archives)

Heading into the 2019-20 Oregon men’s lacrosse season, the players were looking forward to the chance to prove themselves Division 1-worthy.

Until that point, the team played for the Men’s College Lacrosse Association as a Division 1 club team.

But, due to strong recruiting in recent years and stellar play within the past decade, the team entered 2020 with a chance to receive D1 exposure.

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“Each one of us had goals to reach and expectations to fulfill for the team to be on the road towards a D1 program,” Nathan Dougherty, a senior midfielder and attacker, said. “During our preseason chalk talk, we had a drawing board to jot down what we wanted our team to represent. One of those concepts that stood out to me was, ‘be the bigger man.’ Not just on the field, but off as well.”

Little did the players know that this concept would apply to the adversity they’d face both on and off the field in the next year.

“If I had to give this last year of lacrosse a theme, I’d go with something along the lines of unpredictability,” Jack Thoren, an Oregon grad student and former lacrosse player, said. “We had and still have a bunch of things being

thrown at us that are really hard to prepare for, and in some cases can’t do anything to prevent.”

Other players share how they would recap this past year.

“A good word to summarize this last year is perseverance,” Shaan Patidar, a midfielder, said. “We’ve been put through the wringer as a team physically and emotionally, but we won’t break.”

SPORTS

“

We started out this season right back where we started before COVID, but we’ve worked so hard that I think we’ll be prepared for for whatever comes our way.”

- Nathan Dougherty Senior midfielder and attacker

(Emerald Archives)

It started in October 2019, when the roster was made for the season.

From there on until their first game in February 2020, the team practiced and held scrimmages five days a week.

“We were high in our preseason rankings — everyone was excited — and it was just an all-around talented team,” Patidar said. “We knew a D1 opportunity was on the line, and we weren’t going to back down.”

Oregon dominated Washington State 12-3 in their first game of the season. A week later, they were getting prepared for their first road games in San Diego and Los Angeles when they received news that their head coach, Charlie Jackson, had died.

“I remember I was grabbing food before our chalk talk and film session when one of my teammates told me,” Kevin Kanzaki, a former player, said. “It was one of the most depressing days and weeks of my life. Coach Charlie recruited me to Oregon, and without him, my dream of playing college ball would’ve never come true.”

“I was definitely in shock initially,” Thoren said. “Felt like I was in a fog until we had a team meeting that night and it all kinda hit everyone at once.

We were leaving for San Diego the next day, and we knew he’d want us to go and compete in the game that he and we all love.”

Sure enough, the team followed through with their games in California under assistant coach Nick LaMay. The Ducks went on to win two of three with hard-fought wins against Arizona, and San Diego State, two proven D1 programs.

“We were going to play that season for Coach Charlie, no question,” Patidar said. “Every last one of us on that team had an extra kick of motivation to do whatever it took to win. It’s what he would’ve wanted to see.”

Just as the team was going to show the rest of the nation what they were capable of, COVID-19 shut down the program and most of the country.

“It’s sad because another league title was likely to happen,” Thoren said. “A trip to the quarters or semis at nationals was within reach.”

Despite the longevity of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team was cleared to hold tryouts and practice both in the fall and winter quarters under new head coach Peter Harris.

With about 20 new players and a third new coach in the last year-and-a-half, the team knew they had their work cut out for them.

“We started out this season right back where we started before COVID, but we’ve worked so hard that I think we’ll be prepared for whatever comes our way,” Dougherty said. “I think the whole idea of being the bigger man took a perspective on how we look at life and how we handle situations during stressful events.”

With games scheduled to be played in the spring, the team will have another chance to prove to their conference and the rest of Division 1 what the players already know.

“We know what we are capable of as a team so now it’s just time to prove it,” Patidar said. “This program has the potential and tools to hang around with any other NCAA school, I know it.”

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