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<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#4472C4">The following message is sent on behalf of</span></i><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#4472C4"> Lauren Hval
</span></i><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">(<span style="color:#4472C4"><a href="mailto:hval@uoregon.edu">hval@uoregon.edu</a></span>):<span style="color:#4472C4">
</span><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Hi <span style="background:white">Drs. James & Bertranna Muruthi,</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">As a former COE student and current COE staff, thank you very much for your courage to share a glimpse of the layered insidious racism that is inherent, pervasive,
and kept in silence within Oregon, the UO, and COE. Your resistance is powerful and impactful for many who were gaslit into believing their reality wasn't real (and often punished). I hope our COE community will take your experience seriously and question
how, where and why racism is actively harming our students and staff.</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Thank you for speaking and sharing your truth. </span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">In solidarity,</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Lauren<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-family:Times;color:black;background:white">Lauren Hval, M.S. (she/they)</span></b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:Times;color:black;background:white">AMFT |
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><a href="https://www.oregonhealingcollective.com/" title="https://www.oregonhealingcollective.com/"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Times">Oregon Healing
Collective</span></a></span><span style="font-family:Times;color:black;background:white"> </span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
</span><span style="font-family:Times;color:black;background:white">Research Associate | UO Suicide Prevention Lab </span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:Times;color:black;background:white">My direct line: 541-357-6632 </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black;background:white">call /voicemail only</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-family:Times;color:black;background:white"><img border="0" width="262" height="36" style="width:2.7291in;height:.375in" id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.png@01D88D45.31F66200"></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="background:white"><i><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;background:white">The content of this email is confidential and intended for the recipient specified in the message only. It is strictly forbidden to share any
part of this message with any third party without the written consent of the sender. If you received this message by mistake, please reply to this message and follow with its deletion, so that we can ensure such a mistake does not occur in the future.</span></i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">
<a href="mailto:coe-staff-bounces@lists.uoregon.edu">coe-staff-bounces@lists.uoregon.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:coe-staff-bounces@lists.uoregon.edu">coe-staff-bounces@lists.uoregon.edu</a>> on behalf of James Muruthi <<a href="mailto:muruthjr@uoregon.edu">muruthjr@uoregon.edu</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, June 30, 2022 12:52 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:coe-staff@lists.uoregon.edu">coe-staff@lists.uoregon.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:coe-staff@lists.uoregon.edu">coe-staff@lists.uoregon.edu</a>>;
<a href="mailto:cphs-faculty@lists.uoregon.edu">cphs-faculty@lists.uoregon.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:cphs-faculty@lists.uoregon.edu">cphs-faculty@lists.uoregon.edu</a>>;
<a href="mailto:cphs-instructors@lists.uoregon.edu">cphs-instructors@lists.uoregon.edu</a> <<a href="mailto:cphs-instructors@lists.uoregon.edu">cphs-instructors@lists.uoregon.edu</a>>; Lisa Fortin <<a href="mailto:lfortin@uoregon.edu">lfortin@uoregon.edu</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Yvette Alex-Assensoh <<a href="mailto:yalex@uoregon.edu">yalex@uoregon.edu</a>>; Provost <<a href="mailto:provost@uoregon.edu">provost@uoregon.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> coe-staff: A Notice of Departure: An Open Letter to the COE Community</span>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Hello COE Community,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">We are writing this email to communicate that we will be leaving the University of Oregon at the end of this summer. We have accepted job offers elsewhere and are enthusiastic about
the opportunities that await. We have enjoyed working with our colleagues, and the students have been a great joy to teach and mentor. And, of course, we all know that the COE does not function without the stellar skills and efforts of the COE staff.
<b>Thank you all</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">As we leave, many people will reasonably ask why. Ultimately, we have decided that Oregon is not a place we want to live and work.
<b>The White Utopia and racist history of Oregon still hold a pungent stench in the way people do their business here.</b> And quite honestly, the university is not immune to the White supremacy culture. For example, James was a direct target of racism when
he received racist (xenophobic and homophobic) emails (see example attached) in response to his participant recruiting materials for LGBTQ and caregiving studies. Another case included racist chants yelled at our family as we looked for housing - our first
week in Oregon. Our friends with school-age children express that their children are undergoing chronic racially related bullying and sidelining under the watch of teachers. Allies speak cliche social justice language without knowing the core of diversity
issues while forcing their allyship on groups that do not deem them as such. The list could go on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">While the characteristics of Oregon cannot be controlled, the university and the COE (particularly) can do better to address the needs of racially diverse faculty. For example,
leveraging the recent openness to online learning can ensure Black faculty can still work for the university while living in more racially welcoming environments. For instance, we must express our disappointment in the lackluster efforts to work with us to
explore the off-site route. <b>Our interpretation</b> of the response from university leadership was that our feelings and experiences did not matter as long as the students who came in did not feel like the university environment was not conducive for Black
professors who worked off-site. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">We decided to use this tone of voice as the
<b>last act of activism for other racially diverse faculty and staff (and students) who remain at the COE or the ones that will join.</b> We believe that this honest expression of our stories opens a window into the lived experiences of racially diverse faculty
(staff and students) and encourages more profound empathy and activism across the board. Best of luck to you all. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">With Gratitude,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Drs. James & Bertranna Muruthi <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:#3366FF">______________________</span></i><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366FF">James R. Muruthi, Ph.D.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366FF">Assistant Professor</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366FF">College of Education | University of Oregon</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366FF">Office: 350 HEDCO</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366FF">Phone: 541-346-2344</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#3366FF">Email:
<a href="mailto:muruthjr@uoregon.edu">muruthjr@uoregon.edu</a></span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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