[Uosenate] Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision

[Kevin Reed]

Thank you for this, Gerard.  As the lead of an advisory group asked by Interim President Moffitt to recommend responses to the Court’s decision, I can assure you that we share the values you express below.  (And, as you know, I was an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in Los Angeles when Prop 209 was enacted, and later head of legal affairs at UCLA where I helped design strategies that were successful in increasing diversity despite that constitutional provision).

We are busy digesting the opinion and will use it to analyze what of our current practices we may need to adjust.  I can confidently state that the administration sees its work in this regard as doing all it can within the constraints of the law to maintain and make good on our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging on our campus.  Given the relatively limited scope of yesterday’s decision I remain optimistic that we can further these core values while staying within the bounds of the law.

I look forward to dialog with my colleagues on the Senate on this crucial work as we move forward.

[cid:image001.png at 01D9AB45.9AD89A80]

Kevin S. Reed | Vice President and General Counsel
Office of the Vice President and General Counsel
219 Johnson Hall | Eugene, OR 97403-1226
(541) 346-3082 | ksreed at uoregon.edu<mailto:ksreed at uoregon.edu>

vpgc.uoregon.edu<https://vpgc.uoregon.edu/>


From: uosenate-bounces at lists.uoregon.edu <uosenate-bounces at lists.uoregon.edu> on behalf of Senate President <senatepres at uoregon.edu>
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 5:07 PM
To: uosenate at lists.uoregon.edu <uosenate at lists.uoregon.edu>
Subject: [Uosenate] Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decision
Dear Senators,



I want to welcome our new Senators and thank you all for the service you will provide next year. As you know, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of dismantling affirmative action nationwide. Ensuring the UO has students from diverse backgrounds is an academic issue - not to mention the ethical commitment to keeping public education accessible for everyone. Therefore, I want to commit to you that a key focus of mine next year will be on ameliorating the detrimental effects that ending affirmative action will have on recruiting and retaining diverse faculty, students, and staff.



I am under no illusion that ending affirmative action will not harm UO’s ability to maintain or improve our number of underrepresented faculty, students, and staff. This is not my first rodeo dealing with this vital issue. 1995 I was a freshman at UC Davis when the UC Board of Regents decided to end affirmative action. I was intimately involved in student lead activism at the time, culminating in camping at the student union and in front of the administrative building for a couple of weeks. Fast forward 28 years, and you can see the detrimental effects those decisions had - particularly on the elite UCs.



At any rate, I am confident that UO administrators are working to maintain our commitment to underrepresented students, faculty, and staff. My commitment to the Senate is to work in good faith with administrators and be a resource for them as they maneuver these new challenges and maintain a commitment to our values. The Senate could play a critical role this year in these issues, and I welcome any feedback from you. Please send me an e-mail or a request to meet in person if you would like to be specifically involved in these Senate efforts.



Cordially,



Gerard.



Gerard Francisco Sandoval, PhD
President, University Senate<https://senate.uoregon.edu/>
Professor, School of Planning, Public Policy and Management<https://pppm.uoregon.edu/>
University of Oregon
103 Hendricks Hall
Eugene, OR, 97403-1209
541-346-8432
www.gfsandoval.com<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.gfsandoval.com/__;!!C5qS4YX3!AjqGVoyrW_aDzmqJgZqXRnzq5etTQMNuUGh4hUOEJSiNSJp2S4xBqrcG0vs-85OxshAaoDJo2tUjetRd-ZShmli4$>

NOTE: If your e-mail pertains to the State of Oregon government (Land Conservation and Development Commission <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.oregon.gov/lcd/Commission/Pages/index.aspx__;!!C5qS4YX3!AjqGVoyrW_aDzmqJgZqXRnzq5etTQMNuUGh4hUOEJSiNSJp2S4xBqrcG0vs-85OxshAaoDJo2tUjetRd-UoscvbY$> and Housing Stability Council<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.oregon.gov/ohcs/hsc/pages/index.aspx__;!!C5qS4YX3!AjqGVoyrW_aDzmqJgZqXRnzq5etTQMNuUGh4hUOEJSiNSJp2S4xBqrcG0vs-85OxshAaoDJo2tUjetRd-e8b26u-$>), please e-mail me at gerard.sandoval at state.or.us. I do not use my University of Oregon e-mail account to conduct State of Oregon public service. Thank you.





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