University of Oregon students can expect significant tuition increases next year. President Michael Schill announced that the Tuition Fees and Advisory Board has recommended increasing tuition by $21 a credit hour— or $945 a year— for all students.

The TFAB is composed of students, administrators, faculty and staff members from UO. In addition to the tuition increase, TFAB also proposed a new $50 per term technology fee. The increases have not been finalized but Schill said few other options are available.

“I regret that I have little choice but to accept the TFAB recommendations on tuition and fees for next year,” Schill said in the announcement. “After receiving public input, I will forward my final tuition recommendation to the UO Board of Trustees for consideration at its next regular meeting on March 2–3.”

Out-of-state students are bearing less of the burden than in previous years. Last year they saw an increase of 4.5 percent compared to a potential 3 percent increase this year. Instead, costs are shifting to residents who are looking at an increase of 10.6 percent compared to the 4.7 percent last year.

Schill has said many times that tuition will continue to increase. Reasons for the increases vary from a broken Public Employee Retirement System to disinvestment in education by the state.

“I wish it were not necessary for us to increase tuition by these significant amounts,” Schill said. “Yet the state’s fiscal problems leave us no choice. Oregon’s disinvestment in higher education over more than two decades has shifted the burden of paying for college from the state to our students and families.”

Schill called on the university community, students, alumni and friends to urge legislators to prioritize education funding. According to the recommendation, even $20 million given to education would reduce increases by 1 percent.

The Governor’s Budget for 2017-19 does not project an increase in public funding for education despite a letter signed by public university presidents asking for a $100 million increase.

Schill said that even with these increases, the university will still have a gap of $8.8 million next year.

The tuition proposal is available for public viewing, and Schill invited members of the university community to comment on it before his recommendation is made in March. The window to comment will close on Friday Feb. 17.

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Around 25 students searched for solidarity Friday afternoon in front of Starbucks in the EMU. The unofficial rally was headed by a few members of the Graduate Teachers Fellowship Federation, but visitors from other groups stood in front of the group to share their own messages.

“The idea for today was to have a period of time where we come together as employees and students and workers on this campus, and find out how we can be in solidarity with one another,” Kadie Manion, the GTFF president said. “We are hoping to use it as a teach-in [or to] share contact information and resources with each other.”

Although the rally was started by GTFF members, the event wasn’t officially endorsed by the federation, according to Manion.

Students participating were seated at tables or on the ground. Some were working on signs that will be carried in the march from the EMU amphitheater to downtown Eugene on Friday evening. One student toted a two-sided sign reading “Don’t mourn, organize,” on one side, with “Organize & Fight Bigotry,” scrawled on the opposite.

“We know there are a lot of people today, on this weird day in American history, who don’t quite know what to do with themselves,” Michael Marchman, staff organizer of the GTFF said. “Some people are feeling upset, some are feeling really angry and ready to fight.”

Tensions among the participants were high. Chants of “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist USA,” rang out in the relatively quiet student union.

“How can we work together?” Marchman asked, “what are we going to do to resist the tremendous aggression we are going to see towards workers, women, the LGBTQ community and people of color?”

In addition to the rally in the food court, “Reset the Code” offered students a chance to anonymously say what respect meant to them in the “Reset Room.”

A rally is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. in the amphitheater and will be followed by a march downtown at 6 p.m.

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The University of Oregon selected two architecture firms to begin designs on the $1 billion Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. The announcement was made on the university’s blog Wednesday morning.

Bora Architecture, based in Portland, Oregon, will work on the project with the New York based firm, Ennead Architects. A total of 11 firms applied for the project.

Bora was awarded the American Institute of Architects Firm Award for, “client-focused service, design excellence and innovation, a culture that nurtures staff, meaningful sustainability and community engagement, and financial stability,” according to the AIA website.

Ennead’s work dots college campuses across the country. The firm’s buildings can be seen on Purdue, Kansas State, Vassar and New York University campuses along with many others.

The campus, announced last October, is designed to help turn scientific research into tangible products. Phil and Penny Knight’s gift of $500 million is the largest-ever single donation to a flagship public university.

In addition to the long-term benefits the campus promises to provide for scientific research and production at UO, more immediate economic impacts are projected. According to the announcement, peak construction is projected to contribute up to $99.7 million in economic activity for the state of Oregon. Another $80 million in annual income activity statewide is estimated once the project is complete and hosting up to 300 full-time staff.

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University of Oregon students who haven’t been born yet will continue to bear the cost of a $98 million EMU renovation project.

Students will pay an extra $67 per term until 2043 to cover the cost of the improvements made to the EMU, according to project leaders.

“One of the most important things on a college campus is building community and having a laboratory for students to practice all the things they learn in the classroom,” Laurie Woodward, EMU director, said. “That’s what student unions are and what they do.”

In 2009, planners began a five year process to conceptualize what the final project would look like. During the renovation, student groups temporarily relocated to other facilities in late 2013, and construction began in January 2014.

(Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

The new EMU has many additions and amenities the former building lacked: a prayer room, local restaurants and more meeting spaces for student groups to name a few.

Gregg Lobisser, the retired assistant vice president for Capital Projects Division of Student Life and the lead on the project, started designing the new building in 2009. Lobisser was also the lead on the Student Rec Center renovation, and his original plan was to renovate both buildings at the same time.

“It’s very difficult to do two projects at once — two major projects,” said Lobisser. “What we didn’t want was to move one forward and then have the other one lag and students feel like, ‘Well, we already did one. We’re not going to do another one.’ ”

Former UO President Michael Gottfredson approved plans for both renovations, and the projects went to a student vote in 2011. The Rec Center was approved, but the EMU was not. A second EMU vote failed in the spring of 2012. The first two referendums asked for a $100 increase in student fees per term to pay for the project.

Students approved a significantly changed final referendum in November of that year. Administrators had cut aspects of the project — including a 1,200-seat concert hall in the east wing — to minimize costs.

The final referendum included a student fee of “no more than $69 per term,” which was eventually finalized as $67 by the president.

“One of the challenges with a referendum is that it requires legacy leadership,” Lobisser said.

“It means that if I vote ‘yes,’ I’m voting for the people who come after me, not for myself. Am I willing to pay more for them when I’m going to graduate before the thing opens?”

In 1947, UO students approved a $5-per-term fee to pay for the construction of the original building. That is equivalent to $54.12 per term today.

Although the building was expanded in the ‘70s, increasing space requirements and an estimated $12 million in essential repairs led administration to suggest an overhaul.

Laurie Woodward wasn’t working at the EMU during the planning stages. By the time she came on board in April 2013 the wheels were already in motion.

(Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

“It was exciting,” Woodward said. “My job was to come in and not undo anything that had been done, but to offer some new ideas and add what I thought was missing, and try to do that without changing the budget or without changing the direction.”

Giving students everything they wanted without increasing the budget was a challenge, Woodward said. She said that her first job was to address the fact that despite being told to “dream big,” there was a limit to what they could afford.

Students have been left with the majority of the bill for their new student union. Over 90 percent of the costs for the renovation will be paid by students, including the new $67 fee and student building fees that were already in place.

But students aren’t paying the entire sum. Additional sources, such as the computing center, the health center and EMU reserves, helped increase the budget from $95 million to $98 million. Campus operations contributed to fund the ramps and stairs along 13th Avenue.

“This project, unlike every project that I’d been on, added, added, added, within our budget as we found money,” Lobisser said. “We were able to do things like the ballroom renovation.”

Part of the original budget accounted for $5 million in donations, but only $3.2 million has been raised. UO continues to reach out to donors.

Even supplemented by outside funding, some students believe that the financial burden of the renovation falls too heavily on the student body.

“I know there are lots of students who are going to use this building, and they’re happy. But from a student leader perspective, it shouldn’t have been so much on the backs of students,” said ASUO Senate President Max Burns.

Dave Petrone, former UO Board of Trustees member, donated $1 million to update the Fishbowl, what he says is one of the most iconic features of the EMU.

“The Fishbowl is classic,” Petrone said. “It’s a little hard to explain, it just touches you. Everyone that goes there knows the Fishbowl.”

(Adam Eberhardt/Emerald)

Working to create a community space for students, Lobisser organized focus groups with every organization in the EMU to make sure each group got what they needed. The Innovation Center and the expanded Multicultural Center are some of the additions that came from those meetings.

“It becomes symbolic of the inclusiveness of campus that when you do a renovation like this, you are able to take the needs of students into mind that maybe were not part of the original thinking,” said UO spokesman Tobin Klinger, referring to the prayer rooms that were added in order to accommodate the larger international student body.

The EMU had its grand opening on Oct. 6, 2016. After 37 years working at the university, Gregg Lobisser retired the same day.

“I think this is the most important building on campus,” Lobisser said. “People who visit see the culture of UO in these halls.”

You can find a full breakdown of the EMU renovation budget here.

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An investigation led by the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity concluded the blackface costume worn by Nancy Shurtz last Halloween violated university policy, according to an email from Provost Scott Coltrane.

The UO hired a Portland-based law firm, Barran Liebman LLP, to investigate the legality of Shurtz’ actions, and whether she violated any university policy. Coltrane wrote in the email that he and the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity gave “direction and guidance” to the law firm during the investigation.

“Though the report recognizes that Professor Shurtz did not demonstrate ill intent in her choice of costume, it concludes that her actions had a negative impact on the university’s learning environment and constituted harassment under the UO’s antidiscrimination policies,” the email read.

The full report of the investigation, not normally released to the public, has been posted online in response to the reaction from the campus community. Shurtz previously released a letter explaining why she chose her costume.

“My hope is that both the law school community and the broader campus community can shift focus from Professor Shurtz to the much-needed process of healing and growth,” Coltraine said in the email. “We all need to work together to make this university one that is inclusive and welcoming to all.”

Conclusions of the investigation were released but disciplinary action is confidential according to the email.  

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**This story has been updated to include a comment from the university. 

University of Oregon President Michael Schill has instructed General Counsel Kevin Reed to investigate concerns about free-speech policy violations by the athletic department, according the faculty Senate website. The report will be given directly to Schill.

During a lengthy Emerald investigation of misconduct by a student athlete, the Emerald sports desk was threatened with having its credentials limited for future events if reporting continued outside of athletic department policy.

“We thought this was inappropriate given the stance of the university on freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” UO Senate Vice President Chris Sinclair said. “So we suggested the general counsel take a look and see if any policies have been violated.”

Difficulties with the athletic department have been reported before, according to Senate President Bill Harbaugh who said he has spoken with several former reporters for the Emerald as well as the Register-Guard and Oregonian who have expressed similar issues.

The request calls for an investigation of the threat, as well as the policy for contacting student athletes. Harbaugh sees the policy as a violation of other free speech policies on campus.

“There are two relevant polices that have been passed by the senate and after long debate and signed by the administration,” Harbaugh said. “Those make it absolutely clear the university should not be allowing interference in student athletes’ ability to speak freely.”

“The matter is not one within the purview of the Senate, but President Schill always welcomes the advice and helpful assistance of the Senate Chair and Vice Chair,” Tobin Klinger, university communications officer said in an email to the Emerald. “He has asked the General Counsel of the university to look into the matter and inform him about what happened and whether what happened was consistent with university policies and procedures.”

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On Nov. 11, Black student group leaders spoke to hundreds of students and community members at the EMU amphitheater, addressing the climate around race on campus. It’s been a year since the Black Student Task Force issued 12 demands to UO administration in the hopes of creating a safer and more inclusive university.

Members of the Black Student Union address the large crowd. The Black Student Task Force holds a Black Community Rally in the EMU amphitheater on Nov.11, 2016.

The revisiting of these demands, which include renaming buildings named after KKK members, comes in the wake of discriminatory events on campus.

Members of the Black Student Union have received racist threats online. On Halloween, a UO professor wore blackface at a private party, and on Nov. 9, high school students donned blackface at UO, offending community members on a campus that is intended to be a safe space, according to President Michael Schill. These recent racially related events may be forcing some UO Black students to reevaluate where they fit into the priorities of the university.

Of the 12 demands made by the BSTF a year ago, less than half have been fulfilled.

UO’s Black students are frustrated that after a year of pushing for demands, they’re still fighting for progress. On Friday, they rallied together in solidarity, determined to continue the march forward.

“We experience things that most of you probably have no idea how it feels,” Natashia Greene, external coordinator for the Black Student Union, said to the crowd on Friday. “One of our main goals is to really make sure that our students feel safe.”

Instead of allowing Black students to feel safe and included, many feel the climate on campus subjects them to overtly racist attitudes and sentiments.

Roger Thompson, vice president for enrollment management is one of the people working to solve issues Black students face at the university. He said he has been pleased to see bolstered recruitment efforts of Black students in recent years. He notes that UO was the first university to support Good in the Hood, a non-profit organization that offers scholarships to graduating high school students in Northeast Portland. The university also created a sponsorship and scholarship program with Jefferson High, a predominantly Black high school in Portland.

Although it is true that the population of minorities at UO is on the rise, much of the increase is due to a rapidly growing Latino population. The number of Black students at UO has been consistently low. In 1995 the population was around 251, comprising 1.4 percent of the total population of students. Currently, there are 472 Black students at UO, translating to about 2 percent of the population. Since UO has been recording demographic data, Black students have never comprised more than 2 percent of the student population.

(Stacy Yurishcheva/Emerald)

Thompson acknowledges UO’s historic challenge with retaining Black students for four years.

“I worry sometimes we don’t do enough through the sophomore, junior and senior years,” Thompson said. “We are dependent on this idea that as a freshman, you are going to connect in the right ways. I do worry that there should be more formal things through the rest of those years.”

Drake Hills, co-director of the Black Male Alliance, believes that the lack of support is partly due to statistics encompassing multiple ethnic minorities rather than individual ones. Hills feels that this marginalizes the importance of individual racial identities on campus.

“Multiculturalism is essentially this big bucket,” Hills said. “The university has dumped all these minority cultures into one bucket … and tried to dilute the experience.”

UO student Andre Lightsey-Walker agrees that administration could provide more support.

The UO law professor said she dressed in blackface in order to, “provoke a thoughtful discussion on racism in our society, in our educational institutions and in our professions,” according to the apology she released through Pat Walsh, the media relations professional hired by her attorney.

“It’s more than just the actual putting on of blackface,” Hills said about why the action is so harmful. “You’re pretty much calling us animals, calling us rapists … that’s what blackface is.”

One week later, UO student Zoie Gilpin, on her way home from a Black Student Union meeting, ran into three non-UO students painting their bodies in black paint. The video was widely shared on Twitter and appeared as the opening scene in a New York Times video about racial tensions on campuses following Donald Trump’s election.

In the wake of these racist actions, the Black student community has stressed the importance of the BSTF demands.

Three of the seven demands that have not been fulfilled were assigned a fall 2016 deadline by the BSTF. The call to rename KKK-related buildings on campus was answered in part, as the Board of Trustees denamed Dunn Hall, but Schill has yet to introduce a vote on denaming Deady Hall, as the BSTF demands specifically mention.

Natashia Greene raises her fist as she concludes her speech. The Black Student Task Force holds a Black Community Rally in the EMU amphitheater on Nov.11, 2016.

While the renaming of halls has received the most attention, a number of other demands have not been addressed by administration.

A piece of land has been reserved on the corner of East 15th Avenue and Villard Street for a Black Cultural Center and the university is exploring fundraising $3 million for the project.

“We need these demands to be met,” Hills said. “Not for everyone to say ‘hurrah,’ but it’s simply for our success, and it’s for our student life and it’s for our survival on this campus.”

Andrew Field contributed reporting to this article.

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The Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation released a statement earlier this week condemning the actions of a Taylor’s Bar and Grill bartender accused of drugging the drinks of four women.

“These actions are abhorrent,” the letter reads. “The actions of a single bartender are not an isolated incident, rather, they reveal the broader community and cultural norms that continue to facilitate an unsafe environment for women and other vulnerable populations.”

The GTFF is offering actions to be taken by the community in order to prevent further assaults.

“This is a serious problem, and both the local community and the university have got to step up to the plate and make sure they are doing everything in their power to make sure things like this aren’t happening,” Michael Marchman, the GTFF staff organizer, said.

The letter calls for University of Oregon President Michael Schill to make a statement condemning the actions of the bartender and similar behavior. Schill is also encouraged to outline how he will ensure safety for students in relation to campus bars.

“The bars themselves need to put in some kind of plans and policies for how they will train their employees to make it clear to them that that anyone who assaults somebody in this form is going to be prosecuted,” Marchman said.

Other suggestions made by the GTFF include:

1. Hanging signs that clearly indicate that drugging drinks is assault and will not be tolerated.
2. Training employees in the nuances of assault. What it is and why it is a crime.
3. Training employees to recognize when a drink is compromised.
4. Training employees to be watchful of drinks.
5. Training employees to react positively and helpfully after an assault has taken place.

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The Associated Students of the University of Oregon is a student run government that allocates student money and represents the student body at UO. The student-government, since its inception, has held some form of control of the Incidental Fee — a mandatory fee that students pay. The Incidental Fee pays for student organizations, contracts and student services. Today, students spend $233.75 per term on the incidental fee.

The Executive Cabinet of ASUO consists of the Student Body President, their Internal and External Vice Presidents, and a Cabinet of 24 appointees. The current ASUO President, Quinn Haaga has been in the position since Spring term where she campaigned under I’m with UO.

“The ASUO is the student body government led by students for students,” Haaga said. “We have a budget of about $16 million and one of our biggest responsibilities is allocating that to various student-run organizations, contracts and various services for students.

The Legislative Branch, which is the ASUO Senate, handles allocations of funds and policy making. It consists of 23 elected Senators from every academic major. The Senate handles the Incidental Fee and how it is distributed to UO student-organizations. The Senateis the public facing division of ASUO and they hold weekly public meetings where they discuss policy and financial issues.

The Judicial Branch, also known as the Constitutional Court, is the division of ASUO that reviews and retains all knowledge of ASUO law. According to the ASUO website, the Judicial Branch mainly works in the background and focuses on making sure the rest of ASUO upholds the laws set forth.

“This review power covers almost any action by ASUO government bodies, programs, and in special cases such as elections, actions by individual students within programs,” According to the ASUO website. “The Court has broad powers to impose sanctions in order to compel compliance with its rulings. Court appointees serve as long as they remain students at the University of Oregon.”

Vickie Gimm, a senator in ASUO, has been involved with the Multicultural Center since her freshman year, and has worked with ASUO as the MCC coordinator prior to her appointment to senate. She described how important it is for students to care about what ASUO is doing.

“The incidental fee is important because we are responsible for so many services and because this is the only way students can maintain our autonomy because this is the only resource we have as students that is actually going to go directly to benefit students.”

ASUO wants students to be more involved and to care about how the government that represents them is being handled. Haaga encouraged students to participate and stay informed about ASUO when they can.

“Throughout the year definitely lookout for openings for different senate seats or different finance committee positions,” Haaga said, “because those open up semi-frequently and it’s a good way to get involved.”

ASUO holds weekly public meetings in the EMU Miller room every Wednesday at 7 p.m.. ASUO has some open position including an Elections Work Coordinator they are hoping to fill prior to elections in the Spring. Members all have office hours during the week and for more information on how students can speak to them or how students can become involved the ASUO website has a wealth of information.

The post Understanding ASUO appeared first on Emerald Media.

The Office of General Counsel for the University of Oregon is circulating a six-page proposal for a Time, Place and Manner Rules for Campus Speech and Protest Activities policy. UO President Michael Schill announced the reasoning behind the policy on Friday.

The proposal, given to the Emerald by UO Vice President and General Counsel Kevin Reed, was delivered to the Board of Trustees secretary November 2 for input.

The Policy Advisory Committee will review a final proposal. If approved, the policy would move to the UO Senate for a vote. In Friday’s email, Schill wrote if a permanent policy is not in place within four months, he will enact a temporary policy.

UO does not have a policy that outlines the rules and regulations concerning protests, a point Reed addressed in an email to UCLA law professor and free speech advocate Eugene Volokh last month.

Reed wrote this leaves “the regulation of campus speech activities to the ad hoc discretion of various administrators in student life/event planning/campus operations/campus police, etc.”

The current standards for acceptable protest actions are listed in the Facilities Scheduling policy and Freedom of Inquiry and Free Speech policy.

The policy’s introduction says intends to reaffirm the university’s commitment to freedom of speech and expression while “simultaneously respecting the safety of speakers and audiences alike as well as the safe operation of the campus.”

The proposed policy states “it attempts to clearly define the line where protected conduct ends and civil disobedience begins.”

According to Section 8 of the proposed policy, all items used during protests must be attended at all times. Section 9 provides restrictions on the size of signs, banners and placards that can be used.

Last April, administrators removed a Divest UO banner from the front of Johnson Hall. According to administration, the sign was removed because it was left unattended in front of the building, not because of the message protestors were sending.

The proposed policy stipulates that any persons violating the policy will be subject to “institutional disciplinary proceedings,” including “an order to leave the immediate premises,” and may be cited or arrested for criminal trespass for failing to do so.

Section 12 details the appeals process for those who violate the proposed policy. It states that appeals may be made in writing within 10 days of the incident. Appeals will be denied if the Office of the President, Chief of Staff or designee does not respond within 10 days of receiving the appeal. 

The proposed policy will not supersede the rights of employee organizations such as the Graduate Teachers Fellowship Foundation.

Both OSU and UCLA have similar policies in place. 

“It’s not the world’s most perfect policy, but I do think it’s a lot more permissive than the policies at other campuses that I’ve ever looked at,” said Reed.

According to Reed, the ASUO has not endorsed the policy.

“I shared several of the policies with ASUO, and they had problems with some of the wording,” said Reed.

Comments on the original posting of the draft on the UO Senate website indicated that some students, staff and community members saw issues with the current state of the proposal and the restrictions it would impose.

Will Campbell contributed reporting to this article.

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