Acceptance Speech
Thank you. I am grateful for the recognition. I’d like to thank you, the Senate, the Office of General Counsel, Kevin, for your leadership of the office, and Brandalee, for keeping me alive.
I was wondering why I got this award. And then I realized it’s because of theme of conflict, which I’ll get to in a moment.
As a lawyer for UO, I imagine the perception of my office, is one of reaction, that the OGC is ready to defend the U when things go wrong, regardless of right & wrong, regardless of how it happened.
That perception is one that gave me pause before I decided to pursue this kind of work. After years as a civil rights litigator, suing government agencies for discrimination, for refusing to produce public records, for circumventing public processes, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do general counsel work at all until I came here.
For my day long interview, I met dozens of people passionate about justice, cognizant of their power as U employees, as people in positions of public trust, and committed to inclusive education. That’s where I really learned that the University of Oregon is worth the fighting for, and that in coming here I wouldn’t be alone.
In my time here, I have been honored to do this work. I have had the chance to be engaged in a series of projects helping good people make tough calls.
Most significantly, I’ve had the chance to work closely with faculty, staff and students on some contentious, seemingly insurmountable, problems, where the theme has continued to be ‘Conflict.’ That includes work on the Conflict of Interest, Conflict of Commitment, and Outside Activities Policy, with Elizabeth Skowron, Cass Moseley and others. Thank you John Bonine, for making sure we mean what we say. And Conflicts of Interest and Abuse of Power: Sexual or Romantic Relationships with Students, with Sonja Boos, Ibrahim Gassama, and a number of powerhouse members of the U community, really awesome people who care deeply about the shared governance of the University.
Service on a senate committee is the opportunity to engage in rigorous debate, understand a different perspective, and make new colleagues, and maybe even new friends. We had long, intense conversations about doing what’s lawful, doing what makes sense, and doing what’s right. It was hard, but it was good. And UO is worth the fighting for.
This is a place where students go, as students, to learn, grow, discover their passions, become inspired. We as fellow students, faculty, staff, administrators, have the chance to nourish their spirits. We can show them a place where we cultivate free speech, debate, protest, diversity, equity, inclusion, ethics, the chance to learn free of sexual violence or sexual harassment, finding your voice, and finding the appropriate mechanisms to make change happen. A lot is at stake here, and we better get it right. That’s why I’m here, and I thank you for this opportunity.