SECTION I

WHEREAS the University of Oregon affirms its core values include “equity and inclusion in a welcoming, safe, and respectful community.”

WHEREAS the Senate and our academic community and peers across the country are concerned about the recent increase in hate crimes and inflammatory language around the United States, including at the University of Oregon.

WHEREAS there have been repeated examples of threats against women, LGBTQAI-identified individuals, specific ethnic and religious groups, and immigrants during and after a divisive presidential election.

WHEREAS President Schill’s Nov. 15th message to the campus community maintains that “we condemn any threat or effort to intimidate anyone at the university. We are a community of scholars. Efforts to divide us based upon the color of our skin, our nationality, our immigration status, our abilities, our diversity of thought, our gender, or our sexual orientation must be called out and stopped.”

WHEREAS Proposed immigration policies of the incoming presidential administration could undermine the safety and security of members of our educational community and their families, particularly those students and staff without the privileges of US citizenship.

WHEREAS Recent initiatives such as Oregon’s 2013 Tuition Equity Law and the Oregon Opportunity grants help communicate the message that UO is an educational community open to all, regardless of immigration status.

WHEREAS Two internal 2011 memos indicate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are subject to certain restrictions upon entering college campuses, and should avoid persecuting high school and college students.

https://www.ice.gov/doclib/ero-outreach/pdf/10029.2-policy.pdf

https://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure-communities/pdf/prosecutorial-discret…

Enforcement actions covered by the policy include arrests, interviews, searches, and surveillance for the purposes of immigration enforcement.

WHEREAS a large number of universities and colleges throughout the country are declaring themselves to be a “Sanctuary Campus” to signal their their continued commitment to protect all its members regardless of their immigration status.

SECTION II

THEREFORE, the Senate of the University of Oregon, REQUESTS that the university administration take the following actions, to the extent legally possible:

1. Develop a protocol to make UO a Sanctuary Campus, in order to protect the safety and security of our students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.

2. Protect student privacy by restricting the release of information about students’ immigration status to law enforcement agencies, including ICE.

3. Instruct campus police to refrain from collaborating with ICE for the purposes of immigration enforcement.

4. Refuse access to campus to federal immigration officials for the purposes of immigration enforcement, except in exigent circumstances.

5. Assign a specific administrative office to assist our DACA students and other students who lack the protections of citizenship on a strictly confidential basis.

6. Implement campus-wide training in de-escalation intervention techniques and UPstander intervention, including for UO campus police.

7. Commit to providing adequate mental health services for our students, including mental health professionals who have competency in working with politically marginalized communities. 

8. Implement a forum for ongoing feedback from students, faculty and staff about campus climate and additional future actions to protect the safety and dignity of the UO community.