President Gottfredson shared the following remarks on July 30 during the first gathering of members of the President’s Review Panel, an eight-member panel he appointed to examine the UO’s practices and procedures for preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.

This section of the agenda calls for me to give you my charge. But what I would really like to do is to share my aspirations. I have great hope for this panel. I believe you can and will move the campus forward, helping to advance the national dialogue. My overriding aspiration, the university’s number-one priority, is ensuring the safety, security, and long-term interests of our students. Our students’ interests are the sole driver for the formation of this panel. Like each of you, I know the ways in which higher education advanced my life, and the lives of those around me, and sparked my curiosity for learning and research. It is this opportunity for students to experience this joy of learning and discovery that drives me, and so many educators, to work in higher education. If students are unsafe, if they are harassed, intimidated, or assaulted, it can devastate their lives and alter their experiences profoundly. Our students come here to thrive, and therefore safety must be a given. This is our first and most important question: How can we better ensure the safety our students? How can we improve on our advice, our training, our environment in ways that facilitate making good decisions that are respectful of others, and of their own long-term interests?

We know that the issue of sexual misconduct and assault is not unique to the University of Oregon. The federal Office of Civil Rights is investigating more that 60 colleges and universities for their handling of sexual misconduct investigations. There are many additional institutions of higher learning that, like the UO, are not under investigation, but are concerned about sexual assault and are working to better prevent and respond to sexual misconduct. A White House task force and Senate committee have weighed in. This is a national focus and priority for all of higher education.

In fact, the pervasiveness of this issue underscores the challenges before us. As a nation and as a campus there are profound social and cultural issues to consider. We have an opportunity to learn from others and to lead with our actions.

I believe most of our students are very safe and secure, and most, by far, do the right things and have an outstanding experience. The problems here are likely not different or greater than elsewhere—however, one of our purposes for this panel is to determine where the University of Oregon sits among our peers in terms of prevention, intervention, and response. Are there aspects of campus culture that increase the possibility of sexual misconduct? Are we sufficiently knowledgeable of these? Are there environmental factors we can better control? Access to and attitudes about alcohol, living arrangements, and social customs we can affect? Are our practices working, are our policies employed, are there best practices we can adopt to better prevent and respond to sexual misconduct?

While one very public incident was the impetus for this review, that incident alone is not the focus of this panel. It surely presents us with opportunities to learn important lessons, but it is my intention that we use this moment to examine the big picture of prevention and response for all of our students—because as we know, this issue does not rest in one section of the student body, and the multiple causes of incidents cannot be understood without a broad focus. As you look at our recent experiences and compare them with others, it will become clear that we need to think of the campus in its entirety. 

Within this already complex set of social and behavioral issues, we are embedded in a highly complex and potentially conflicting legal environment, balancing Title IX, FERPA, student conduct codes, and criminal law. When an incident is reported, it triggers several processes simultaneously, depending on such factors as the place of occurrence, the other roles students occupy, the preference of the reporter, and whether or not the report implicates the criminal justice process. The procedural and evidence standards for these systems vary, as do the potential consequences for our students. It involves many different parts of the campus and a large number of people, on and off campus, and includes considerations of our obligations for student privacy.

Are there those who do this better than we do, and if so, how can we improve? And, given this complexity, how can we manage the communications to different audiences, many of whom do not and cannot fully appreciate these complexities?

It is very clear to me that significant solutions to the problems of sexual misconduct and assault depend on the involvement of the entire campus community. I believe that significant change requires a common response and ownership. So, how can we best involve the entire campus community—faculty members, staff members, students, and bystanders—to enhance safety?

Perhaps needless to say at this point, but truly one of my aspirations and perhaps most challenging of all, we need help determining how to focus our efforts. Given this scope, what should be our top priorities? Are there areas in which we have particular difficulties that suggest immediate remedies? Where should we focus first, and then next? What tactics can make the biggest difference?

Thank you for your help. We are eager to learn, and stand ready to assist you in your efforts in any way.