Sent on behalf of Mary Deits, Chair of the President’s Review Panel

September 30, 2014

Dear UO Students,

I am the chair of the President’s Review Panel. This panel is comprised of experts who are reviewing the University of Oregon’s policies and practices for preventing and responding to all forms of sexual misconduct. We have been studying the UO’s practices, conducting interviews, and holding listening sessions for the past 2 1/2 months. Our goal is to form observations and recommendations about how the university can do a better job in creating a safe and respectful learning environment for you. You can learn more about our work at our website.

We invite you to attend one of our public listening sessions next week dedicated to students’ perspectives about the university’s sexual assault prevention and response practices.

Tuesday, October 7 in the Global Scholars Great Hall

• 4:00–5:00 p.m. – students input given priority
• 6:00–7:00 p.m. – students input only

These sessions are open to the campus community, but the first session will give priority to students who want to speak. The second session is designed for students input only. The panel designed these sessions this way to be sure students had an opportunity to share their insights and experiences with the panel.

Here are some specific issues we hope you can help us understand:

1. What can the university do to increase reporting of incidents of sexual misconduct?
2. How can the university provide better support to students who are involved in such incidents?
3. What can the university do to build student trust in its policies and practices related to incidents of sexual misconduct?
4. What can the university do to prevent such incidents?

If you cannot or do not want to participate in the public listening session, or would like to provide additional information, we encourage you to offer your input in writing by submitting a comment card at one of the public listening sessions or by sharing input through this web form.

Also, if you or someone you know is sexually harassed, intimidated, or assaulted call the UO’s 24/7 hotline 541-346-SAFE or visit safe.uoregon.edu to learn about your reporting options and to get help and support.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the two previous listening sessions and to those who provided comments on the web form. Your input and perspectives are invaluable to us and provide important insights that will help shape our recommendations for improving campus policies and practices.

We will continue to update the President’s Review Panel website with information about the panel’s review, resource documents, and announcements.

The success of our final report and our recommendations depend upon the panel hearing a broad range of perspectives. We again thank everyone who is helping ensure the panel members learn about the effectiveness of UO’s practices.

Sincerely,
Mary Deits
Chair