President Scholz sent the following message to faculty, staff, and students on October 5, 2026.
To the University of Oregon community,
This past weekend, the head of Oregon Hillel, an organization that serves as a welcoming space for Jewish students and others, was singled out and labeled an “Enemy of the People” in unauthorized flyers posted on university grounds. These flyers also called for the removal of Hillel from our campus. Hillel is a center of Jewish life and a home away from home for many of our students.
While we do not know if the flyers were posted by someone affiliated with our university, this type of language on our campus—language that targets based on religious and ethnic identity—is reprehensible. People have the right to speak freely, and we uphold that right. The posted flyers did not invite dialogue; instead, they promoted isolation and fear, and fear erodes the foundation of our community.
We can be better.
As president, my administration and I have a responsibility to uphold our values, respond when policies are violated, and ensure our processes are fair. To all of us: Look out for one another. Speak up when you see conduct that falls short of our values or endangers members of our community. And engage in discourse and disagreement but do so in a way that has the chance to persuade. Antisemitism, violence and threats have no place here. Together, let us make the UO the place we want and need it to be.
Karl Scholz
President