Pacific Condemns Racist Act

On Monday evening, Pacific University staff members were made aware of a video posted on social media, in which a former student makes racist comments about a fellow student.

We absolutely condemn this behavior.

These statements and attitudes are in direct opposition to Pacific’s mission and commitment to justice in the world.

It is our responsibility — every day, but perhaps even more in our current climate — to be a voice for change, to recognize our own roles in the systemic racism in our society, and to take action to dismantle racism.

As an institution, we will not tolerate these kinds of acts.

The Student Code of Conduct explicitly prohibits discriminatory behavior, and violations of this policy can have serious consequences. We investigate all allegations of discrimination by faculty, staff or students in collaboration with the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Human Resources, Campus Public Safety, and the Office of Student Conduct.

Community members are encouraged to report incidents of bias and discrimination through the Bias and Hate Incident Reporting System.

For our community of people of color, the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is here to provide support, referrals and university resources. We encourage students to reach out to the Student Counseling Center if they are interested in having a counselor support them through processing the range of emotions, trauma and grief that may be arising during this time. The SCC also has a new weekly web-series, Rising from the Margins, which is focused on holding space to support students, staff and faculty in drawing on the wisdom of their experiences of living in the margins.

For all members of our community, it is our responsibility — as an institution and as individuals — to learn more about the impacts of racial inequality, to interrupt racism in our daily lives, and to use our voices to say, “No more."