January 19, 2024
Dear Lane Community College Board of Education,
Our thoughts are with everyone in the Eugene-Springfield area as you continue to live with the impact of our winter storm. The storm has offered a pause of our ordinary lives – one that in your position as the member of the Lane Board of Education could be used wisely to address concerns about the treatment of faculty at Lane. I write today representing community college faculty and staff from across the state to urge you to do just that.
The OEA Community College Council represents over 4,000 faculty and staff working at 11 of Oregon’s community colleges. We write as united brothers and sisters in support of the Lane Community College faculty and the Lane Community College Education Association (LCCEA). We have been following the unfolding of some concerning events at Lane Community College and join individual local unions in expressing our concerns.
We are alarmed by ongoing attempts to intimidate, silence, and terminate the employment of faculty who were racial discrimination complainants and Lane Community College Education Association (LCCEA) leaders. We support their ongoing efforts to support and advocate for an equitable workplace free from bias and discrimination and to represent the interests of faculty at the college, supported by state labor law and the rights afforded them by the collective bargaining agreement. There is no room for intimidation or retaliation for legal union advocacy at any college.
We are alarmed by actions taken by the college to lay off faculty of color who have highlighted discriminatory practices at the college and to seek to do so in a manner that did not honor their seniority and contractual protections. It is concerning to see evidence that the college retaliated against faculty who sought to utilize college policies to highlight discriminatory practices at the college. This behavior also makes it hard to create an inclusive learning environment for students.
These events, coupled with administration actions such a letter threatening legal actions sent by the campus attorney in an effort to silence the Faculty Council and the dismantling of Lane’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, are not conducive to a healthy learning and working environment for faculty and students.
We are alarmed by the administration’s refusal to follow the college’s own policies and procedures to allow faculty and staff to express concerns in a fair and transparent manner without retaliation.
Based on all these concerns, the faculty and staff across the state represented by the Oregon Education Association call on the Lane Community College Board of Education members to publicly condemn the administration’s use of intimidation and retaliation against faculty who have lifted their voice up for justice and fairness. Now is the time to investigate these important concerns and show the LCCEA and faculty and staff that they can feel safe and supported at Lane Community College.
We look forward to hearing of your positive action addressing these concerns,
Traci Hodgson, Ph.D.
President of the OEA Community College Council
Lane Community College Education Association 