BDS Resolution Struck Down at University of Oregon

The University of Oregon Campus (Wikimedia Commons)

Earlier this week, the judicial branch of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) struck down an anti-Israel resolution passed by the University of Oregon (UO) student senate. As reported by the UO student newspaper, the Daily Emerald, the ASUO found the decision did not comply with a “viewpoint neutral position.” The failure to stay neutral violates guidelines adopted in the wake the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Southworth v. The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. For public universities to administer student fees, they must strict to conduct which does not advocate for “a particular point of view.”

The ASUO found that the decision to adopt a BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) style boycott at UO violated two sections of the ASUO constitution, namely a section which bans the ASUO from infringing on the privileges and immunities of any person, and a further section which forbids withholding activities on the basis of “sex, race, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status, handicap, political view, national origin, or any other extraneous considerations.” The ASUO has determined that in order to abide by the above rules, they must render the BDS resolution invalid.

The decision to reverse the boycott decision came after ASUO Senate President Montserrat Mendez-Higuera filed a motion to investigate the decision last October. Following the initial adoption of the boycott, the UO Hillel had one of their signs vandalized. The UO administration was quick to react to the vandalism, but students reported that “before and after the hearing, rumors were spread on social media that pro-Israel students were a ‘Super PAC,’ that we were getting paid to speak, that specific pro-Israel senators should ‘shut the f*ck up,’ and other nonsensical accusations and assaults.”

UO President Michael Schill stated shortly after the vandalism that the BDS resolution “contradict[ed] the ASUO mission to support he interests of all students in a diverse community.”