FIRE Letter to University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer, February 11, 2005 By admin February 11, 2005

http://www.thefire.org/fire-letter-to-university-of-oregon-president-dave-frohnmayer-february-11-2005/

URGENT

Sent by U.S. Mail and Facsimile (541-346-3017)

Dear President Frohnmayer:

As you can see from our Directors and Board of Advisors, FIRE unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of liberty, due process, legal equality, voluntary association, freedom of speech, and religious liberty on America’s college campuses.  Our webpage, www.thefire.org, will give you a greater sense of our identity and activities.

We are gravely concerned about a recent incident at the University of Oregon that threatens your students’ freedom of expression.  We understand that the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) Programs Finance Committee (PFC) has rejected the mission statement of a student magazine, the Oregon Commentator, thereby making it ineligible for funding.  Members of the PFC have demonstrated an alarming misunderstanding of the university’s obligation to uphold the First Amendment when distributing funds to student organizations.  As a state institution, the university and its administrators should understand that it has a non-delegable duty to ensure that the First Amendment rights of its students are protected, and that no federal, state, local, or university rule, policy, or regulation can trump the exercise of rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.