Race combats local prejudice
I he bk Kace Against Racism,
sponsored by the YWCA, will
feature speakers discussing
racism issues at a local level
Andrew Shipley
Freelance Reporter
Students and community members
will unite against local racism and
prejudice May 17 in the 5k Race
Against Racism at Alton Baker Park.
The event is sponsored annually by
the University YWCA. The final day to
register for the race is today, and regis
tration is $12 for students. Proceeds
will fund future YWCA efforts to
heighten awareness of racial issues in
the Eugene/Springfield community.
More than 400 runners participat
ed in the 2001 race, and the YWCA
seeks to build on that success this
year by expanding the race’s educa
tional dimension.
“This year we have really made a
commitment to bringing inrorma
tion to the event,” YWCA Executive
Director Mauri Castle said.
Castle said the focus of this
year’s event is not the race itself
but the issues being promoted. Be
cause of this, the YWCA has decid
ed not to time the race in an at
tempt to foster a relaxed and
noncompetitive atmosphere.
“It is more important that people
show up,” Castle said.
To attract those individuals not in
terested in running, community
groups will be on hand with informa
tion and opportunities on how to
combat racism and prejudice at a lo
cal level. The event will also feature
guest speakers who will talk about is
sues surrounding racism.
“This year’s speeches will be really
localized,” YWCA Racial Justice Ad
vocate Chris Kiyuna said. “All of the
speakers are local figures who have
been involved in Eugene.”
The Race Against Racism has
been a popular event among Univer
sity students in the past.
“There has been really good stu
dent participation before,” said Cas
tle. “This year there will be a push
for community involvement to get
more diversity.”
The importance of race issues in
communities such as Eugene may
not be obvious to everyone.
“I don’t see racism very often
here,” freshman Brian Newton said.
“I’m personally not racist, and nei
ther is really anyone I know.”
However, Newton said events like
the Race Against Racism are useful.
“I can see how it would be good,”
Newton said. “You can’t know what
it’s like for a minority group because
you don’t have that history.”
Kiyuna agreed.
“Racism today isn’t just face judg
ing,” said Kiyuna. “It’s not seeing
how certain people are offended by
words or actions.”
By spreading awareness, the event
will address some of these racial mis
understandings.
“This (race) shows you how you
can combat racism in your everyday
life,” Castle said. “When you live in
a community in which you are a ma
jority, there are a lot of things you
take for granted. There is cultural
misunderstanding and ignorance.”
Students can register for the race
today at the YWCA table outside the
bookstore, and a registration form
can also be printed off the Web at
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~ywca/
RAR.htm. Castle said missing the
registration date does not prohibit
involvement in the event, and volun
teers are always welcome.
“Even if you aren’t a runner, it
would be great to come out and
help,” Castle said.
Andrew Shipley is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
Athletes
continued from page 1A
self-proclaimed fixation with the
1920s — and found Williams and
Robinson in several Oregana year
books. Since then, he has been on a
mission to get the two athletes offi
cially recognized by the University.
“My mouth dropped when I saw
those guys,” said Brame, who now
works as a program manager for
Multnomah County in Portland.
By 2002, Brame had talked with
other former University athletes
and realized that almost no one has
ever heard of Robinson or Williams.
“Every time I talk about them,
nobody has really heard of these
gentlemen,” he said. “It’s just like
they never existed.”
So Brame wrote a report that
told the athletes’ stories and has
since sent it to University Presi
dent Dave Frohnmayer and Athlet
ic Director Bill Moos, in hopes that
they would agree to placing a sim
ple plaque or cornerstone to com
memorate them.
“I’m going to tell them that there’s
a huge hole in the University of Ore
gon history that needs to be closed,
and they are the type of guys who
can close it,” Brame said.
Brame’s crusade
Vice President for Administration
Dan Williams said Moos has not been
briefed on the matter yet, and that
Frohnmayer would not take part in
this process unless the Athletic De
partment thought the athletes de
served more than just a mention in
the Athletic Hall of Fame.
“We have never received a pro
posal of this kind before,” Dan
Williams said. “If there is special
University recognition (involved),
then the president will step in at
some point. ”
After being contacted by the
Emerald, University Media Rela
tions Director Pauline Austin said
Frohnmayer and other administra
tors prepared a letter and sent it to
Brame on Thursday.
“These things take time,” Austin
said, adding that she does not know
how soon action might be taken.
Brame has volunteered to pay for
all possible charges and hopes to
have the plaque or cornerstone
placed by next fall at Hayward Field
because that is where the football
team played during that era.
“All I want is permission to make
a donation,” he said, adding that be
cause of everything the two athletes
went through, it is a shame that
they have not already been recog
nized. “When I started going
through the old dusty archives ... I
began to realize (Oregon) was a very
different place.”
According to Brame’s report, Ore
gon State College — as Oregon State
University used to be called — per
sonnel said they were worried that
the University of Oregon was “creat
ing an environment that could lead to
interracial dating by bringing the two
African Americans to the school.”
Second-class citizens
When Robinson and Williams first
got to the University, they were not
allowed to live in the dorms, Brame
said. Eventually they were allowed to
live in Friendly Hall, but only if they
went in through the back door. Dur
ing their last football game at one East
Coast university, team officials said
the school refused to play against
Oregon if Robinson or Williams suit
ed up — so they did not play.
“It must have been devastating to
them,” Brame said. “They were do
ing something very powerful and so
cial. This isn’t about how many all
star games they were in or how
many points they scored ... it’s
about making the University of Ore
gon a better place.”
Many West Coast universities do
not keep accurate records from that
period of time. A spokesman from the
UCLA Athletic Department said he
cannot remember any black student
athletes prior to the late 1930s, and a
representative from the University of
Washington Athletic Department said
the school does not keep records
based on race. University Archivist
Heather Briston said many universi
ties did not begin to collect records
until after World War II.
“For a long time, people only col
lected things they thought would be
historical — the program, the award
— but they wouldn’t collect the
stats,” Briston said. “People weren’t
thinking how important the regular
documents would be. Sometimes
you don’t know who the first (black
student-athlete) is unless you have
a complete set of photographs.”
Continuing the fight
Dan Williams said he has no
doubt that Williams and Robinson
went through a lot, but that there
are other factors to consider.
“The issue is not whether they
are deserving,” he said. “If we are
going to start recognizing other Uni
versity pioneers, we have to think
about the repercussions. Maybe
there are other ball players of color
we need to recognize.”
Brame said he believes that it is
important for students to know that
the University has evolved since the
1920s, and that he will continue to
push for Williams’ and Robinson’s
recognition. He is currently plan
ning on starting a Web site that will
contain all of his research.
“Education is a chain — you take
one link out, and it’s gone,” he said.
Contact the reporter
atromangokhman@daiIyemerald.com.
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Classes
continued from page 1A
scheduling that would bring Friday
back to the school week. The
amount of classroom activity on Fri
days at the University is about 36
percent less than the average.
Scheduling of classes is a process
that is based on the needs of depart
ments as well as individual faculty
members. Departments try to offer
a variety of time and day choices for
classes so students can take classes
without many conflicts.
Registrar Herb Chereck said af
ter renovations in spring 2002 to
Gilbert Hall left fewer classrooms,
the Registrar’s Office devised a
new protocol for classroom sched
uling for fall 2002. The new proto
col was designed to schedule more
classes throughout the day to de
crease the number of time con
flicts for students.
The protocol was also designed to
increase the number of classes held
on Friday, given that previous sys
tems led to a decrease in the num
ber of Friday classes, yet the num
ber of classes held on Friday is still
significantly lower.
Ghereck said required in-class
hours naturally work better in a four
day week, but some universities have
tried to make changes that would give
students and faculty a free day in the
middle of the week and eliminate the
three-day weekend.
Ghereck said the article from the
Chronicle caught his interest and
was brought to the attention of oth
er administrators, but no discussion
about changing the structure of the
week has taken place.
Contact the reporter
atlindsaysauve@dailyemerald.com.
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RECYCLE
Linguistics Courses
for summer
016505
UNG 101 Intro to Language
4 credits, CRN 42325, 18:00-19:50 MUWH
Meets June 23-July 18
Satisfies Social Science requirement
UNG 150 Structure of English Words
4 credits, CRN 40961, 10:00-10:50 MUWH
4 credits, CRN 40962, Web-based
Meets June 23-August 15
Satisfies Arts and Letters requirement
LING 199 Forensic Linguistics
4 credits, CRN 42356, 10:00-12:20 MUWH
Meets June 13-July 18
Learn how linguists identify criminals from the
words they leave behind.
UNG 290 Intro Linguistics Analysis
4 credits, CRN 40963, 12:00-14:20 MUWH
Meets June 23-July 18
Satisfies Social Science requirement
LING 440/540 Linguistics Principles
and Second-Language Learning
4 credits, CRNs 40969/40873, 9:00-11:20 MUWH
Meets July 21-August 15
LING 451/551 Syntax and Semantics I
4 credits, CRNs 40970/40974, 15:00-17:20 MUWH
Meets June 23-July 18
Prerequisite: LING 290 or 421
LING 452/552 Syntax and Semantics II
4 credits, CRNs 40971/40975, 15:00-17:20 MUWH
Meets July 21-August 15
Prerequisite: LING 451/551
ENG 495/595 English Grammar
4 credits, CRNs 42118/42119, 14:00-14:50 MUWH
Meets June 23-August 15
Prerequisite: Junior standing