ASUO: Administrators say there were no signs of potentially illegal activity
Continued from page 1
Student Senator Toby Hill-Meyer
said there was a strong possibility
alcohol was transported in a state
owned vehicle.
The Green Tape Notebook — the
handbook containing the rules and
regulations that govern the ASUO —
states that a violation of the state
guidelines for use of state-owned
vehicles could allow the ASUO pres
ident to revoke the group’s use of
the motor pool.
Hill-Meyer said two attendees
who were over 21 were not present
when the rules were discussed at a
meeting prior to the trip and didn’t
realize that it was a violation for
them to drink.
Another retreat attendee, who
spoke only on condition of
anonymity, said the number of stu
dents drinking was minimal, but
messages about whether drinking
was appropriate were sometimes
ambiguous and the retreat had a
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
“Some people were told different
things,” the source said. “Some peo
ple were told there wasn’t drinking
but told with a ‘wink, wink, nod,
nod.’ But I think that’s the way
every retreat is.”
ASUO Accounting Coordinator and
retreat director Jennifer Creighton
Neiwert denied the claim that there
was an implied acceptance of drink
ing and said it was made very clear
before and during the trip that it was
to be alcohol-free.
Hill-Meyer said many students
seemed unaware of the “impetus”
behind the rules against alcohol and
drug use and thought the rule was
in place only because people didn’t
want to be around alcohol. Hill
Meyer said that misunderstanding
may be why Conifer 13, the main
house used on the retreat, was what
the senator perceived as a
“designated dry house. ”
Out of the four houses occupied
by members of the ASUO, Hill-Mey
er said three had alcohol consumed
in them, though one had only “min
imal” drinking.
Hill-Meyer said no major incidents
occurred as a result of the drinking.
“It got to the point where ... there
was a concern that hangovers might
occur,” Hill-Meyer said.
What role did
administrators play?
Five University employees also
went on the trip — Miller,
Creighton-Neiwert, EMU Business
Manager Jean Sun, EMU Director of
Student Activities Gregg Lobisser
and ASUO Programs Administrative
Assistant Brandy Ota — none of
whom have been involved in the
disciplinary process.
Miller, Lobisser and Creighton-Nei
wert said no formal guidelines dictate
what role administrators play on off
campus trips funded by student fees,
but all agreed they must maintain the
same professional manner they have
while on the job.
“State employees are obligated to
follow campus policies, rules, state
law, federal law,” Lobisser said.
“Simply pleading ignorance is not
satisfactory. ”
Creighton-Neiwert said her duties
as retreat director are mostly organi
zation oriented, ranging from rent
ing the houses to cooking the meals
to cleaning the kitchen.
“ASUO doesn’t have any rules or
regulations as far as what goes on the
retreats,” Creighton-Neiwert said. “In
the future, that’s something that will
definitely be considered.”
Miller said he adhered to his job
description as he would any time he
is working.
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“I don’t get to not be a state em
ployee simply because I’m not in
the EMU,” Miller said. “When pre
sented with an indication that
something has gone amiss, you can
not ignore it.”
Administrators are “expected to
work with these student leaders as
adults and not prejudge or presume
that something amiss is going until
presented with some evidence of
that,” Miller said.
Because he saw no indication of any
illegal activity, Miller said there was no
need to check on anyone after the
evening workshops concluded.
If no evidence exists, “I don’t be
lieve that my job then is to be a
sleuth,” Miller said. “The good
thing about the University of Ore
gon is it expects me to treat you as
an adult.”
Out of the five houses occupied
by retreat attendees, Miller said he
saw the inside of three. Two of the
houses, Conifer 13 and Spruce 1,
hosted workshops he attended, and
one was the house he stayed in. He
said he did not visit the houses
looking for evidence of illegal activi
ty, but he noted he saw nothing that
even warranted suspicion.
“There was never so much as a beer
can that was visible,” Miller said.
Lobisser said his role on the re
treat was to act as an adviser and re
source about incidental-fee funding
policies and to get to know mem
bers of the finance committees.
Lobisser said he did not witness
illegal activities but said he would
have dealt with them if he had.
The responsibility of ASUO lead
ers on the retreat was to “conduct a
high-quality retreat,” not to monitor
participants, Lobisser said.
“I don’t know that, as retreat
heads, that it’s their job to serve as
camp monitors,” he said. “These
are all elected or appointed student
leaders — they’re adults. The expec
tations for the retreat were clear.”
But Lobisser added that if student
leaders were aware of inappropriate
behavior, “they should have done
something.”
“If I were senate members, fi
nance committee members, and I
felt like someone was checking in
on me at 10 and 11 and doing bed
checks, I’d be pretty offended,” Lo
bisser said.
When did people find out?
Administrators’ and students’ ac
counts differ about when the viola
tions became known.
Lobisser said he learned of “inap
propriate behavior” before he de
parted from Sunriver. He said he
was among the last people to leave
the retreat and that Sunriver staff in
formed Creighton-Neiwert and
ASUO Student Senate President
James George of possible wrongdo
ing when they went to check out.
George previously told the Emer
ald he did not find out about the vi
olations until the trip home.
Creighton-Neiwert said she was
alerted when the group stopped in
Oakridge for a snack on the trip home.
Miller said he saw no evidence of
any wrongdoing until returning from
the retreat, when student leaders
brought him a copy of the note left
behind in the guest book of Lark 14.
The anonymous retreat attendee
said the most concerning issue from
the retreat is not the fact that stu
dents drank alcohol or consumed
drugs but that the students embar
rassed the University with the inap
propriate note. This could hinder fu
ture trips to Sunriver by other
University-affiliated groups because
“those people are going to remem
ber that you disrespected them and
their house.”
Debra Campbell, operations
manager for Sunset Realty, the com
pany that oversees the five houses,
said the incident has not affected
the company’s overall view of col
lege-aged guests.
“In general, we have pretty good
luck with college students,” Camp
bell said. “This just happened to be
a pretty disheartening group.”
A successful trip
Creighton-Neiwert said the retreat
was very successful and was proba
bly the most productive retreat she’s
attended in the time she’s been in
volved with the ASUO.
“Students made some bad choic
es,” Creighton-Neiwert said. “It’s a
shame that certain behavior has
seemed to overshadow the good
work that was done.”
Lobisser said he is a “strong advo
cate” for retreats, especially for this
one, because it involved people re
sponsible for allocating and making
recommendations for $9 million
worth of incidental fees.
“It’s a comprehensive program
that contributes vastly to the quality
of the experience that students have
here,” he said.
He said the retreat was necessary for
student government officials to gain
experience with the finance process
and to get to know their colleagues.
Hill-Meyer also agreed the retreats
are valuable and are a justifiable use
of incidental fees but is worried that
the problems arising from the retreat
are a reflection of possible problems
with the way the retreats are run.
“I am concerned how the money is
being spent and (that) we’re not just
flagrantly using it to have some lav
ish party,” he said.
meghanncuniff@dailyemerald.com
parkerhowell@ dailyemerald, com
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