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Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 157 | 7hesday, May 17, 2005
Diversity planner to leave University
Gregory Vincent has spearheaded the five-year Diversity Action Plan;
for 'personal and professional reasons' he will leave his position in June
BY AYISIIA YA11YA
NEWS EDITOR
Gregory Vincent, the vice provost for institu
tional equity and diversity and the key figure be
hind the University’s five-year Diversity Action
Plan, will leave the University on June 30 after a
year and half on the job.
Vincent has been appointed vice provost for
inclusion and cross-cultural effectiveness at the
University of Texas at Austin. He begins work in
Austin Aug. 1, according to a UT press release
made public Monday.
Vincent said he is leaving Oregon for “a mix
of personal and professional reasons.”
“I have family in Austin and I will be in close
proximity to the vast majority of the rest of my
family and that was a primary reason why I
made this decision,” Vincent said. “In addition
to that, I am very pleased that I will be able to
continue my work both as an administrator and
a faculty member around issues of diversity and
equity at a peer institution.”
Vincent said he anticipates finishing his ca
reer at UT, which he called “one of the coun
try’s, the world’s greatest universities.”
“I want to make it really clear that I’m not do
ing this in response to the issues around the five
year diversity action plan,” Vincent added.
“I anticipate that given
the timing ... that may
be the spin, but that’s
not the reason.”
Vincent, who began
working at the Universi
ty in January 2004, has
been at the helm of the
campus’ efforts to ere
GREGORY VINCENT
VICE PROVOST
ate a nve-year diversity
plan. His position was
created specifically to
address diversity and equity issues on campus.
The action plan's first draft was released on
May 2 and the campus community had been
commenting on it during a series of
“Community Conversations.”
VINCENT, page 5
Ebony
Excellence
The Ebony Man Showcase honored 10 black
students for public sendee and academic excellence
BY AIBING GUO
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
University student graduate
Cory Mainor said he has
bad memories of his first
several years at the University, in
cluding one in which he dropped
out because of a poor GPA.
But he’s back at the University
with an excellent academic per
formance and public service
record, and he’s going to start
graduate studies at the College of
Education in the fall.
“I have been through all those
struggles, but I overcame them ...
and now I’m back,” Mainor said
after he was given an award dur
ing the Black Women of
Achievement’s Ebony Man
Showcase on Monday night in the
EMU Ballroom.
Mainor’s excellent record,
especially his spirit in the face of
adversity, makes him an
inspiration for other black stu
dents on campus, two show
speakers said when introducing
him in the showcase.
With Mainor, nine other stu
dents, including eight men and
one woman, were honored dur
ing the ceremony. All had excel
lent academic records and were
widely recognized by the Univer
sity’s black community for their
public service.
The award ceremony was
arranged like a big party. People
sat around large tables enjoying
food, while song and dance per
formances were staged between
award announcements. Large
paintings, mostly composed by
black students, were also on dis
play at the back of the ballroom.
Freshman Jontae Grace, a
EBONY, page 4
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Andriel Brown sings at the Ebony Man Showcase on Monday night. Black Women of
Achievement hosted the event honoring outstanding black students at the University.
Assailant
suspected
of fleeing
the state
Officers believe Carlos Alberto
Valencia-Torres left Oregon
for California to evade police
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The search con
tinues for the 23
year-old man sus
pected of assaulting
two students in a
University residence
hall April 24 and re
turning hours later
with a gun.
Eugene police be- ■■■■■■■■■■■
lieve Carlos Alberto CARLOS ALBERTO
Valencia-Torres fled SUSPECT
to California early
last week, Department of Public of Safety
Lieutenant Herb Horner said.
Horner said Valencia-Torres contacted Eu
gene police officer Larry Crompton during
the week following the incident wanting to
tell his side of the story. Homer said Cromp
ton told the suspect he needed to come into
the police station and “he said T don’t think
so’ and hung up.”
Eugene police traced the call to an out-of
area number and called back, but a man
answered and told him he was fairly certain
Valencia-Torres had left for California.
Crompton was unavailable for comment
Monday.
DPS and the Eugene Police Department
increased patrol in the campus area during
the days following the incident. Horner
said while the sense of urgency has
decreased, a heightened sense of
awareness is still evident.
“We don’t believe he’s in the state, but we
are doing increased patrols,” Horner said.
“Guys are on bikes on a more regular basis.”
Mike Eyster, assistant vice president for
student affairs and director of housing, said
Bean Complex Director Heather Dumas-Dyer
met with students in Bean Complex’s Will
cox Hall, the hall where the alleged assault
took place, to talk about safety issues and to
ASSAULT, page 4
Committee grants journalist Payne Award for ethics
The journalism school is honoring Jon Leibermanfor his public
protest of Sinclair Broadcasting Group's subjective election coverage
BY ADAM CHERRY
NEWS REPORTER
The School of Journalism and Communica
tion gave an award to a controversial figure in
the journalism industry last Thursday despite
Sinclair Broadcasting Group questioning
the decision.
Jon Leiberman was honored with a profes
sional citation by the judging committee of
the 2005 Payne Awards. Leiberman, formerly
Sinclair’s Washington bureau chief, was fired
after publicly protesting his employer’s deci
sion to air programming critical of John
Kerry days before the 2004 election.
Leiberman alleged that classifying the Kerry
documentary as news resulted in unbalanced
news coverage.
Sinclair President David Smith sent a letter
questioning the Payne committee’s logic
when the journalism school announced it
would honor Leiberman.
Journalism and Communications Dean Tim
Gleason said Smith’s protest was based on the
finding of the Maryland Department of Labor,
which restricted Leiberman from receiving un
employment benefits because he committed
“gross misconduct” in speaking to the press
without permission.
The journalism dean answered Sinclair’s
query in a letter to the company dated May 9.
“The Maryland Department of Labor finding
that Mr. Leiberman had violated provisions of
his contract prohibiting speaking to the
press/media without permission and the shar
ing of propriety information outside the compa
ny does not negate the fact that he acted in or
der to uphold values that are central to the
practice of journalism in the public interest,”
the letter reads. “It was a principled stand in the
face of significant pressure.”
Gleason said Sinclair’s letter prompted the
judging committee to revisit its decision to
honor Leiberman.
“They gave us information that we didn’t
have,” Gleason said in an interview. “We
did look at that award in the context of
that new information and confirmed our
original decision.”
“We believe he violated his contract in order
to uphold journalistic principles of fairness and
balance,” Gleason added.
The Sinclair Group could not be reached for
comment on Friday or Monday.
Anthony Warren, membership chair and
chairman-elect for College Republicans, said he
thought giving Leiberman an award for ethics
might be a stretch, but didn’t want to accuse
the journalism school of partisanship.
“I don’t think it’s fair that they can approve
this as an ethical issue because there was never
any certainty as to who was being honest or
dishonest," Warren said. “The award doesn’t fit
the context it’s being given in.”
Gleason said the decision was based solely
on journalistic principles rather than politics.
“The politics of the situation had absolutely
nothing to do with the decision," Gleason said.
“Presumably, if the politics had been reversed,
our decision would have been the same."
LEIBERMAN, page 4