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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 2019)
Page 10 May 8, 2019 PCC to Fill Board Vacancy Portland Community College will soon be one person short on its seven-member board of direc- tors. Valdez Bravo, representing Zone 5 in southwest Portland and Beaverton, is stepping down after being elected to the post in 2017 because she is moving out of the district, college officials said. PCC is now accepting pplica- tions from interested candidates living in Zone 5 to fulfill the two years remaining in the post, which covers the base of PCC’s oldest and largest campus, Sylvania Campus. Interested candidates are en- couraged to forward a cover letter, resume, list of references, and let- ters of recommendation (optional) to Jeannie Moton, executive co- ordinator for PCC’s Office of the President and Board Directors, at jeannie.moton@pcc.edu or by mail to PCC-Board of Directors, P.O. Box 19000, Portland, OR 97280. The deadline to apply is Friday, May 24, at noon. O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS SUB BIDS REQUESTED Riverplace Parcel 3 Portland, Oregon Bid Package: #7 – Masonry Pre-Bid Meeting: May 13th at 1:30pm Bids Due: May 28th at 2:00pm Bid Documents: www.hoffmancorp.com/subcontractors 805 SW Broadway, Suite 2100, Portland, OR 97205 Phone (503) 221-8811 • Bid Fax (503) 221-8888 BIDS@hoffmancorp.com Hoffman is an equal opportunity employer and requests sub-bids from all interested firms including disadvantaged, minority, women, disabled veterans and emerging small business enterprises OR CCB#28417 / LIC HOFFMCC164NC L egaL N otices Need to publish a court document or notice? Need an affidavit of publication quickly and efficiently? Please fax or e-mail your notice for a free price quote! Fax: 503-288-0015 e-mail: classifieds@portlandobserver.com The Portland Observer READER HOW WOULD YOU ENJOY STARTING WITH A “ONE TIME” $25 ($27.03 TO BE EXACT), NO MONTHLY DUES, AND THEN HAVE THE OPTION TO SAVE AND EARN $60, $130, $250, $400, ETC. OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH “NOTHING COMING OUT OF YOUR POCKET” IF YES: SIGN UP TODAY AT INCOME4YOU.2BY2FORYOU.COM AND ALSO CALL AND LISTEN 319-527-9660 MON,TUE,THURS AT 5PM (PST) ANY QUESTIONS, CALL COACH JOHN AT 503-368-9655. GOD BLESS The Real Threats to Free Speech on Campus A disregard for the humanity of students g loria o laDipo The school year may be winding to a close, but the tired argument about “at- tacks on free speech” on college campuses is alive as ever. According to Donald Trump, liberal universities like Berkeley are allowing conservative stu- dents to be “assaulted” for shar- ing their beliefs on campus. To combat such violations, Trump signed an executive order re- quiring colleges to “protect free speech” or risk losing federal ed- ucation funding. I’m delighted to alert Trump and all those with similar con- cerns that free speech on cam- pus, on both sides of the political aisle, is doing just fine — to a point. College campuses, now more than ever, are home to a variety of organizations with differing political views: pro-Democratic and pro-Republican organiza- tions, Students for Justice in Pal- estine and Students Supporting Israel, as well as other organiza- tions with conflicting viewpoints. More specifically, college campuses are fairly accommo- dating spaces for conservative students. To date, no campus has banned any form of Trump paraphernalia, nor has any college persecuted a student for wearing pro-Trump symbols. College campuses rou- by tinely host conservative speak- ers: Cornell hosted Dick Cheney, while the University of Baltimore had Betsy DeVos speak at their commencement ceremony, among other examples. Outside organizations ac- tively use their influence to make sure conservative stu- dents have their perspectives represented. Many conserva- tive organizations are well fund- ed by Republican politicians and wealthy Republican families. Additionally, conservative news outlets such as Breitbart and the National Review regularly publish articles demonizing universities they say aren’t doing enough to pro- tect their version of “free speech,” which appears to mean shielding campus conservatives from any kind of criticism or protest. When the president and oth- er conservatives talk about the precarious state of free speech, they’re often referring to efforts to stop hateful speech on campuses. They’re angry that Milo Yian- nopoulos wasn’t allowed to speak at Berkeley when he was planning to out undocumented students, putting them at risk of deporta- tion. They’re angry that a student organization from Cornell Univer- sity canceled conservative speaker Jannique Stewart because of her blatant homophobia. College campuses have always been willing to host dialogue, even when it’s difficult. Howev- er, the president’s and other con- servatives’ demand that outside speakers be permitted to freely antagonize the most marginal- ized students on their own college campuses shows a complete disre- gard for the safety and humanity of students. So is free speech in jeopardy? Yes, but not in the way that con- servatives traditionally conceive it. Contrary to the usual story, many leftists within universities are persecuted for their beliefs. Lisa Durden, a black professor formerly at Essex Community College, was fired after defending a black-only Black Lives Matter event on Fox News. Jim Stump, a former professor at Bethel Col- lege, was fired for defending evo- lution compared to the university’s predominantly creationist beliefs. Trump’s executive order itself — and the outside intimidation that conservative publications ex- ert on students — represents an actual attack free speech. Student groups, often made up of people of color and other marginalized demographics, are constantly de- monized for organizing to stop hate in their communities. While conservative students speak free- ly, those in opposition to homo- phobes and racists are silenced. Free speech, including hateful speech, has consequences — in- cluding freely spoken responses of anger and protest from others. Students shouldn’t be expected to be idle in response to hate speech. Instead of shaming and cen- soring progressive students, more should be done to protect those who protest, fighting against hate and for their own humanity. Gloria Oladipo is a sophomore at Cornell University and a per- manent resident of Chicago. She can be found writing and fighting @gaoladipo on Twitter.
