The University of Oregon community, made up of faculty, staff and students, embodies the spirit of higher education and continuous learning through engaged and thoughtful citizenship. There are many ways for UO community members to learn, act and advocate.
Learn
The UO offers opportunities to learn from its community of scholars about complex issues, understand diverse perspectives and exercise civic responsibility.
- Attend a training or workshop listed on the Free Speech website.
- Get informed at a Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics event.
- Refer to the Teaching in Turbulent Contexts Resource Guide, which helps faculty and graduate employees discover principles that can be enacted across courses and disciplines. Upcoming workshops are scheduled to support instructors.
Act
Engaged and constructive citizenship are critical to flourishing as individuals and as a community.
- Register and exercise your right to vote. During National Voter Education Week, take a moment to review the voting checklist and make a plan to participate in local, state and national elections.
- Explore civic engagement and voting resources through the Holden Center for Leadership and Community Engagement.
- Know the UO policies and regulations that govern free expression so you can exercise your rights while maintaining a respectful, inclusive environment for everyone on campus.
- As a public employee, know what you can and cannot do during work time when expressing your opinions for or against a candidate or ballot measure.
Advocate
Those who work and learn here are the UO’s best advocates.
- Join UO Advocates to discover how you can engage lawmakers and promote legislative action that positively impacts the UO and higher education.
- Follow UO Advocates on Instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook to stay updated on the UO’s advocacy efforts and discover ways to get involved. Your engagement helps amplify the UO's advocacy efforts — share posts, comment and help spread the word.
- Keep up on the good work UO is doing to change the world. Read OregonNews and UO Alumni Association News for the latest research, discovery and direct impact UO students, faculty, staff and alumni are making every day.
The UO mission is rooted in its identity as a public research institute of higher education striving for excellence in teaching, research and the application of knowledge. We come together as a community of students, scholars, researchers and staff working as a collective to foster the next generation of transformational leaders and informed participants in the global community.
Certainly, there is a world beyond the boundaries of the UO that has an effect at the individual level, and we bring that impact, our own unique perspective and how we feel about local, national and global issues with us to where we learn and work. As President Karl Scholz said in his recent message to the UO community, “universities are places that bring together people with diverse ideas, perspectives and lived experiences. This enriches us all."
The UO has a long and proud history of engaging with the issues of the day and supporting members of our community in exercising their right to free expression, Scholz said. Differences are inevitable, but it is how we navigate them that builds a flourishing community.
As we walk through our lived experiences as individuals, let us lean into our shared connection as members of a university community in a place that values learning by remembering that the UO mission states we help individuals question critically, think logically, reason effectively, communicate clearly, act creatively and live ethically.
—By Sandee Bybee, Director of Internal Communications