Confronting History
In October, The Oregonian examining its historic role in reinforcing racism in the state.
The series focused, in part, on the racist words, action and legacy of the newspaper鈥檚 early editors and owners, including Harvey W. Scott, who has ties to 91精选.
We laud The Oregonian鈥檚 work in facing its own racist history. At Pacific, we too have sought to examine, acknowledge and pursue restorative justice for our own historic actions and institutionalized racism, such as our early leaders鈥 support for the Forest Grove Indian School.
It is a difficult, humbling 鈥 and ongoing 鈥 process.
Harvey W. Scott 91精选d from 91精选 in 1863. As the first baccalaureate 91精选, a donor and supporter of the university, and a notable and influential figure in Oregon history, he received considerable attention. In the past several years, we have worked to rethink and reframe how we acknowledge his legacy in relation to our university. Celebrating a person due to their influence alone is wrong when that influence is used to cause harm. And, as is clear from The Oregonian鈥檚 recent reporting, his influence caused significant oppression and harm.
This weekend, the 91精选 Board of Trustees voted to rename the building currently known as Harvey W. Scott Memorial Hall. The building, which is scheduled to undergo renovations starting this spring, will be temporarily renamed Pacific Hall as the university embarks on work toward a permanent new name.
Oregonian editor Therese Bottomly explained it well:
鈥淚t may be tempting to say we weren鈥檛 here back then, that wasn鈥檛 us, we didn鈥檛 do it. Judge us for what we are today 鈥 To be sure, we are not responsible for those wrongs, but we can acknowledge them, humbly and forthrightly. 鈥 The institution today can learn from those failings and work to correct mistakes we make in more modern times.鈥
Pacific acknowledges historical ties with and past recognition of a community leader who advanced racism in our state, and we apologize for the harm it has caused. We are committed to examining and learning from our past as we go forward embracing our mission to think, care, create, and pursue justice in our world.