Law prof who wore blackface violated school's anti-discrimination policies, report finds
An University of Oregon law professor who wore blackface to a Halloween party violated the school’s anti-discrimination policies, according to an administrative investigation report released Wednesday.
Scott Coltrane, the school’s provost, in a statement wrote that Nancy Shurtz didn’t “demonstrate ill intent” with her costume choice.
Shurtz claims that her costume depicted Dr. Damon Tweedy, author of Black Man in a White Coat, Oregon Live reported. Besides blackface makeup on her face and hands, Shurtz reportedly wore a white lab coat, a stethoscope and a wig with curly black hair.
The party was in her home, and she invited students and other professors to come.
A student emailed Shurtz about the “disappointing and potentially offensive nature of her costume” on Oct. 31, according to a report (PDF) prepared by Barran Liebman, a Portland employment law firm, and the university’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. No one at the party told Shurtz that her makeup was offensive, or that she should think about removing it, according to school investigators.
On Nov. 1 Shurtz emailed apologies for her “costume choice and bad judgment.” The next day, other law school faculty “urged Shurtz to resign,” the report states, “noting that blackface is patently offensive, overtly racist, inappropriate and reflective of a profound lack of judgment.”
Michael Schill, the university’s president, send an email informing students about Shurtz’s costume, the Register-Guard reported.
“The use of blackface, even in jest at a Halloween party, is patently offensive and reinforces historically racist stereotypes,” he wrote. “It was a stupid act and is in no way defensible.”
Investigation findings note that Shurtz seems to respect Tweedy.
“We determined that she was inspired by this book and by the author, that she greatly admires Damon Tweedy and wanted to honor him, and that she dressed as the book because she finds it reprehensible that there is a shortage of racial diversity, and particularly of black men, in higher education,” the report states. “Shurtz was further inspired to this costume by virtue of the fact that her daughter attends medical school and her incoming class also had very few people of color.”
However there were concerns about how Shurtz’s actions would influence the campus environment. According to the Register Guard, the university has been trying to make the school more inclusive for black students, following a Black Lives Matter protest on campus in 2015.
Approximately 500 people attended the event. Two percent of the Eugene school’s student body is black, according to the article, and some of them spoke at the protest about experiencing racial slurs and slights.
In the days following news about Shurtz’s costume, an undergraduate observed three people on campus wearing blackface, Oregon Live reported. She suspected they were teenagers, and not students at university. Black Student Union members say that they’ve also received racist threats online.
Shurtz is currently on paid leave, Inside Higher Ed reports. Provost Coltrane’s letter states that he accepts the report’s conclusion, and any resulting disciplinary action against Shurtz would be confidential.
“Though the report recognizes that Professor Shurtz did not demonstrate ill intent in her choice of costume, it concludes that her actions had a negative impact on the university’s learning environment and constituted harassment under the UO’s anti discrimination policies. Furthermore, the report finds that pursuant to applicable legal precedent, the violation and its resulting impact on students in the law school and university outweighed free speech protections provided under the Constitution and our school’s academic freedom policies,” the Dec. 21 letter reads.
“My hope is that both the law school community and the broader campus community can shift focus from Professor Shurtz to the much-needed process of healing and growth,” Coltrane wrote. “We all need to work together to make this university one that is inclusive and welcoming to all. It is only through that process that we will ensure that similar incidents do not take place in the future.”
Shurtz did not respond to an ABA Journal interview request. She did apologize for her costume in an earlier statement, the Register-Guard reported.
“I intended to provoke a thoughtful discussion on racism in our society, in our educational institutions and in our professions,” she wrote. “In retrospect, my decision to wear black makeup was wrong. It provoked a discussion of racism, but not as I intended.”
