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Michael Dunne: I'm Michael Dunne. Having been through many, I can say with some authority that college commencement addresses can be a bit tedious. Let's face it: Most people in the audience just want to get to the part where they joyously throw their mortarboards into the air. In short, they're usually not very memorable. But then there was the recent commencement address at the University of Oregon. The student body president used her platform to make controversial statements related to Palestine and ICE, using some colorful language along the way. While many applauded her comments, a member of the university's Board of Trustees later condemned her words during a conference call. Today on the show, you'll meet her and hear why she said what she said. Then, in the second part of the show, you'll hear about how Oregon's school cellphone ban is doing.
A quick note: We reached out to the Board of Trustees, and they declined an invitation to be interviewed. Prissila Moreno is the outgoing Associated Students of the University of Oregon president. Prissila, thanks so much for coming in and talking with us.
Prissila Moreno: Thank you for having me.
Dunne: Why don't we start with this? Talk about your intent with the speech you gave at the UO commencement.
Moreno: My speech was about how our silence will not protect us in the face of injustice. When I sat down to figure out what I was going to say, I was weighing a lot of different possibilities, from focusing on the celebratory moment that commencement is, to leaning into the message I usually give at rallies and other speeches. I chose to stick with my consistent message: a refusal to stay silent in the face of injustice, which included talking about immigration enforcement as well as the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
Dunne: For our audience who didn't hear it, give a quick synopsis. What were the high points of your speech?
Moreno: I think a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that I used early on sums it up: In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. I went on to charge the class of 2026 with speaking about the things they care about, whether it's difficult, whether there might be consequences, or whether it's unpopular.
Dunne: That was a challenging speech. Why was it important to you to stand in front of your classmates and say what you did?
Moreno: That's a good question. I think my classmates know where I stand on certain issues, and we're a class of graduates going out into a world that is very, very broken. At a university, it's easy to feel like we're in a bubble of people who think the same as us, and it's easy to find community on a college campus. But going out into the world, I really wanted to make sure they left still feeling that sense of empowerment, whether to continue the work they were doing or to take what they'd seen on the University of Oregon campus and create something like it out in the world.
Dunne: As a leader among students, what was important about your leadership philosophy and style in the commencement speech you gave?
Moreno: When I ran for student government, I ran on a platform called UO Student Power, which has existed for about four years. It's focused on running activists, organizers and allies for student government, and it's centered on being pro-labor, anti-genocide and anti-neutrality. I really wanted those values reflected on that stage, because I was elected on that platform and expected to uphold the values people voted for.
Dunne: In the audio of your speech, a lot of your fellow classmates applauded, stood up and gave you an ovation. What did that mean to you, especially with regard to the intent of your speech?
Moreno: My entire speech was approved by UO administration, minus my final remarks about immigration enforcement and Palestine. So I really wasn't expecting the roar in Autzen Stadium after those final remarks. It was really amazing. I gave it a second for people to honor that moment, and I only continued so soon after because I heard Chair Holwerda and President Karl Scholz right behind me, bickering back and forth a little about my pause. I was really honored to have been the commencement speaker, and I think that roar in Autzen Stadium really validated my decision to add those final remarks at the end.
Dunne: I think a lot of people who saw or heard your speech would wonder: Were you nervous, knowing you were going to do something a lot of commencement speakers don't do?
Moreno: Funny enough, I didn't know the expected audience count was going to be close to 35,000 people until the night before, so I was confident right up until then. I had my family right in front of me in the stands, and my ASUO team right up front, so I didn't feel the sense of nervousness that I think people would expect, or traditionally believe, a commencement speaker would feel in that moment. I have stood 10 toes down on that same message for over a year, and in my own personal life for much longer. So I was just very excited to have a captive audience to share that message with.
Dunne: Have friends, family or maybe people who disagree with you come up to you afterward and discussed the speech with you? What have they said?
Moreno: Yes. Leaving Autzen Stadium, I could not walk five steps without being stopped by a fellow graduate or a family member thanking me for saying what needed to be said, as they put it. Family members who aren't in the states watched my speech and sent me messages on WhatsApp saying they're very proud of me. Old teachers saw my speech, too. And then, of course, after the Register-Guard's coverage, I heard from people who disagree with me. I got some direct messages from unhappy folks.
Dunne: What did they say?
Moreno: They said things ranging from “the commencement stage is not the place to express your personal political opinions” all the way to “I'm going to call ICE on you and your family.”
Dunne: You directed an expletive at ICE, and that's unusual in a commencement speech. Why did you feel it was important to add that?
Moreno: A couple of reasons. On a more personal level, my parents are both immigrants, and I had the chance to honor their names on the commencement stage, which is really special to me. But also, at the University of Oregon, students in a coalition I was part of recently fought for mandatory ICE notifications, and university administration pushed back pretty hard on that issue. So that message was directed not only at the terror ICE is inflicting on our community, and my condemnation of those actions, but also at the University of Oregon administration for not being proactive about protecting our students against that terror.
Dunne: I'm going to switch gears now and talk about the reaction from one member of the Board of Trustees. If folks didn't see the Register-Guard story, he condemned your speech. Were you surprised by his comments?
Moreno: I was really surprised, and I was surprised by the timing of it. This came after a board meeting that had been called as an emergency meeting to vote on an issue students and the Eugene community have cared about for a long time: the electrification of the University of Oregon heating system. That was huge progress toward solving that issue. So I was surprised he used the end of such a productive meeting to direct that at me. It could have been a phone call, it could have been an email. But it was very interesting timing. As I told the Register-Guard, though, I think it ironically proved the point of my entire speech, because that speech was about speaking even when there might be consequences, and I got consequences from the highest board of leadership at the university.
Dunne: He called your comments immature. What do you say to that?
Moreno: I'd say that countless alumni, parents and grandparents have messaged me with quite the opposite reaction, saying they hope to raise children to be as brave. I think it was the opposite of immature. I think I used my voice in the way I believe a university should teach us to use it.
Dunne: He also said, paraphrasing, that the comments had no place at the University of Oregon. I want to get your reaction to that.
Moreno: I would hope leadership at the university would see campus as a place for free speech and free thinking, and that's exactly what I did. So I'm really surprised that the leader of the highest board at the university would say free thinking and free speech have no place on campus.
Dunne: Do you think he would have said the same thing to you on that call if you were a 45-year-old white man?
Moreno: Definitely not. I have experienced a lot of microaggressions, and I'll say quite plainly, misogyny, from older leadership at the University of Oregon. I'm a Latina woman, and I think that comes with not being taken seriously, and a lot of hypocrisy on their end. So I don't think I would have received those comments if I were an older white man.
Dunne: In your conversation with the Register-Guard, you mentioned you might be thinking about legal action related to your First Amendment rights. I wanted to ask: Are you still considering that?
Moreno: Yes, I'm still considering taking legal action. So far, that's meant connecting with legal scholars, as well as students across the country who have sued their university administrations for similar actions taken against them after making comments like mine.
Dunne: I think I know the answer to this just from hearing you speak, but I'll ask anyway: Do you have any regrets, or do you feel even more empowered after your speech?
Moreno: Like I said, I think he ironically proved my point. I'm really surprised he used the end of that meeting, with a prewritten piece of paper, to direct that at me. So I feel very empowered, and I think my classmates, and people I interact with on social media, feel equally empowered to speak out even more now, after seeing me face repercussions for my speech.
Dunne: Prissila, my last question for you. You and I were talking off mic about some of the things you're going to be doing now that you've graduated, and that you want to remain politically active and be a voice. Does what happened at the commencement speech, and some of the repercussions afterward, add even more fuel to that fire?
Moreno: One hundred percent. I think politics are absolutely shifting right now. I think people are tired of politicians and leaders who aren't taking a strong stance on things. I think my generation especially wants to see leadership stand for something, and I think that's why I saw the reaction I did from my classmates and their families alike. So I'm really excited to continue pursuing something in advocacy or politics, despite Chair Holwerda's remarks about hoping I'd self-reflect before taking any form of leadership going forward. Because I definitely have reflected, and my decision is to remain being a voice for the voiceless.
Dunne: She is Prissila Moreno, the outgoing Associated Students of University of Oregon president. Prissila, thank you so much for coming in and talking with us.
Moreno: Thank you so much for having me.
Dunne: Let's now hear from my colleague at Jefferson Public Radio about how the statewide cellphone ban in schools is working. Jane Vaughan is a reporter with Jefferson Public Radio. Jane, it's great to speak with you again. Thanks so much for coming on.
Jane Vaughan: Thanks for having me.
Dunne: Why don't you remind folks, I read your story about cellphone bans and their impacts, about the cellphone ban Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law about a year ago?
Vaughan: Yes. It was an executive order signed by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, and basically the idea is that it bans cellphone use for students all school day, what's called bell to bell. The goal of that policy was to help students stay more focused in class and help their mental health. Educators across Oregon had reported that phones disrupt learning and interfere with teaching, so the goal was to do away with all of that. This policy mostly affects high school students. Usually cellphones weren't allowed much in elementary or middle schools anyway, but high schoolers were where the big change happened, because now students can't use their phones between classes or at lunch. Under the executive order, districts had to adopt a policy by October 2025, and they had to begin enforcing it by Jan. 1 of this year. Some districts started enforcing it in January, so they're basically one term in. But some started enforcing it last fall, so they didn't have to switch policies midway through the school year. Those districts have been doing it for a full school year at this point.
Dunne: You've talked to some of the districts and administrators in your neck of the woods in southern Oregon. What did they tell you?
Vaughan: I talked to quite a few superintendents throughout our region, and they mostly said the rollout has gone better than they expected, that it's been easier than expected and going really well. They said they've seen more student engagement in class and improved student mental health. I talked to one high school principal who said students' behavior has been more on task. They haven't had as many behavior problems, they've seen more face-to-face interaction between students, and fewer social media-related issues. In general, they said the rollout has gone very well.
Dunne: What about enforcement? Did they talk about that? How challenging, or maybe not as challenging as some might expect, has it been to enforce the ban?
Vaughan: I think there are always some challenges. There are obviously still some violations, and you have to take a student's phone away for the day. It's not that 100% of kids are complying, but overall it seems to have gone pretty well. Some of the challenges to enforcing it: Sometimes students are used to communicating with a parent throughout the day, or coordinating things with them, and it puts the onus on teachers to keep an eye out for students, which can be hard to monitor outside of class. For example, at Central Point School District, they're really focusing mostly on in-class enforcement, no cellphones during class, and it's a little harder to monitor students outside of that instructional time.
Dunne: Sure, sure. I wonder, too. Parents like me might think kids are so tied to their cellphones they'd never want to give them up. But in talking to folks, was there an element of relief, like some kids were almost happy not to have to engage with social media on their phones during class?
Vaughan: Yeah, I think that's definitely true. One superintendent said it even makes it a little easier because it's coming straight from the governor, so the kids can't really push back. There's no pressure to argue with the superintendent over it. It's coming from the top, and they can't do anything about it, so the kids kind of have to roll with it. But the superintendent said these kids are really craving human connection. They want to be able to talk more with each other about what they're learning, one told me, because that really helps them process it. Another superintendent told me high schoolers really do understand it once you explain it to them like an adult. You don't condescend and say, “you can't do this and this is bad.” But if you explain the science, and what we're trying to do for kids' mental health around social media, kids for the most part do understand and accept it. They might still pull their phone out immediately at the end of the school day, but at least during that bell-to-bell time, they're ideally not on their phones at all. The superintendents also said they haven't seen much pushback from parents, either. In general, it's been positive feedback from students, parents and staff.
Dunne: You mentioned some administrators talked about the importance of restoring human connection. Pull that string a little more, because it's been a long time since I was in high school, and interaction with teachers, friends and other students was a big part of it. If the phone isn't being used as much as it used to be, I imagine that's a pretty positive byproduct. Expand a little on what some of those administrators said about that.
Vaughan: I think the goal is just to get kids talking to each other more. If there's a down moment or an awkward moment in a classroom or at lunch, you can't just pull out your phone and scroll social media, as we all tend to do, so you're forced to talk to your classmates. Maybe you're talking about the reading or whatever the assignment is. Some schools do still have laptops students might be using, so it's not that technology is completely banned in schools. But during lunch or between classes, the superintendents I talked to said they're seeing more students just talking to each other in the halls. No one has their head down looking at their phone while walking in the hallway. You have your head up, you catch someone's eye, you say hi and you talk to them. It's just removing that distraction, and then people talk more to those around them.
Dunne: It'll be fascinating to see how this continues. She's Jane Vaughan, a reporter with Jefferson Public Radio. Jane, always great to talk with you. Thanks so much for coming on.
Vaughan: Thank you.
Dunne: That's the show for today. All episodes of Oregon On The Record are available as a podcast at KLCC.org. Tomorrow on the show, we'll take you to Green Island, a beautiful habitat being preserved and restored by the McKenzie River Trust. I'm Michael Dunne, host of Oregon On The Record. Thanks for listening.
