About 20 years ago, a help-wanted advertisement ran in the UO student newspaper for a position that was publicly funded. The ad included the boilerplate proclamation that the university proudly adhered to EEOC hiring practices and ended with the phrase "women, gays and lesbians, and minorities encouraged to apply." As a member of the only subset implicitly discouraged from applying, I called the campus EEOC office to inquire. The "gulp" on the other end was audible. Sometimes the clumsy just can't help it.

Two decades later, that local legacy is in the right left hands.