We, the undersigned, are writing in solidarity with our esteemed colleague, Professor Jennifer Freyd.

In particular, we speak out in support of Dr. Freyd’s pay-equity complaint against the University of Oregon. Dr. Freyd is one of the most distinguished Full Professors in the University of Oregon’s Department of Psychology, yet she is paid considerably less (by tens of thousands per year in base salary) than four other members of our faculty, all of whom are men.

We are dismayed that the University of Oregon has steadfastly refused to bring Dr. Freyd’s salary to parity with those of her same-rank, highly-valued male colleagues. Dr. Freyd is deserving of an equity adjustment on all dimensions, including seniority (e.g., years in rank), merit (e.g., publication record, awards, fellowships, mentoring of graduate students, teaching, and service), and impact on the field (e.g., metrics such as Google’s H-index, a quantitative measure of research citations; other evidence of national and international recognition).

We recognize and celebrate Dr. Freyd’s widely acclaimed empirical and theoretical contributions to current understanding of trauma – how trauma is perpetrated, how it affects well-being, and how best to ameliorate its negative consequences for well-being. Dr. Freyd has wielded a variety of scientific methods with ingenuity and expertise to make important, enduring contributions to the field of psychology and to society at large. Among other things, her work has helped to illuminate the long reach of trauma. Trauma affects not only victims, but also their relationships with others, as well as the groups and institutions to which victims belong. Behaviors at all these levels can serve to license and/or perpetuate traumatic experiences. Responsibility for preventing and ameliorating trauma thus lies at all these levels. Dr. Freyd has received both national- and international-level accolades for these and numerous other contributions. Multiple sectors of society (e.g., academic, clinical, institutional, legal) have adopted concepts she has played a key role in delineating. Dr. Freyd’s work has fundamentally reshaped our culture’s current understanding of trauma and how best to support those who experience it.

We join with a distinguished and growing number of individuals and organizations in requesting that the University of Oregon administration immediately redress its inequitable treatment of Dr. Freyd.

Sincerely,

Dare Baldwin, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology and Clark Honors College, University of Oregon

Sara D. Hodges, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Louis J. Moses, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Sanjay Srivastava, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Lewis R. Goldberg, Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon and Senior Scientist, Oregon Research Institute

Paul Slovic, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon and President, Decision Research

Ellen Peters, Ph.D., Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon

Margaret Sereno, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Crystal Dehle, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Ruth Ellingsen, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Holly Arrow, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Robert Chavez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Michelle L. Byrne, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Marjorie Taylor, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Anna Wright, Research Assistant, Center for Translational Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Matt Smear, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Kate Mills, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Ted Bell, Ph.D., Research Associate, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Larissa Williams, M.Ed., Translational Neuroscience Consultant, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Leticia Hayes, Research-Assistant Coordinator, Center for Translational Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

Paul Dassonville, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Oregon

For more information about the pay equity case, please visit: https://justicelawyers.com/womens-and-civil-rights-groups-file-briefs-supporting-professor-jennifer-freyds-equal-pay-act-case/