OSU student discusses reaction to his anti-gay posts

PHOTO: I discussed The Oregon State University student newspaper's front page headline story by Tori Hittner, "Candidate admits to posting anti-gay slurs," Oregon State University Barometer, Apr. 14, 2014, p. 1, 4 in my previous posts OSU student posts anti-gay slur and plays 'victim role' before Lars Larson radio show (4/17/14 and OSU staff addresses anti-gay posts in letter to student paper (4/19/14). Nobody I am aware of asked the student for an apology, but the student newspaper received from the student and printed his letter to the editor by Bret Barlow, "Regarding candidate Bret Barlow's inflammatory comment," OSU Barometer, Apr. 25, 2014, p. 7

Barlow reaches out, apologizes to LGBTQ community

My fellow students of Oregon State University, allow me to formally introduce myself: I am Bret Barlow, former candidate for Associated Students of Oregon State University. After much time dedicated to reflection, I feel this is now the time to finally respond to all of you.

The reason I have stayed quiet this last week is because I wanted to wait until the anger subsided, as dialogue can never happen with intense personal emotion, and I did not want the election to make people feel that I am doing this to save my chances at winning.

It's obvious to me that it cannot happen, as there's deep anger over my lack of response from the fallout of this attention. What I will say, is that I have been attempting to reach out to leaders of the LGBTQ community to apologize.

These attempts have been largely a failure. However, the response I did receive informed me the best way was to go through Student Media.

Therefore, I am sorry for this heartless post and page I was a part of. There is no excuse for what I did and I hope now we can all begin the process of healing as we move forward to a better tomorrow. With this said, we can no longer argue about the past, as we have done over the last few days.

Watching from the distance as the university almost tears itself apart over this has saddened and angered me as I thought we, as a university, were better than this.

As a high note though, I will admit though that I am grateful of how united the LGBTQ community has been over this, as well as how much restraint they showed. You all should feel proud of your community as it is strong and united.

With best regards, Bret Barlow, Junior, digital communication arts

(Quoted from Bret Barlow, "Regarding candidate Bret Barlow's inflammatory comment," OSU Barometer, Apr. 25, 2014, p. 7)

Next to Bret's letter, the student newspaper also published a letter by Sam Kelly-Quattrocchi, ASOSU Director of Queer Affairs, "Regarding the April 23 editorial, 'We actually don't say,'" OSU Barometer, Apr. 25, 2014, p. 7, which defended using this situation as motivation for their previously discussed educational campaign.

I sense from student Bret Barlow's letter to the editor that he is still unsure of himself because his language awkwardly mimics the "politically correct" language that is often used today in university and business environments, nobly to be polite. However, the danger comes when politically correct language is used cynically or without agreement or understanding of its true meaning, which can lead to miscommunication and resentment. I do not fault him for being unsure.

Commendably, Bret's letter did not try to portray himself in the "victim role" as he did at first, however, he did admit to having been "sadden and angered" over "watching the university almost tear itself apart over this" because he "thought, we as a university, were better than this" and he was also "grateful of how united the LGBTQ community has been over this, as well as how much restraint they showed." Likewise, he explained his belated response as being due to wanting to "wait until the anger subsided" toward what I assume is him.

Although I will give Bret the benefit of the doubt that he intended his letter's observations as a compliment, different people might interpret or misinterpret Bret's letter. For example, I believe some people might view what Bret said as a back-handed compliment because it echoes an old homophobic fear that there is a unified "gay mafia" secretly controlling government and society -- a fear that was central to the 1950's anti-communist and anti-gay witch-hunts led by Senator Joe McCarthy and the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover -- and more recently the right-wing fear that Hollywood and the media are controlled by "angry" gay liberals out for revenge.

Unless Bret Barlow demonstrates otherwise, I accept his apology and see his situation as being a good sign of progress because a half-century ago nobody would have objected to similar anti-gay comments for fear of themselves being accused of being gay and then shunned by society.

My letter to the editor and a letter in response to the original incident were previously published as follows:

• Thomas Kraemer, "Regarding Barlow's Facebook Comment: ASOSU lessons on the First and Second Amendments," OSU Barometer, Apr. 4, 2014, p. 7 posted Apr. 16, 2014
• Faculty and staff of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Dr. Liddy Detar, Dr. Qwo Li-Li Driskill, et. al, "An open letter regarding Barlow's post," OSU Barometer, Apr. 18, 2014, p. 8

UPDATE 5/1/2014 related links of interest:

• Gabi Scottaline, "Intolerance on campus should not be tolerated," Barometer, Apr. 29, 2014, p. 7
• Taylor Owings & Jules Malango, "Regarding Bret Barlow’s public apology," Barometer, Apr. 28, p. 7
• Saul Boulangerm "Regarding Bret Barlow’s public apology," Barometer, Apr. 29, 2014, p. 8
• Jeff, Mapes, "Will Oregon Same-Sex Marriage be a Slam Dunk?" Sunday Oregonian, April 20, 2014, p. A1, A12 posted online Apr. 17, 2014 as "Gay marriage: Openly gay judge, Michael McShane, in spotlight overseeing Oregon case"
• Editorial Board, "Oregon’s unconstitutional marriage ban case hits NOM snag," Barometer Apr. 28, 2014, p. 7

Previous posts:

• OSU conservative student newspaper wins freedom of speech case (4/5/14)
• OSU student posts anti-gay slur and plays 'victim role' before Lars Larson radio show (4/17/14)
• OSU staff addresses anti-gay posts in letter to student paper (4/19/14)
• OSU student discusses reaction to his anti-gay posts (4/26/14)

OSU staff addresses anti-gay posts in letter to student paper

PHOTO: Oregon State University student newspaper's front page headline story by Tori Hittner, "Candidate admits to posting anti-gay slurs," Oregon State University Barometer, Apr. 14, 2014, p. 1, 4. "Those particular kinds of comments go beyond any sort of debate with a call to violence," said Qwo-Li Driskill, assistant professor of queer studies. "It calls each of us to ask what kind of conditions exist that these things are allowed." (See previous post OSU student posts anti-gay slur and plays 'victim role' before Lars Larson radio show (4/17/14) and my letter to the editor: Thomas Kraemer, "Regarding Barlow's Facebook Comment: ASOSU lessons on the First and Second Amendments," OSU Barometer, Apr. 17, 2014, p. 7 posted Apr. 16, 2014).

My response to anti-gay posts, done by a candidate for student government, was printed by the student newspaper: Thomas Kraemer, "Regarding Barlow's Facebook Comment: ASOSU lessons on the First and Second Amendments," OSU Barometer, Apr. 4, 2014, p. 7 posted Apr. 16, 2014. (See previous post OSU student posts anti-gay slur and plays 'victim role' before Lars Larson radio show (4/17/14) )

Quoted below is the OSU staff response, printed the day after my letter, to the original student newspaper story Tori Hittner, "Candidate admits to posting anti-gay slurs," Oregon State University Barometer, Apr. 14, 2014, p. 1, 4:

An open letter regarding Barlow's post

Faculty and staff of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program

This guest column contains explicit language

We who belong to the faculty and staff of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Oregon State University were dismayed to read the recent article in The Daily Barometer, "Candidate Admits to Posting Anti-Gay Slurs," in which OSU student and Associated Students of Oregon State University presidential candidate Bret Barlow admitted to being an administrator for the Facebook page, "We Burn Homosexuals for a Living" and commenting on the page, "... do we seriously burn homosexuals for a living or is this a joke? i need to know now since i have a fag tied up and im holding a can of gas and a lighter." Barlow stated that the comments were "in poor taste" and were "a really bad joke."

We are deeply disturbed that the torture and murder of people for their sexual orientation could be dismissed or excused as a joke, and we encourage the campus community to take very seriously the violence and damage that language causes.

To many of us at OSU, such words do not come across as a joke - in poor taste or otherwise - they come across as a threat. They poison our campus and make us feel unsafe in spaces where every one of us should be able to grow and thrive. Words have the power to incite violence, and they enact emotional and psychological violence on those whose lives, experience and communities they target.

Homophobia, heterosexism and transphobia are systems of oppression and violence that take place together with sexism, racism, classism, ableism, Christian supremacy, sizeism and other systems that decide who is worthy of life and who is marked for death.

Violence against people because of their sexual orientations and genders is real. It happens in our homes, on the streets and in our schools. It happens at the hands of our parents, peers, religious leaders and police.

Earlier this month in Oregon, Jessica Dutro was found guilty of murdering her 4-year-old son Zachary because she thought he "acted gay." In March, a black lesbian couple - Crystal Jackson and Britney Cosby - were found dead in a dumpster in Texas. Crystal was shot and Britney was bludgeoned to death by Britney's father, who did not approve of his daughter's sexuality.

Last year, also in Oregon, Jadin Bell, a 15-year-old, died after hanging himself in reaction to homophobic bullying. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming and queer people of color are particularly targeted by such acts of violence. According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, more than 73 percent of all victims of anti-LGBTQ murders in 2012 were people of color. Transgender and gender non-conforming people are more than three times as likely to experience police violence than non-trans people, and trans/gender non-conforming people of color are 2.59 percent more likely to experience police violence than white non-trans people.

These are not abstract numbers: These are our friends, our children, our parents, our sisters, our brothers, our partners.

Words matter. They have the power to cause real harm to real people. They create a culture in which violence is normalized and systemic oppression against people is allowed to continue. They affect every last one of us and they tear at the community that we are all responsible for nourishing. As faculty of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at OSU, we oppose homophobic and transphobic violence in both words and actions, and reaffirm our commitment to ending homophobia, transphobia and gender violence, along with all forms of oppression. Our work is in solidarity with movements, both on and off campus, to transform our world and bring such forms of violence to a halt.

The names of our LGBTQ dead are too numerous to list here, and there are far more whose names we don't know. But we call on the entire OSU community to remember those we have lost through homophobic and transphobic violence and to work in solidarity with LGBTQ communities and movements working for deep and lasting social change. With the ASOSU elections underway, we also call on the OSU community to seriously consider the type of student leadership that will serve all OSU students with dignity and respect for our many differences.

In struggle,

Dr. Liddy Detar, Instructor
Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill, Assistant Professor, Queer Studies Adviser Dr. Patti Duncan, Associate Professor
Michael Floyd, Instructor
Kryn Freehling-Burton, Instructor
Dr. Janet Lee, Professor
Dr. Bradley Boovy. Assistant Professor World Languages and Cultures
Dr. Ron Mize, Associate Professor, Director of CL@SE
Dr. Nana Osei-Kofi, Associate Professor, Director of Difference, Power and Discrimination Program
Leonora Rianda, Office Manager
Dr. Susan Shaw, Professor, Director of the School of Language, Culture and Society
Dr. Lily Sheehan, Assistant Professor
Dr. Mehra Shirazi, Assistant Professor, Faculty and staff of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program

(Quoted from Faculty and staff of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Dr. Liddy Detar, Dr. Qwo Li-Li Driskill, et. al, "An open letter regarding Barlow's post," OSU Barometer, Apr. 18, 2014, p. 8)

I had not consulted with anybody on campus before I wrote my letter to the student paper (Thomas Kraemer, "Regarding Barlow's Facebook Comment: ASOSU lessons on the First and Second Amendments," OSU Barometer, Apr. 17, 2014, p. 7 posted Apr. 16, 2014) and I had not read a preview copy of the OSU staff letter, printed a day after my letter, by Faculty and staff of the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, Dr. Liddy Detar, Dr. Qwo Li-Li Driskill, et. al, "An open letter regarding Barlow's post," OSU Barometer, Apr. 18, 2014, p. 8).

Therefore, I was happy to see the staff letter and I was relieved to see the two letters were not redundant, but instead they addressed two slightly different audiences: the general student body was addressed by the staff's letter and my letter was written in the language of the conservative Republican students that I was trying to reach. After reading the staff's letter, I am also glad my letter directly mentioned the common criticism and dismissal of "university liberals" by many conservatives -- liberals are accused of trying to enforce "political correctness" in campus speech. I do not subscribe to this right-wing criticism of academia, but instead I acknowledge that every social group I've experienced worldwide, including university faculty, will adopt a "group norm" of thought that is necessary for coherent discussions, but at the same by enforcing or following their own dogma, the group will fail to "think outside the box" and inadvertently ignore good ideas and points. I believe all humans have this weakness, both liberals and conservatives, and therefore I believe that intelligent people must make sure they listen to and understand the limitations of their own dogma for breakthrough thought to occur.

I hope that the student mentioned is able to overcome the humiliation he must be feeling. I trust he is a person, who just made some thoughtless comments. Also, I hope he doesn't take too much offense at my letter, because it was pointed out to me by a reader, who thought I had "in fancy language called the student candidate a violent terrorist fag even though I had tried to be compassionate -- I see the person's point, but I still truly feel compassionate toward this student because, like I said in the letter, I have experienced being publically humiliated after making impolitic comments. If any student feels humilated, I can assure them they will live through it, if they stop and take a deep breath. To paraphrase a famous U.S. Supreme Court Justice in a ruling on free speech he said, "Free Speech is messy." The best way to counter free speech is with your own free speech.

I was contacted by Lars Larson staff thanking me for giving them this story tip. Lars's staff confirmed they did not want to talk about gun rights at the same time as a student who had made violent homophobic threats, even in jest. The politics of these two do not mix well. Although I rarely agree with Lars Larson and I am NOT a Republican, I do respect his journalistic professionalism, and I acknowledge that he is a very skilled person at using agitprop to motivate his listeners to action.

See previous posts:

• OSU student posts anti-gay slur and plays 'victim role' before Lars Larson radio show (4/17/14)
• OSU School of Language, Culture and Society
• OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund for research concerning humans or animals with a minority sexual orientation or gender identity
• Oregon State University gay history hosted by OutHistory.org founded by Jonathan Ned Katz at City University of New York CLAGS now hosted by John D'Emilio of the University of Illinois Chicago (See Oregon State University gay history background)
• A copy of Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," printed to PDF from OutHistory.org in 2010 is permanently stored by the OSU Scholars Archives@OSU
• Oregon State University Pride Center history

OSU student posts anti-gay slur and plays 'victim role' before Lars Larson radio show

PHOTO: Oregon State University student newspaper's front page headline story by Tori Hittner, "Candidate admits to posting anti-gay slurs," Oregon State University Barometer, Apr. 14, 2014, p. 1, 4. "Those particular kinds of comments go beyond any sort of debate with a call to violence," said Qwo-Li Driskill, assistant professor of queer studies. "It calls each of us to ask what kind of conditions exist that these things are allowed." Also see story by Tori Hittner, "A brief, unofficial voter's guide to who's who in the ASOSU presidential election," OSU Barometer, Apr. 14, 2014, p. 1, 2 and opinion page pieces by Cassie Ruud, "Hate speech from ASOSU candidate should not be tolerated," OSU Barometer, posted Apr. 14, 2014. Kaitlyn Kohlenberg, "Some dissatisfied with lack of administrative action toward hate speech," OSU Barometer, Apr. 17, 2014, p. 1, 4, Editorial Board, "ASOSU scandal proves social media's impact," Apr. 14, 2014, p. 7, and Editorial Board, "Drama igniting ASOSU's election," OSU Barometer, Apr. 17, 2014, p. 7

PHOTO: on a typical rainy Oregon day, Conservative radio host Lars Larson broadcasting his show in the Oregon State University Memorial Union Quad on Apr. 16, 2014 shortly after the show started the Noon to 3 PM Northwest edition. Larson, a University of Oregon Journalism graduate and former mainstream Portland broadcast TV journalist started his right-wing talk radio show a few years ago. Lars also broadcast from the MU quad his 3 PM to 6 PM a national version of his show. Although many students were observed walking through the Memorial Union mall between classes, only a few stopped by to talk with Lars. The biggest crowd he gathered at the beginning when it appeared the OSU Republican club members greeted him, but they all quickly left, probably off to class. During the first three hours, he managed to wrangle-up one person he called "a Marxist liberal OSU Professor" to argue with him about climate change research and also a Corvallis, Oregon small businessman, who operates the Pedi-cab bicycle cab service, who called Lars names, at least according to Lars. (See "OSU student GOP hosts Second Amendment Week," gazettetimes.com posted Apr. 11, 2014 -- Local and national radio commentator Lars Larson again is scheduled to broadcast his show live from the quad between noon and 6 p.m. Wednesday -- "OSU Republicans Second Amendment Week 2014 osugop.com/2aw/ accessed Apr. 15, 2014 and Radio station "Affilliates" of the Lars Larson Northwest show noon-3PM PT, larslarson.com Updated Nov. 2013, accessed Apr. 16, 2014 -- listen to "The Lars Larson Show," Live Audio Stream from KXL 101FM Portland, Oregon, April l6, 2014 Noon to 6 PM Pacific Time)

I was surprised that Lars Larson never seized on this OSU issue during his show, but I hope it is because he is professional enough to know the dangers of doing a 2nd Amendment gun show to help OSU Republicans while also talking about a student who made violent threats against gays (in jest according to the student). Nonetheless, I wrote the following letter, in advance, and I still think it probably represents Lars opinion he would have. I wrote this in an attempt to reach conservative students at OSU who believe in living an ethical and moral lifestyle, instead of bashing gays:

Conservative radio host Lars Larson will likely see the flap over the Associated Students of Oregon State University presidential candidate Bret Barlow's anti-gay posts as being another example of "politically correct" university liberals restricting the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right to free speech during his coincidentally scheduled radio show from the MU quad featuring the Second Amendment right to bear arms in support of Oregon State University Republicans.

I agree with Lars that the First Amendment right to free speech is important because the gay and former OSU Professor W. Dorr Legg (1904-1994) famously won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding his First Amendment right to publish a scholarly journal discussing changing the laws against homosexuality, including Oregon's law, which was not repealed until 1971.

I am sympathetic to OSU student Bret Barlow's situation, because I have also been publically humiliated for impolitic comments, and I have also feared being blackmailed -- as he did.

Hopefully, the ASOSU election flap will teach everyone the lessons I learned only with maturity -- first, confess, as Bret did, and second, don't play the "victim role," as Bret unfortunately did, because you are not a victim like the people you terrorized -- "real men" never feel the need to be impolite or act immature on purpose.

To see a photo of Prof. Legg and read about the importance of free speech in the formation of the first gay student group at OSU, see my history that is now permanently stored online by the OSU Scholars Archives in the Valley library.

Thomas Kraemer, Founder of the OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund

(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "Regarding Barlow's Facebook Comment: ASOSU lessons on the First and Second Amendments," OSU Barometer, Apr. 4, 2014, p. 7 posted Apr. 16, 2014)

See previous posts:

• OSU conservative student newspaper wins freedom of speech case (4/6/14)
• Oregon free speech laws (12/21/07)
• Gay free speech victory 50th anniversary (1/18/08) - on January 13, 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its first ever pro-gay free speech ruling in ONE Inc. v. Olesen, a landmark decision that allowed a magazine for gays and lesbians to be sent through the U.S. mail
• OSU gay student group history (5/3/06) History of gay student groups at Oregon State University

Windows XP R.I.P. and Bill Gates using Teletype circa 1970's

PHOTO: Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen using a Model 33 Teletype machine that used mechanical levers and electric solenoids to strike a mechanical type cylinder against an inked ribbon onto a roll of paper. Teletypes predate computers and were used for long distance communication by newspaper wire services before being adapted for computer use in the 1950's. The teletype machine used by Bill Gates was connected via a 110 bit per second telephone modem to a central timesharing computer system running a BASIC language interpreter. I guess the photo was taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s based on the age of the boys. I guess every computer geek of the 1960s and 1970s had to use a Teletype at some point in their education or job. See previous posts Teletype microprocessor interface 1977 (9/26/06)), My first blog posting (4/15/06) and Herbert Kraemer wins computer 1971 (10/17/09)

PHOTO: Thomas Kraemer in 1977 using a torn apart Model 33 Teletype hooked up via a 110 bits per second serial current loop to a National Semiconductor SC/MP 1 MHz microprocessor with 256 bytes (yes, bytes, not kilobytes or megabytes) of RAM on two separate IC chips. (See previous posts Herbert Kraemer wins computer 1971 (10/17/09), ASCII art Jeep and nude man (7/11/009) and Teletype microprocessor interface 1977 (9/26/06).)

Official support for the Microsoft Windows XP operating system ended on April 8, 2014 and it made me recall the photos above. Fortunately, despite my worsening low-vision blindness, I was able to transition to Windows 7 Professional. See previous posts Still alive after 'upgrade' to Windows 7 HP Workstation and Dream Color Monitor (1/26/14) and Computer monitor arm for my low vision accessibility (5/5/14).

OSU conservative student newspaper wins freedom of speech case

PHOTO: (click photo to enlarge) Oregon State University conservative student newspaper "The Liberty" front page from April 6-24, 2005 featured articles to politically agitate students about their student fee money being used to support things they opposed, such as the Women's Center and the Pride Center, which the paper carefully noted was called the Queer Resource Center. A conservative OSU Professor Fred Decker sponsored the newspaper to further Republican causes, including opposing marriage equality and amend the Oregon Constitution to forbid same-sex marriages. The students claimed to be victims of political correctness and they successfully sued after their newspaper boxes were removed by OSU under a then unwritten policy against non-campus approved newspapers. See previous post Letter on OSU free speech ruling for anti-gay student newspaper (10/27/12)

UPDATE (4/7/14): After the GT newspaper article quoted below, the OSU student newspaper printed an article by Sean Bassinger, "Liberty case comes to close," Barometer, Apr. 7, 2014, p. 1, 3

"OSU agreed to pay $101,000 from the university's general fund to settle a lawsuit filed in 2009 on behalf of The Liberty, a conservative-leaning alternative student newspaper. . . . Clark objected to the fact that only $1,000 of the settlement payment went to one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, former Liberty executive editor William Rogers, while the rest goes to the Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative Christian organization that provided legal counsel in the case. "It wasn't a freedom of speech matter -- it became that -- but (the settlement) benefitted not freedom of speech, it benefitted an association of attorneys," Clark said." (Quoted from Bennett Hall, "OSU trades barbs with law firm over settlement," Gazette-Times, Apr. 5, 2014, p. A1, A8)

While I applaud the leadership of Oregon State University President Ed Ray over the last decade, the fact "he's from New York and not prone to scare" (Associated Press, "Ray: OSU's Bend site settled," Gazette-Times, Apr. 4, 2014, p. A1, A5 (posted online as "Ray: Site for OSU's Bend campus site won't change")) probably led to the loss (Associated Press, "Ray: OSU's Bend site settled," Gazette-Times, Apr. 4, 2014, p. A1, A5 (posted online as "Ray: Site for OSU's Bend campus site won't change")) of a freedom of speech case brought by conservative OSU students, who were financially backed and incited by OSU Professor Fred Decker, an acolyte of President Reagan.

Ray rightfully saw this case had no real victims and it was clearly designed to smear those "ivory tower and politically correct liberals" as being hypocrites for censoring conservatives' viewpoint on campus.

The OSU Archives document a real victim of censorship, the former OSU Professor W. Dorr Legg who served as a Christian minister at Camp Adair during World War II and who later won a truly landmark free speech ruling in the 1958 U.S. Supreme Court case of "ONE Inc. v. Olesen" that allowed Legg to publish a scholarly homophile advocacy journal and later form the present-day Log Cabin Club for gay Republicans.

Another real victim was a longtime Corvallis resident who participated in the 1960's University of California Berkeley "Free speech Movement" and was arrested during a 1970 protest for doing with another man in public what heterosexuals regularly do with impunity (Source: University of California Berkeley Bancroft Library "Social Protests Collection").

Sadly, the real victim of the $100,000 legal settlements from OSU will be students.

See previous posts:

• Oregon free speech laws (12/21/07)
• Gay free speech victory 50th anniversary (1/18/08) - on January 13, 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its first ever pro-gay free speech ruling in ONE Inc. v. Olesen, a landmark decision that allowed a magazine for gays and lesbians to be sent through the U.S. mail
• OSU gay student group history (5/3/06) History of gay student groups at Oregon State University