MBA Board Statement on Ryan Bounds
On Monday, February 12, 2018, the Board of the Multnomah Bar Association (MBA) became aware of opinion pieces that Ryan Bounds, the Chair of the MBA's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (formerly known as the Equality and Diversity Committee) wrote as a college student. Those articles express insensitive, intolerant and disdaining views towards racial and ethnic minorities, campus sexual assault victims, and the LGBTQ community.
The MBA Board requested Ryan's resignation and Ryan tendered his resignation on Tuesday evening. The MBA has accepted that resignation effective immediately. The MBA strongly disavows the views expressed in those articles as racist, misogynistic, homophobic and disparaging of survivors of sexual assault and abuse.
The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee was founded over twenty years ago and has benefitted from the passionate and dedicated work of hundreds of committee members, committee chairs and other volunteers. Its mission is to "foster and expand diversity, inclusion and equality in the MBA and Multnomah County legal community and to create and strengthen a relationship of mutual support between the MBA and its diverse lawyers and bar organizations." The MBA has appointed former Vice-Chair Susan Cournoyer to serve as the new Chair of the Committee for the remainder of this bar year and looks forward to her leadership in guiding the Committee as it continues to focus on the advancement of its mission.
The MBA deeply values its diverse membership and its vital relationships with the specialty bar associations that make up our community. The MBA vows to continue to strengthen those relationships, promote inclusion, provide support wherever possible, and act as allies.
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