Higher Education

CUNY Workers Launch New Strike Campaign

February 14, 2024 Olivia Wood, Left Voice. Resist! CUNY, Higher Education, New York City (NYC), Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

As faculty, staff, and graduate student workers at the City University of New York (CUNY) approach one year without a contract, a new strike campaign is forming, fueled by outrage over decades of underfunding, low wages compared to other New York City schools, and fresh cuts to the university’s 25 campuses. Just last month, dozens of faculty were laid off right before the start of the semester — with full or nearly full classes getting cut from the schedule, leaving students in disarray — after the university ordered enhanced cuts at nine CUNY schools. Furthermore, Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed executive budget cuts CUNY funding by $528 million. Most of this decrease comes from the capital budget, which provides for building upkeep and other infrastructure costs, even though only eight percent of CUNY’s buildings are considered to be in a “state of good repair.”

Israel Destroyed My University – Where Is The Outrage?

February 10, 2024 Chris Hedges, The Real News Network. Resistance Report Genocide, Higher Education, Israel, Palestine, Wars and Militarism

On Jan. 17, the Israeli military detonated 315 mines to destroy Gaza’s last standing university, al-Israa University, located south of Gaza City. For 70 days prior, the Israelis occupied the university as a military base, posting snipers in its buildings and using it as a detention and interrogation center. According to university authorities, prior to the detonation Israeli soldiers looted the university museum, which contained 3,000 artifacts dating back as far as the Roman era. With al-Israa University’s destruction, Israel has now destroyed or damaged all of Gaza’s 12 universities, and also targeted 280 government schools and 65 UN schools, many of which were sheltering civilians when they were attacked.

Open Letter On The Anti-Palestinian And Islamophobic Environment At Emory University

January 31, 2024 Open Letter, Mondoweiss. Resist! Censorship, Emory University, Higher Education, Israel, Palestine, Suppression

We are a coalition of community and civil rights organizations, writing on behalf of Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and students perceived to be Palestinian or Muslim at Emory University (“the University”) who have been targeted by racist, anti-Palestinian, xenophobic, and Islamophobic harassment and doxing attacks for their support for Palestinian human rights. We write to express our concern about the University’s failure to protect its students from these bigoted doxing and harassment campaigns and the lack of official, public support shown to Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students.

What Do Faculty Owe Future Generations?

January 30, 2024 Sharon Stein, Resilience. Strategize! climate crisis, Higher Education, Multigenerational, Youth

I’m a millennial faculty member. The millennial generation – also known as Generation Y – came of age with 9/11, followed by the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then the 2007/8 financial crisis. While we were growing up, promises of perpetual progress and prosperity abounded. However, as we entered adulthood, we confronted the harmful realities and precarious nature of the prevailing social and economic system. It became clear to many of us that these were not only false promises but they also came at a high cost. Yet when we expressed our disillusionment, some from previous generations suggested our generation was the problem, not the system itself.

Greek Students Hit The Streets For Protests Against Private Universities

January 28, 2024 People's Dispatch. Resist! Greece, Higher Education, Privatization, Youth Activism

For the third consecutive week, Greek student and youth groups and other progressive sections hit the streets, denouncing the conservative New Democracy (ND) government’s bid to open private universities. On Thursday, January 25, massive protest rallies were held in more than 40 cities, including Athens. Tens of thousands of students from coordination committees, and members of the Students’ Struggle Front (MAS), Panspoudastiki KS, Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), parents’ associations, teachers’ unions, and university workers demanded that the government scrap the proposed bill.

Palestine And The Crisis Of Free Speech On College Campuses

January 25, 2024 Mel Buer, The Real News Network. Resist! Censorship, Free Speech, Higher Education, Israel, Palestine

Colleges and universities have long acted as incubators for social movements, and the movement in solidarity with Palestine is no exception. While repression against students and faculty for support of Palestine is nothing new, the upsurge in mobilization and agitation for Palestinian liberation since last fall has been met with a frenzied response from actors within and outside of university administrations. Students and faculty alike have faced retaliation from university administrators and Zionists within and beyond the student body, ranging from revocation of scholarships to expulsions, firings, and even physical assault.

A Strike Is Coming To The Nation’s Largest Public University System

January 22, 2024 Matthew Ford, Jacobin. Resist! Budget Cuts, California, Higher Education, Public Good, Strikes

For over a decade, the administration at California State University (CSU) has been disinvesting in the United States’ largest public university system. The result has been the destruction of the institution’s academic integrity and the undermining of its basic goal: to serve the public good. Thankfully, a formidable opposition is growing among the faculty. This came to a head when, after a recent breakdown in negotiations with CSU management, the California Faculty Association (CFA) pledged to strike at all twenty-three campuses beginning this Monday, January 22. The twenty-nine thousand striking teachers are officially walking out over a bargaining impasse, but the conflict has roots far deeper than the recent breakdown in negotiations.

University Suspends Student Group For Supporting Palestine

January 5, 2024 Tristan Taylor, Left Voice. Resist! Censorship, Higher Education, Israel, New McCarthyism, Ohio, Palestine

The student group of Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists (CORS) has been suspended by Ohio State University. They were notified of the suspension following an event they did on campus entitled “Intifada, Revolution, and the Path for a Free Palestine.” The OSU administration sent a letter December 13 alleging that CORS’ “activities pose a significant risk of substantial harm to the safety or security of your organization’s members, other members of the university community or to university property.” How a meeting to discuss the struggle against a genocidal war by the Zionist state of Israel creates “significant risk of substantial harm” is anyone’s guess.

Open Letter To The Columbia University Administration

December 24, 2023 Rashid Khalidi, Mondoweiss. Resist! Columbia, Free Speech, Higher Education, Palestine, Zionism

Our deans state that the Columbia community should acknowledge “that hearing chanted phrases such as ‘by any means necessary,’ ‘from the river to the sea,’ or calls for an ‘intifada’—irrespective of intentions and provenance—is experienced by many Jewish, Israeli, and other members of our community as antisemitic and deeply hurtful.” They have thus unilaterally decided that no one should rise up [the actual meaning of “intifada”] against 56 years of illegal military occupation; that Palestine should remain unfree from the river to the sea; and that the oppressed should take permission from the oppressor as to the means to relieve their oppression.

The Longest Adjunct Strike In US History Comes To A Close

December 23, 2023 Jeff Schuhrke, In These Times. Resist! Adjunct, Higher Education, Strikes, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

The longest adjunct strike in U.S. history ended this week after part-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying a new four-year contract that will grant them greater job security and more decision-making power over their working conditions. The 49-day strike was led by the Columbia College Faculty Union (CFAC), which represents approximately 600 part-time adjunct instructors at the private, arts-and media-focused institution in Chicago’s South Loop. The tentative agreement was reached on December 17. Eighty-five percent of the membership participated in the ratification vote, with 99.7% approving.

The Selective Silencing Of Campus Speech

December 14, 2023 Kevin Young, Amherst Indy. Educate! Censorship, Free Speech, Higher Education, Palestine, Zionism

“Fears of Violence on Mass. Campuses Are Silencing Many on Israel-Hamas War,” reads a recent news headline from western Massachusetts. The article quotes several professors who say they feel silenced by those who criticize US-Israeli policy. It also quotes several critics of US-Israeli policy who say they feel silenced. What should we make of these dueling claims? The key practical question here is what campus leaders are doing to protect free speech. It’s problematic whenever an individual infringes on another’s free-speech rights, but what’s most important is how administrators respond. They’re the ones who set policies and they also exercise the most influence over campus culture.

University Of Michigan Administration Caves To Zionist Pressure

December 10, 2023 Brian H. Silverstein, Left Voice. Resist! Anti-War, Higher Education, Israel, Michigan, Palestine, Repression, Zionism

Last week, the University of Michigan student body was set to vote on a resolution calling for the university to recognize the genocide in Gaza and to assess the ethics of the institution’s investments, including investments in the State of Israel. The campaign has been led by the Tahrir Coalition, a broad and diverse group of over 60 student organizations. As the vote was underway, the university administration buckled to pressure from a coalition of off-campus Zionist organizations and canceled the vote, citing improper use of a university listserv to promote the vote. Michigan Hillel, with the support of an off-campus Zionist coalition including Maccabee Task Force, the Anti-Defamation League, Stand With Us, The iCenter, and the Israel Forever Foundation, raised $46,000 to influence the student vote and promote their own pro-Zionist resolution.

Faculty Of Largest US Public University System Strikes, Demanding 12% Raise

December 4, 2023 Dani Anguiano, The Guardian. Resist! California, Higher Education, Income disparity, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

California State University faculty at four campuses went on strike on Monday to demand higher pay and expanded parental leave for thousands of workers at the largest public university system in the US. The California Faculty Association, which represents 29,000 workers, is staging one-day work stoppages at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; San Francisco State University; California State University, Los Angeles and California State University, Sacramento. The union is seeking a 12% salary raise and an increase in parental leave from six weeks to a full semester for professors, librarians and other workers. They also want more manageable workloads for faculty, better access to breastfeeding stations and more gender-inclusive restrooms.

Laney Graduate Students Vote To Unionize

November 30, 2023 Ilah Ross, Portside. Organize! Georgia, Graduate Students, Higher Education, The South, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Laney Graduate School students have voted to unionize after years of advocacy, making Emory University the first private university to have a graduate-worker union in Georgia and the second in the South. EmoryUnite! is now officially recognized as a union under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), meaning Emory administration is required to enter negotiations with graduate students. EmoryUnite! announced the results in a Nov. 28 Instagram post. In total, 909 students (92.6%) voted in favor of unionization while 73 students (7.4%) voted against unionization during the election on Oct. 17 and 18, according to the post. Of the approximately 1,700 Laney Ph.D. students eligible to vote in the election, 982 (57.8%) participated.

After Wave Of Protest, Hunter College Reverses Israel Movie Cancellation

November 25, 2023 John Tarleton, The Indypendent. Resist! Censorship, Higher Education, Israel, New York City (NYC), Palestine

On Tuesday, Hunter College Interim President Ann Kirschner reversed her decision to ban a movie about young Jewish-Americans exploring their disenchantment with Israel one week after she set off a firestorm of criticism at the CUNY campus. It will now be shown at Hunter by Dec. 5, Kirschner promised. “This represents the power of what the faculty, students and our union did when the president unilaterally canceled our event,” said Tami Gold, a professor of film and media studies at Hunter. The movie, Israelism, is co-directed by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen. It was inspired by their experiences of traveling to Israel and witnessing the brutal treatment of Palestinians which was at odds with the image of Israel that they had been raised to unconditionally love.

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