Higher Education

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.

Academic Workers, Students Pledge To Fight Attacks Against Organizers

November 22, 2023 CUNY4Palestine, Left Voice. Resist! Censorship, Higher Education, Israel, Palestine

Since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, there has been an upsurge in resistance to U.S. support to the Israeli apartheid state. This has been particularly strong on college campuses, with students organizing walkouts, sit-ins, and protests in solidarity with Palestine. These actions and internationalism continue the spirit and legacy of the student movement against the Vietnam War and against apartheid South Africa. Students and academic workers have experienced massive repression from university administrations, from the government, and from Zionists both on and off of campus. SJP was banned from Florida and both SJP and JVP were suspended from Columbia University.

California Faculty Prepare For First Strike In 12 Years

November 22, 2023 Owen Lavine, Labor Notes. Resist! California, Higher Education, Strikes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Faculty at 23 California State University campuses are preparing to strike. They teach nearly half a million students. After 95 percent of voting members authorized a strike on October 30, the 29,000-member California Faculty Association plans to roll out strikes at Cal Poly Pomona December 4, San Francisco State University December 5, Cal State Los Angeles December 6 and Sacramento State University December 7. The CFA reopened four broad sections of their contract in May, demanding a 12 percent salary increase, more manageable workloads, more counselors for students, the right to counsel when approached by campus police, more paid leave, and more lactation rooms and gender neutral bathrooms and changing rooms on campuses.

Students Form Coalition To Counter Crackdown On Palestine Activism

November 18, 2023 Michael Arria, Mondoweiss. Resist! Columbia University, Higher Education, Israel, New McCarthyism, Palestine

More than 40 Columbia University student groups have formed a coalition to demand that the school divest from Israeli apartheid. The launch of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) comes shortly after the administration suspended the groups Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) from campus. The coalition was announced on Tuesday night, at a protest that drew hundreds of faculty and students. In addition to the divestment demand, CUAD (which includes Columbia Law Students for Palestine, Sunrise Columbia, and Young Democratic Socialists of America) is also calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the cancellation of a new Columbia campus in Tel Aviv, and the suspension on SJP and JVP to be lifted.

Cornell Graduate Students United Wins Unionization Election

November 13, 2023 Jonathan Mong and Matthew Kiviat, Portside. Organize! Graduate Students, Higher Education, New York (NY), Unions, Worker Rights

Cornell graduate students have won their unionization election by a vote of 1,873 to 80, and will federate as Cornell Graduate Students United — an organization fighting for the rights of graduate workers — under the national United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America union. 128 ballots were challenged, but not counted because they would not have determined the outcome of the election. Voting occurred on the Ithaca campus between Nov. 6 and Nov. 8, as well as on Nov. 6 at the Geneva campus and at New York City’s Cornell Tech campus. Of the 3,175 eligible voters, 1,953 voted in the election.

Columbia University Suspends Students For Justice In Palestine

November 12, 2023 Michael Arria, Mondoweiss. Educate! Censorship, Higher Education, Palestine, Student Activism

Columbia University says its suspending two campus Palestine groups. In a statement posted on the school’s website Senior Executive Vice President of the University and Chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety Gerald Rosberg said the university is suspending Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) for the remainder of the fall term. “This decision was made after the two groups repeatedly violated University policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” reads the statement.

Pro-Palestine Dartmouth Students Want A ‘New Deal’ For Their School

November 7, 2023 Mel Buer, The Real News Network. Resist! Dartmouth, Divestment, Higher Education, Israel, New Hampshire, Palestine, Student Activism

Since October 7th, student activists on campuses across the country have been organizing rallies against Israeli apartheid and vigils for the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Activists at Dartmouth College are among those groups, organizing a sustained vigil outside Dartmouth’s administration building, Parkhurst Hall. Days into the continuous vigil, student organizers released The Dartmouth New Deal, a document that outlined a progressive vision for the college and included explicit demands that Dartmouth divest itself from the military-industrial complex that enables Israeli Apartheid.

City College’s 1940s Fight Against Political Repression: Lessons For Today

October 31, 2023 Olivia Wood, Left Voice. Strategize! Higher Education, History, Israel, McCarthyism, New York City (NYC), Palestine, Student Activism, Worker Rights and Jobs

Students, faculty, and staff at colleges and universities across the United States and the world are facing an unusually high level of repression for speaking out in support of Palestinians. A city councilwoman brought a gun to a protest outside of Brooklyn College. Billboard trucks displaying the faces and names of pro-Palestine activists are circling the block at Harvard and Columbia. Students are having their job offers revoked. Florida governor Ron DeSantis is trying to ban Students for Justice in Palestine from all Florida schools. Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate unanimously voted a resolution condemning the student protests as “pro-Hamas” and encouraging the U.S. government to “fully and completely support Israel.”

Nicaragua: The Education Generation

October 22, 2023 Becca Renk, Kawsachun News. Create! Higher Education, Nicaragua, Public Education, Sandinista Revolution

Thanks to a complete overhaul of the country’s educational system in the past 15 years, record numbers of students are graduating from high school. Although recent international headlines claim academic spaces are closing in Nicaragua, there is now actually increased access to free public universities. That, combined with hundreds of free vocational programs around the country, means that the class of 2023 has more options open to them than ever before. In a few short weeks, our youngest daughter Orla will graduate from high school. Recently I went to her school to watch as she and her friends marched in blue and white one final time to celebrate Nicaragua’s Independence.

The Masters In Management: Co-Operatives And Credit Union Program

October 18, 2023 John McNamara, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Create! Cooperatives, Credit Unions, Higher Education, New Economy

On September 22nd, students graduating with either a Graduate Diploma or a Masters in Management: Co-operatives and Credit Unions (MMCCU) were greeted with boisterous whoops and feet stomping from the 12 faculty of the program who joined the Chancellor, Dean, and about another 10 faculty from Saint Mary’s University at Convocation. It was a relatively rare occurrence for the program and the special moment was created through a two day celebration of the program’s 20th anniversary and the first in-person faculty retreat since 2019. The first day of the two-day event, kicked off quite appropriately at the Glitter Bean Café.

University Of Manchester Freshers To Carry On Last Year’s Rent Strike

October 17, 2023 Steve Topple, Canary Workers' Coop. Resist! Higher Education, Rent Strike, Student Activism, United Kingdom (UK)

The University of Manchester (UoM) is once again under fire over its dire student accommodation. This time, freshers are threatening a rent strike after it emerged bosses have barely made any changes since the last academic year’s strike by students. The Canary has been following the story of the UoM rent strikes. Around 650 students have been withholding their rent from the university. This is because bosses increased rents on halls by up to £450 for the 2022 academic year. Plus, the state of accommodation is appalling. Back in February, students occupied areas of the university in protest.

Fossil Fuel Giants Have Committed £40.4 Million To UK Universities

October 8, 2023 Max Colbert, DeSmog. Educate! Energy, Fossil Fuels, Higher Education, United Kingdom (UK)

Many of these commitments have been accepted by institutions that have actively pledged to divest from oil and gas companies. According to freedom of information requests submitted by DeSmog, more than £40.4 million has been pledged to 44 UK universities by 32 oil, coal and gas companies since 2022 in the form of research agreements, tuition fees, scholarships, grants, and consulting fees. Most of the funding spans the current academic year, with a handful of projects running for a number years, up to as far as 2027.

United Campus Workers Rack Up Victories In ‘Right-To-Work’ Tennessee

October 7, 2023 Justin A. Davis, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! Higher Education, Right to Work, Tennessee, Unions, United Campus Workers (UCW), Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

In recent years, U.S. labor organizing has turned an exciting corner. National headlines have burst with workers putting pressure on far corners of the economy for fair wages and safe, secure jobs — from employees at major logistics corporations like Amazon and UPS to auto workers and Hollywood writers and actors. The world of higher education is no different, and colleges and universities across the country have seen their own wave of new labor campaigns. Last fall, for example, 48,000 workers at the University of California went on a 40-day strike — the largest higher ed strike in U.S. history.

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