The event launching the new advocacy chapter at Miami University seems to have been a great success. There was standing room only in the room where the event was held, which seated about 135 people.

The co-presidents of the chapter gave a very rousing speeches, which drew applause from the crowd. In addition, AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum talked about work of the AAUP and the challenges that we need to face together. He emphasized that best way to defend shared governance and academic freedom is to have a collective bargaining contract but that the most important thing to do is to organize to have a collective voice.

The chapter may have already had a some success. The university’s Board of Trustees had voted to demolish a historic building on campus, but at the launch meeting, a petition drive was initiated to preserve the building. About a week later, the university announced it was not going to tear down the building after all.

Here is an article on the establishment of the chapter and its formal “launch” in the university’s student newspaper: http://miamistudent.net/?p=17005697