BY RAFAEL JAIME

As colleges and universities prepare to reopen in the fall, academic workers across the country are making it clear they are not interested in returning to business as usual. The years-long crisis underscored the extent to which our current higher education system has lost sight of its core mission to educate future generations and produce research that benefits the public. But those of us who work in higher education are not simply standing by—we are organizing to reclaim higher education and transform it into a vehicle for the common good.

Last week, more than 250 members and staff from 75 unions and organizations representing some 400,000 academic workers across the country convened to unite around a common vision for higher education and to develop a strategy to take back control of our colleges and universities. Among them were unions representing student workers, postdocs, adjuncts, full-time faculty, and non-instructional staff. Over the course of three days, participants worked together across ranks, job categories, unions, and states to develop and adopt a joint platform that sets out a vision for the future of higher education. The statement—which you can read here—commits organized labor in universities and colleges to building a movement to make higher education a universal right and into a force for social good.

Time and time again, organized academic workers have shown that they can make real lasting progress, even on the most entrenched problems. With higher education at a turning point, we must unite in our collective power to demand a bold reinvestment in higher education that will increase equity. Returning to business as usual is not an option we can afford.

Rafael Jaime is a PhD candidate in English at UCLA and president of UAW 2865.