POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN On August 8, the National Labor Relations Board ordered the University of Chicago to schedule a representation vote of its graduate student employees on whether they wish to be represented by the Graduate Students United, a joint affiliate of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the American Federation of…
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN This week the AAUP’s Committee on Graduate and Professional Students issued a statement condemning the current campaign by private elite universities “to obstruct the democratic rights and freedoms of their graduate employees” who seek union recognition. The University of Chicago is one such institution. There the administration continues to obstruct the…
POSTED BY KELLY HAND Today, a strong majority of graduate employees at the University of Chicago filed authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a formal union recognition election. Members of Graduate Students United (GSU) personally visited the regional NLRB office to deliver the cards, signed by grad workers from seven…
BY JOHN K. WILSON The University of Chicago’s Committee on University Discipline for Disruptive Conduct has issued a new report. Peter Wood of the NAS praises the Chicago Report: “It is a welcome step for all of American higher education. Mostly it restores to the campus authorities charged with maintaining order the tools they need…
BY ANTON FORD Yesterday, John K. Wilson posted a critique about those opposed to having former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski speak at the University of Chicago. Wilson asked Anton Ford if he wished to respond. Below is his email, and below that is the letter that was sent to the Institute of Politics. Dear…
BY JOHN K. WILSON In a few minutes, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski will be speaking at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics (IOP). A group of student organizations wrote to the University of Chicago calling for Lewandowski to be banned from campus. I think they are deeply misguided. They argue, “Nothing about…
BY JOHN K. WILSON I thought I was reading a campus newspaper from the 1950s when I saw this headline yesterday in the Chicago Maroon: “Communist Plans To Defy Campus Ban.” Suddenly, the University of Chicago has become the epicenter of several free speech controversies. It turns out that it’s pretty easy to write big…
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN Graduate employees at the University of Chicago have overwhelmingly re-affirmed their choice to organize for collective bargaining with the AAUP, AFT and IFT. Members of Chicago Graduate Students United voted for continued AAUP-AFT-IFT affiliation in a ballot that concluded Tuesday night. Since 2007, GSU has been working to improve conditions for…
BY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO FACULTY The following open letter from University of Chicago faculty appeared in the Chicago Maroon on Sept. 13. Dear Students of the Class of 2020: As you have undoubtedly noticed, you and your new institution have been in the media spotlight lately. We want to take this opportunity to voice our…
BY HANK REICHMAN In a widely publicized letter to incoming freshmen this week, University of Chicago (UC) Dean of Students John Ellison offered a bold defense of academic freedom and freedom of expression, which included this sentence: Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel…