Statement on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by the Board of the SDFA

Posted on December 6, 2012 by ucsdfac

The San Diego Faculty Association (SDFA/AAUP) has no official position in regard to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We recognize that our membership is divided on this issue and that it is beyond the mission and the scope of the Association to articulate an official view. Therefore, the Board will not speak on behalf of its members in relation to this for the foreseeable future.

At the same time, the Board notes that as members of an academic community and as a local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, it is our duty to promote and uphold the values of academic freedom and freedom of inquiry. As the most recent Academic Freedom Statement of the University of California clearly affirms:

“The University of California is committed to upholding and preserving principles of academic freedom. These principles reflect the University’s fundamental mission, which is to discover knowledge and to disseminate it to its students and to society at large. The principles of academic freedom protect freedom of inquiry and research, freedom of teaching, and freedom of expression and publication. These freedoms enable the University to advance knowledge and to transmit it effectively to its students and to the public”.

In a complementary manner, the 1940 AAUP Statement on Academic Freedom states that:

“College and university teachers are citizens, members of a learned profession, and officers of an educational institution. When they speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. As scholars and educational officers, they should remember that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances. Hence they should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution”.

This means that individual members of the association are free –and, indeed, should be encouraged– to express their views on this and other matters of public interest, just as any other US citizen is free to do. The mission of the SDFA is only to defend a civil environment in which faculty, students, and the public in general can express divergent views without fear of retaliation or coercion.

The SDFA will continue to pay close attention to campus discussion of this and other controversial issues. We will continue to advocate for academic freedom for faculty, students, and others in the UCSD community, especially when we are notified of possible threats to or infringements of that essential academic right.

Board of the SDFA

5 December 2012

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Professor of Literature Jody Blanco Steps in as Interim President of the SDFA

Posted on October 17, 2012 by ucsdfac

On October 3rd, the board unanimously approved the selection of Assoc. Prof. John “Jody” Blanco (Literature) as Interim President of the San Diego Faculty Association, while President Ivan Evans (Sociology) takes a hiatus to focus on his research.

A message from the outgoing President Ivan Evans:

I would like to announce that I have stepped down from the Presidency of the SDFA to concentrate on my own work. It has been a pleasure to work with an active group of Board members. After many years of dormancy, the SDFA doubled its membership over the past year and sought to engage the Hydra-headed change that is so visibly transforming the UCs, ofen for the worse. Mounting concern amongst the faculty about the ravaging impact of “privatization” is palpable and demoralization has never been higher as UCs shrink their budgets and staff, increase tuition, fail to replace lost FTEs, and imperil those Departments that “don’t make money”. More than ever, faculty need to consolidate their voice and play a much greater role in defining the way forward. I look forward to promoting these goals on campus from my position on the Board of the SDFA for the rest of the year.

A message from Interim President Jody Blanco:

It’s my pleasure to serve as interim president for the UCSD Faculty Association (SDFA) for the 2012-2013 academic year, and to (belatedly) welcome everyone back after what was hopefully a relaxing summer. The appointment of a new chancellor to our campus serves as an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the SDFA over the past two years; more importantly, however, it allows us to consider the mission and goals of the Faculty Association, particularly in building faculty community and strengthening our collective voice in a university whose original plan calls for strong faculty governance in the administration of the university’s academic mission. Questions like our relationship with the university Academic Senate and administration in advancing the academic mission thus become more prominent as we continue to expand our membership and encourage future leaders to tell us where faculty community and a faculty voice is strongest, where it is most absent, and what specific issues and questions allow us to best contribute positively and collectively to the university. The question, as always, isn’t simply what we know about our university, but what we can and ought to do about what we know. It is here the SDFA hopes to make its greatest contribution.

 

 

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UCSD Reaches Settlement over Compton Cookout Incidents

Posted on April 13, 2012 by ucsdfac

The US Department of Justice reported today that UC San Diego has reached a settlement with the Departments of Justice and Education over the racial incidents in February 2010 associated with the now infamous “Compton Cookout“.  The settlement arose from an investigation by these Departments over complaints of racial harassment against African-American students on campus, in violation of Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Under the terms of the resolution agreement, UCSD will take steps to prevent racial harassment on campus, respond appropriately to harassment that occurs, and eliminate any hostile environment resulting from harassment.   The university has agreed to revise its campus policies and procedures related to racial harassment to ensure they are consistent with federal civil rights laws; maintain an Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination to receive, investigate, and resolve complaints of harassment and discrimination; and provide mandatory trainings for staff and students on the university’s anti-discrimination policies and procedures.   The university also voluntarily initiated a number of additional programs to address campus climate issues, and the departments will monitor the implementation of those programs to evaluate their impact on resolving the departments’ concerns.”

For more details, see the Department of Justice website.

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Albert Einstein on Collective Bargaining

Posted on April 6, 2012 by ucsdfac

Think collective action is outside the realm of science?  Albert Einstein didn’t think so.  In “Out of My Later Years” (most recent print by Grammercy, 1993), the Noble-prize winning physicist – and founding member of AFT Local 552 at Princeton in 1938 – devotes an entire chapter of this memoir to his thoughts on the “organization of intellectual workers”.  Here are some gems that are as true today as they were almost 75 years ago:

Continue reading →

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A Letter to Chancellor Fox on President Yudof’s Open Letter on Tolerance

Posted on March 23, 2012 by ucsdfac

Earlier this month, President Yudof sent an open letter to the UC community regarding policies of tolerance.  However, while focus was placed on hateful speech and actions on our Jewish and Israeli students and colleagues, no mention was made of comparable attacks that have been made on community members of other faiths and, especially, community members of color.  Professor of Sociology Charles Thorpe and the SDFA board has sent the following letter to Chancellor Fox, asking for clarification on Yudof’s comments and as to assure that all minority members of the community are properly considered when it comes to principles of community.

Dear Chancellor Fox,

On March 8 of this year, President Yudof sent an Open Letter to the UC Community regarding issues of tolerance in the UC system. California Scholars for Academic Freedom have raised concerns about President Yudof’s letter, citing “apparent bias regarding the right of free speech and dissent on UC campuses, and a stated reliance on advice from two organizations that lack credible experience in dealing with academic freedom.” UC San Diego Faculty Association shares these concerns regarding the letter and supports the statement by California Scholars for Academic Freedom. We are writing to request clarification of what President Yudof means when he says “We also are working with the Museum of Tolerance and the Anti-Defamation League to improve campus climate for all students and to take full advantage of our marvelous diversity.” Please could you provide us with a detailed account of how the university (both UCSD and UC-wide) is working with these organizations and what role the university envisages for these organizations, including what information the university has shared or envisages sharing with these organizations. We would also be interested in an explanation as to why the administration thought it necessary to bring in organizations external to UC to deal with these matters, how these organizations were selected for this role, and whether any other organizations were considered. Further, we would like to know whether President Yudof’s letter means any change in policy at UCSD toward speech and protest.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Charles Thorpe, on behalf of the Board of Directors, UC San Diego Faculty Association.

References:

March 10, 2012 Letter by California Scholars for Academic Freedom: http://www.usacbi.org/2012/03/california-scholars-for-academic-freedom-protest-uc-presidents-apparent-bias-regarding-the-right-of-free-speech-and-dissent-on-uc-campuses/

March 8, Open Letter to UC Community, President Mark Yudof, http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/27279

 

 

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UCSD Campus Climate: Still Hostile

Posted on March 8, 2012 by ucsdfac

In advance of today’s Campus Climate Council meeting (2-4pm in Chancellor’s Complex 111A), the SDFA is speaking out against racist comments and student harassment that occurred at a recent Associated Students meeting.  There, Students for Justice in Palestine proposed a resolution to divest in corporations they believe profit from violent conflict (see the resolution here).  Instead of a fair hearing of their viewpoint, students were harassed and verbally assaulted.  We have sent the following letter to the administration requesting that they act appropriately and immediately to this incident.

If you would like to stand up and speak out about our campus climate, we encourage you to attend today’s meeting.

March 6, 2012

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox
Executive Vice-Chancellor-Academic Affairs Suresh Subramani
Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs – Penny Rue
Office for the Prevention of Harassment & Discrimination – Lori Chamberlain
Chair of the Campus Climate Commission

Subject: Hostile Climate at UCSD campus

We are most disturbed by news of events that took place on Wednesday night (2/29/12) during the Associated Students Meeting at which time students from SAAC and students from Justice in Palestine who presented a Divestment Resolution were verbally attacked by both UCSD faculty and staff present.

Students report that at this meeting one particular faculty member verbally harassed a student outside of the 4th floor Forum and that one staff member at the meeting called the people of color in the room “pieces of shit” that made her wish to work elsewhere. 

Differences of opinion over political issues are to be valued and respected; there are no circumstances that can justify the type of ethnic harassment and intimidation that was witnessed by students on Wednesday night, especially on the part of UCSD faculty and staff.  We ask that your office look into these offensive and shameful events that make a mockery of the campus Principles of Community.  This is not the first time that incidents of this nature have occured on campus and we would ask that the administration take action.

The Board of the San Diego Faculty Association
Ivan Evans, President
Luis Martin-Cabrera, Vice-President
Adam Burgasser
Jody Blanco
Yen Le Espiritu
Tara Knight
Jin-Kyung Lee
Rosaura Sanchez

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The March 5th Rally at Sacramento

Posted on March 4, 2012 by ucsdfac

The week of protest and action will be hit a peak this Monday, March 5th, at a rally in Sacramento.  Organized by Occupy Education California, a schedule of events is provided on their website.

Among the protestors will be students from UCSD supported by the SDFA, as well as UC faculty from across California.  UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau has explicitly endorsed the March 5 rally, emphasizing the importance of

“speak[ing] out against the state’s disinvestment from public higher education and call for the reinstatement of funding and stabilization of the budget.”

Why March 5th?  This was the day back in 1868 that Assembly Bill 583 was introduced in Sacramento to create the University of California.  It seems fitting that we use this day then to remember the commitment made by and for the people of the state of California:

“The University shall have for its design, to provide instruction and thorough and complete education in all departments of science, literature, art, industrial and profession pursuits, and general education”

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Student Demands Have a March 8 Deadline

Posted on March 4, 2012 by ucsdfac

At the culmination of the March 1st rally and protest, the UCSD Public Education Coalition “initiated a civil, peaceful, and indefinite Reclamation of the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Complex”.  They have cited six UCSD Institutional Demands and are demanding a response by March 8th:

  • I. The permanent reopening of CLICS library and immediate moratorium on construction plans without student input;
  • II. Permanent funding for the Critical Gender Studies program and expansion of support for other underfunded departments including (but not limited to) Ethnic Studies, Literature, Visual Arts, and History;
  • III. Continuous, permanent, budget crisis-free funding for OASIS, a program which is at the forefront of student retention;
  • IV. Full implementation of the agreed-upon BSU demands (which were signed March 4, 2010) by March 4, 2013;
  • V. Funding for student resources on campus, including educational programming to increase the yield of historically underrepresented student groups, as well as rent-free funding for student co-ops; and
  • VI. An immediate end to the layoffs and cuts to workers’ wages, benefits, and pensions.

On Wednesday, March 8th, PEC will be hosting an open mic night in the administration complex to (hopefully) celebrate the adminstration’s positive response.

More information can be found at http://reclaimucsd.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/march-1st-demands

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“Time for a Faculty Union”: The View from Oregon

Posted on March 4, 2012 by ucsdfac

This week, SDFA President Ivan Evans and Vice-President Luis Martin-Cabrera are heading up to Eugene to observe the current union card membership drive that is taking place at the University of Oregon (UO).  Prof. Gordon Lafer (shown here) of UO’s Labor Education and Research Center has recently written up a faculty perspective on why UO faculty should unionize.  His point: it’s not about money; is about privatization:

“academic departments are increasingly viewed as revenue centers — encouraged to promote big lecture classes and to avoid hard-to-grade writing asignments or other expensive forms of personal attention”

Sound familiar?

Read more at the Eugene Weekly:

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2012/03/01/view1.html

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March 1st Walkout and Day of Action!

Posted on February 28, 2012 by ucsdfac

In solidarity with the international day of action for education happening worldwide, the Public Education Coalition of UCSD has called for a walkout and day of action for students and faculty.

Student organizers are encouraging faculty to talk about the crisis in class and hold regular classes (teach-out) at the rally on the Library Walk.

Here is a schedule of events:

  • 11:30am – Converge on Library Walk at the Silent Tree. It has been requested that professors bring their classes to the Silent Tree at this time.
  • 12:00pm – 1:15pm – Rally for Educational Justice at the Silent Tree
  • 1:15pm – March
  • 1:30pm – Declaration of Demands on Library Walk
  • 1:45pm – Food and Music on Library Walk
  • All day- Teachouts on Library Walk

More information can be found on the Facebook page for the event: http://www.facebook.com/events/263384180400803/

Posted in 2011 UC Protests, freedom of speech, petitions, protest and collective action, student action, UC budget cuts | Tagged , , , | Comments Off