Press Releases

PRESS ADVISORY
Release Date: July 1, 2020

American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Midwest Chapter Coalition Press Conference Announcement

What: University faculty from prominent Midwestern universities will provide statements and answer questions related to opening higher educational campuses for the Fall 2020 semester in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. A written statement detailing the AAUP Midwest Coalition’s demands of university administrations has been previously released at midwestfaculty.org.

When: 9:00am CDT/10:00am EDT Thursday, July 2nd

Where: Livestreaming at midwestfaculty.org

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For immediate release
June 29, 2020

Midwest University Faculty Unite to Protect Lives, Promote Education

In face of the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and police brutality, and as university campuses announce plans to reopen this fall, a coalition of Midwest chapters of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and other faculty organizations issued a statement today calling on campus leaders in the region to protect public health, safety, and economic well-being. “We recognize the interconnections among these crises and their deep roots in systemic, structural inequalities,” the statement says.

Representing faculty members at private colleges, regional state schools, and large public universities, the coalition makes demands in five areas:

Defend shared faculty governance of academic affairs, including the right to teach classes online in order to protect student, faculty, and community health
Engage all employees in campus decision-making
Ensure employees’ economic security
Prevent an increase in workload
Reject the logic of budget cuts
Protect the interests of the lowest-paid workers

Founded in 1915, the AAUP works to promote academic freedom, define professional standards, and protect the economic security of all involved in higher education. Of the group’s 500 campus chapters, 70 represent faculty in collective bargaining agreements.

Fourteen AAUP chapters and faculty groups, along with four state AAUP conferences, have signed the statement.

For more information, contact:

Illinois

Charitianne Williams, Charitianne@gmail.com, Senior Lecturer, English, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chair, Communications Committee, UIC United Faculty Local 6456, IFT-AFT-AAUP-AFL-CIO.

Indiana

Alice Pawley, apawley@purdue.edu, Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Education, President of AAUP chapter, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Office: 765-496-1209

Benjamin Butt Robinson, bbrobins@indiana.edu, Associate Professor of Germanic Studies, Chair, Germanic Studies, President of AAUP chapter, Indiana University-Bloomington.

Benjamin Balthaser, bbalthaser1@gmail.com, Associate Professor of Multiethnic U.S. Literature, Secretary-Treasurer of AAUP chapter, Indiana University, South Bend

Ohio

Cathy Wagner, cwagner@miamioh.edu, Professor of Creative Writing, Past President of AAUP chapter, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, Ohio.

Wisconsin

Rachel Ida Buff, rbuff@uwm.edu, Professor of History, Director, Cultures and Communities Program, Past President of AAUP chapter, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

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