Articles by Kristy Hammond

The AAUP joined this week with other groups, including members of the California Community College System, in filing an amicus brief in support of a permanent injunction against a Trump administration executive order that sought to strip federal funding from “sanctuary jurisdictions.” The lawsuit resulting in the injunction was filed by the city of San Francisco. The AAUP’s interest in the case stems from the potential application of the executive order to colleges and universities. Such an extension would negatively impact colleges’ and universities’ ability to carry out their public mission and their interests in developing a diverse student body. Allowing the…

In the newest issue of Academe, two professors share how their AAUP chapter responded to violence on campus. “What can AAUP chapters do? We can watch for, notice, track, and respond to incidents of harassment or violence as they occur on our campuses. While individual students and their associations have some power to get the attention of administrators and outside authorities, their voices are amplified if we join them.” Read more here.

In response to the conditions in Puerto Rico—especially the water crisis—the AFT launched Operation Agua, a collaboration with Operation Blessing, AFSCME, the Hispanic Federation and the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico. Operation Agua’s initial goal is to purchase and distribute 100,000 individual water filtration systems for households and classrooms, and 50 large-capacity clean-water devices to a network of nonprofit organizations, union offices, schools, and other community-based groups to provide stable and reliable sources of safe water. A single $30 contribution provides an in-home purifier that requires no electricity and provides more than 10 gallons of safe water per day to a family. And $5,000 delivers a disinfectant generator that…

At our membership meeting on October 23, UA members and family celebrated the ratification of our recent contract extension and engaged a host of other timely issues. At the recommendation of faculty with family in Puerto Rico, Professors Cecilia Enjuto-Rangel (Romance Languages), Alaí Reyes-Santos (Ethnic Studies), and Rocío Zambrana (Philosophy), we devoted space in our meeting (over dinner and drinks) to a silent auction and donations. Two prints from Puerto Rico’s beloved artist, Antonio Martorell, were auctioned alongside other donated items. Students from Professor Reyes-Santos’ class explained why they are raising money for a service project in Puerto Rico –…