Chicago, IL – About twenty students from the University of Illinois campuses in Chicago and Urbana-Champaign attempted to speak out at a Board of Trustees meeting, Nov. 18. The students are organizing against tuition increases and the re-segregation of higher education.

Patrick Thompson, a Urbana-Champaign community member spoke on the importance of recruitment of African-American students, stating, “The number of African Americans in the freshmen class at UIUC was higher in the late 1960s than in 2010.”

Rebecca Marcotte, a student, addressed the trustees on racial discrimination against African Americans and Latinos. Rebecca then said, “We students are asking that the board freeze tuition.” The Board of Trustees is planning another hike at their January meeting.

At the end of the public comment, one student shouted, “Our concerns haven’t been addressed!” Four security guards rushed toward him. Two other students spoke up and said “Higher education is being re-segregated!” and “We want to be listened to!”

Security grabbed them and began to escort them out. Other students joined in and chanted, “Tuition freeze now!” One policeman then pushed a student and campus police forcefully removed protesters from the building.

50% of UIUC students graduate in debt, according to an Associate Provost at the University of Illinois.

The protest brought together students from the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, a coalition of student activist groups at University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois-Chicago’s Students for a Democratic Society.

#ChicagoIL #CapitalismAndEconomy #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #UniversityOfIllinois #UndergraduateGraduateAlliance

Urbana Champaign, IL – After two days of mass picketing that shut down hundreds of classes at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the strike by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) has scored an amazing victory. On the morning of Nov. 17, management tentatively agreed to keep tuition waivers intact and retreat from threatened furlough days. In response, pickets were suspended and a GEO general membership meeting was scheduled for the evening. There, the 450 members present unanimously recommended to the strike committee that it accept the agreement and suspend the strike.

The center of the campus was a carnival atmosphere both days of the strike, as crowds of more than 700 grads and supporters shouted out their slogans: “Who are we? GEO? Are we gonna back down? Hell, no!” Not even the rain could dampen the enthusiasm of the strikers.

The strike was a blow to an administration that has been pounded with negative publicity this year as a result of a 'clout scandal' in which both the president and the chancellor were forced to resign. The scandal involved the children of the wealthy and politically connected gaining admission despite low grades and test scores.

The threat against the tuition waivers was the issue that seemed to capture the mood of the graduate workers. Illinois has the second worst state budget crisis in the country, after California. The politicians and officials have come up with one attack after another to balance the budget crisis on the backs of those least able to afford it. Going after tuition waivers backfired, as even the American Association of University Professors weighed in to warn the university that they were undermining their attraction to high quality grads. But it was the fighting spirit and creativity of the GEO that made this strike happen.

The terms of victory were more than just defending the tuition waivers and included two weeks of unpaid parental leave, more money from the school's contribution to health care premiums, and 10% in raises over three years. The victory serves as a bench mark and an inspiration especially for union workers employed by the state.

The union included in their press statement support for their “sisters and brothers in the Graduate Employees' Organization at the University of Illinois Chicago campus,” and for other higher education workers. They concluded, “Public higher education must be accessible to all, regardless of economic standing.”

The strike was also only the fourth strike nationwide of more than 1000 persons in 2009. Most of 'Big Labor,' with its billions of dollars of assets and six figure executive salaries refuses to fight. Examples like the GEO, the Republic Windows and Doors workers and the SK Hand Tool Workers all show that unions can beat back attacks if they dare to struggle.

#UrbanaChampaignIL #StudentMovement #strike #UniversityOfIllinois #GEO #GraduateEmployeesOrganization

Urbana Champaign, IL – At 8:00 a.m., Nov. 16, hundreds of teaching assistants rallied in a cold, driving rain on the campus of the University of Illinois. The members of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) set up pickets in front of all doors of the four main lecture buildings on campus. Natalie Havlin, co-chair of the GEO steward's council, said 1000 people joined in the spirited circles.

Despite the weather, the fired up crowds drummed and chanted, “T-U-I-T-I-O-N! Waive it and we'll teach again!” The union had been pushed to strike by attacks on their tuition waivers, which make it possible for working-class students to afford higher education. Their demands also included a minimum salary, set at the university’s own estimate of a living wage.

One department head warned grads against participating in the strike. In the face of this intimidation, all 17 employees there voted to join the pickets.

The strike is set to continue on Nov. 17 while the two sides return to the bargaining table. Rich Potter, communication committee member, spoke passionately to a rally on the steps of the administration building at the end of the day. “Refusing to negotiate language to guarantee tuition waivers is an attack on access to higher education for all.” He called on the crowd to return the next morning just as strong and they roared their approval.

Amber Cooper, of the Network to Fight For Economic Justice and University of Illinois Chicago Alumni states that the GEO has asked for the following support:

1. Send statements of solidarity to Miriam Larson
2. Send people to join those on strike on the picket lines at buildings around the UIUC campus
3. Call and email the U of I Board of Trustees and tell them how you feel.
4. Join the GEO facebook fan page for updates

#UrbanaChampaignIL #StudentMovement #strike #UniversityOfIllinois #NetworkToFightForEconomicJustice #GEO #GraduateEmployeesOrganization

“We demand Dr. Valerie Johnson be given tenure,” said Kip Bordelon, from the student group Diversity in Demand (DiD). He went on, “We demand UIC hire five African-American professors,” to replace five that have recently left. The mostly student demonstration also called for 12 more African-American and Latino professors in Liberal Arts and Sciences within a year.

Bordelon finished with a third demand for the reinstatement of the Minority Faculty Research Fund. This is a fund that had been in place to help retain the professors, but was recently cut by top bureaucrats at the campus.

Urban Mission?

Jason Lukasik, another member of DiD, said, “This campus is supposed to have an 'Urban Mission'– to aid the working class people of Chicago. But only 2% of the faculty are African-American, and only 4% are Latino.” The student body is almost 10% African-American and 14% Latino.

Tenure means job security for college teachers. At UIC, the number of tenured Black professors has been going down in recent years. Despite UIC's claim that it is committed to diversity, the number of Black students is half what it was 20 years ago. Almost 50% of white students graduate from UIC – less than 40% of Black students do.

'No Institutional Racism'

Feb. 6, DiD met with Stanley Fish, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences. They went there to ask Fish for support for Professor Valerie Johnson. They told him that she was an excellent teacher for students of all races and nationalities, and a mentor to African-American students.

Fish was outright rude to the students. He dismissed their arguments, telling them they were “ignorant” on matters of tenure for faculty. His position was, according to Kevin Morrisette of DiD, “Fish wants us [students] to stick with diversity in general and not on diversity in faculty.”

Fish went on to say that UIC had no institutional racism. If this were true, there would be equality – the numbers of African American and Latino professors would be about the same percent as there are in Chicago. The same would be true of the student body; and the graduation rate would be equal – the percent of African-Americans and Latinos finishing UIC would be the same as whites.

For Fish to make such a statement just shows the truth in the old line from Malcolm X. Malcolm said, “A liberal is a man who goes to a lynching and can see both sides of the issue.”

According to Kip Bordelon, DiD will continue to mobilize students and community support to demand that UIC keep its word – hire and retain minority faculty.

#ChicagoIL #News #UIC #AfricanAmerican #ChicanoLatino #UniversityOfIllinois #TenureForProfessorJohnsonNow #DrValerieJohnson #KipBordelon #DiversityInDemand #DiD #MinorityFacultyResearchFund #JasonLukasik #hireAndRetainMinority

Chicago, IL – On Dec. 10, University of Illinois President James Stukel announced that 1,200 more jobs will be cut in the coming year. 900 positions were cut last year, a wage freeze was imposed on workers and faculty, and students were hit with another tuition increase. But at their November meeting, the Board of Trustees refused to freeze salaries for those making $150,000 or more. Service Employees International Union Local 73 will be at the next Board of Trustees meeting in February to demand wage increases, job security, and to chop from the top!

#ChicagoIL #News #SEIULocal73 #UniversityOfIllinois