NYU Coalition for Fair Labor

NYU Local

Concerned Citizens and Scholars Protest Proposed Punitive Actions

Letter from Scholars to President Sexton

Letter to President Sexton: Regarding Electronic Surveillance

Plea to President Sexton

Protest Against Punitive Sanctions

Regarding University Leadership Team Policy

If you are a member of the NYU faculty and would like to join the Faculty Democracy listserv, please register.

To the New York University Community: In the past week the University Leadership Team (ULT) has announced two policies, one on grading, the other on punitive consequences for graduate student union (GSOC) members. In neither case was the faculty as a whole consulted. Both of these policies encroach upon a sphere of academic decision making that traditionally and logically belongs to faculty. The threatened consequences in particular deny departmental officers the right to make and maintain teaching appointments. This continues a pattern of unilateral ULT action of which the recent Blackboard incident is only the most highly publicized example. Such policies force graduate students to choose between being fired and defending their right to representation. Such policies threaten to destroy our graduate programs.

Signed

Molly Nolan

Anna McCarthy

Greg Grandin

Dana Polan

Hartry Field

Andrew Ross

Andrew Lee

Linda Gordon

Tim Mitchell

Ana Dopico

Adam Green

George Yudice

Alan Sokal

Marion Kaplan

Steven Lukes

John Singler

Ann Pellegrini

Sylvia Law

Robert Hinton

Edwin Amenta

Norm Fruchter

Steve Hutkins

Thomas Bender

Manu Goswami

Suzanne Cusick

Judith Stacey

Bernd Huppauf

Christine Harrington

Virginia Jackson

Jeff Sammons

Marita Sturken

Don Kulick

Randy Martin

Richard Allen

Rebecca Karl

Martha Hodes

Eliot Borenstein

Herrick Chapman

Paul Mattingly

Mary Louise Pratt

Walter Johnson

Sinclair Thomson

Elaine Freedgood

Jim Uleman

Allen Hunter

Lisa Duggan

Nick Mirzoeff

John Archer

Kristin Ross

Jeff Goodwin

Diana Taylor

Ed Guerrero

Crystal Parikh

Connie Sutton

Ada Ferrer

José Muñoz

John Waters

Ned Seeman

Marilyn Young

Emily Martin

Martin Harries

Stephen Duncombe

Harry Harootunian

Moss Roberts

Arlene Davila

Joanna Waley-Cohen

Philip Harper

Nina Cornyetz

Miriam Frank

Michael Shenefelt

Diana Turk

Mark Crispin Miller

Fred Myers

Barbara Heyns

Amy Bentley

Keith Vincent

Lorie Novak

Philip Hosay

Christopher Ratte

Sally Guttmacher

Zachary Lockman

Una Chauduri

Karen Shimakawa

Bretty Gary

Nancy Regalado

Thomas Abercrombie

Rebecca Rosenfeld

Neil Brenner

Patrick Deer

Khaled Fahmy

Eduardo Capulong

Carolyn Dinshaw

Beth Shinn

Marta Peixoto

Robert Sklar

Vivek Chibber

Claudie Bernard

Robby Cohen

Bertell Ollman

Rita Wright

Gerard Aching

JoEllen Fisherkeller

Mark Tuckerman

Karen Kupperman

Christopher Colling

Ellen Willis

Jane Malmo

Tavia Nyong’o

Adam Becker

Massimo Porrati

Charles Affron

Michele Lowrie

Timothy Reiss

John Maynard

Robert McChesney

Angela Zito

Matthew McKelway

Georgina Dopico Black

Chris Rzonca

Avital Ronell

Emily Apter

Richard Arum

Robert Cohen

Patricia Crain

Mark S. Smith

Antonia Lant

Arvind Rajagopal

Jean Graybeal

Cyrus Patell

Kathryn Smith

Elizabeth McHenry

Jeffrey Spear

Gabriela Basterra

Eduardo Subirats

Sylvia Molloy

John Mayher

Sibylle Fischer

Nancy Morawetz

Holly Maguigan

Alyshia Galvez

Dipti Desai

Daniel Walkowitz

Siva Vaidhyanathan

Jairo Moreno

Richard Pollack

Joy Gould Boyum

Susie Linfield

Maria de Lourdes Davila

Hasia Diner

Jonathan Kahana

Kim Phillips Fein

Bella Mirabella

Xudong Zhang

Sharon Friedman

Everett Frost

Kathleen Ross

Lynne Haney

Robert Vorlicky

Toby Miller

Joy Connolly

Gwendolyn Alker

Zvi Ben-Dor

George Shulman

Jan Cohen-Cruz

Caitlin Zaloom

Kathleen Gerson

Richard Sieburth

Lara Nielsen

Lok Siu

Karl Appuhn

John KuoWei Tchen

Michael Nash

Yukiko Hanawa

Eric Klinenberg

Assia DjebarYael Feldman

Iris Fodor

Eugène Nicoole

Edward Ziter

Angela Dillard

E. L. Doctorow

Michael Westerman

Michael Gomez

Paul Thompson

Abed el-Rahman Tayyara

Michael C. Gilsenan

Tycho Sleator

MaryAnn Dicker

Margot Ely

Ernest Gilman

Jeff Strabone

Thomas Heise

Angela A. Frattarola

Robert Malgady

Tania Friedel

Troy Duster

Esther Katz

Michael Dinwiddie

Radha Hegde

Karen Hornick

Stacy Pies

The following individuals are among the many concerned citizens and scholars who have written to John Sexton registering protest at the proposed punitive actions against striking GSOC members after December 5.

Geoff Eley
Sylvia L. Thrupp Collegiate Professor of Comparative History
University of Michigan

John Comaroff
Harold H. Swift Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and
the Social Sciences, University of Chicago

Atina Grossmann
Professor of History
Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences, Cooper Union

John Womack,
Department of History,
Harvard University

Hector L. Delgado
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of La Verne

Jocelyn Olcott
Department of History
Duke University

Renate Bridenthal,
Emerita Professor of History
Brooklyn College, CUNY

Richard White
Margaret Byrne Professor of American History
Stanford University

Arthur MacEwan
Professor and Chair
Department of Economics
University of Massachusetts Boston

Sanford M. Jacoby
Professor of Management & Public Policy
UCLA

Allen J. Scott
Distinguished Professor of Geography
UCLA

Lisa Wedeen
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
The University of Chicago

Matthew Frye Jacobson
Professor of American Studies and History
Yale University

John L. Hammond
Professor of Sociology
Hunter College, CUNY

Professor Lorraine Schmall
Northern Illinois University College of Law

James G. Pope
Professor of Law & Sidney Reitman Scholar
Rutgers University School of Law

Peter Ranis
Professor Emeritus
CUNY

Barry Shank
Professor of Comparative Ethnic and American Studies
Ohio State University

Geoffrey D. Miller
NYU Law `02

Benjamin Isitt
PhD candidate, Canadian history
University of New Brunswick

Rose Daitsman
Program Manager, Emerita
College of Engineering and Applied Science
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Christopher C. Lowe
Adjunct Professor of History
Portland State University

Steve Estes
Assistant Professor
History Department, Sonoma State University

Brian Rothgery
VP for Negotiations
Dept steward for Communication
Milwaukee Graduate Assistants Association, AFT Local 2169, AFL-CIO
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

Ann Eagan
Chair, West Queens Greens
Green Party local

Max Obuszewski
Baltimore, MD

Elizabeth Williamson
University of Pennsylvania

Sarah M. Roberts
Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2278
PhD candidate, Department of Geography
University of British Columbia

Andrew J. Hamilton, Ph.D., J.D.
Columbus, Ohio

Carl Arnold
Member, Park Slope Greens and
New York State Green Party

Daniel E. Bender
NYU, Ph.D. (History, 2001)
Canada Research Chair in Urban History
University of Toronto

Dr. John Marsh
Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities

Joseph A. McCartin
Georgetown University

Mathieu Brûlé
University of Ottawa

Devorah Tarrow Carduner
NYU alum

Carl Lindskoog
Department of History
Queens College CUNY

Norman Markowitz
Rutgers University

Hugo du Coudray, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Psychology
Portland State University

Deborah Cohen, Ph.D.
Daniel Lukas
Missouri State University

Henry Foner
Retired President, Fur, Leather and Machine
Workers Union
President, The Paul Robeson Foundation

Dr. David Palmer, Senior Lecturer
American Studies, Social Sciences
Flinders University
Adelaide, Australia

Ned Bertz
University of Iowa

Jonathan Sterne
Associate Professor
Department of Art History and Communication Studies

Maria Svart
Brooklyn, NY

Sylvia Rackow
Dr. Brian Greenberg
Professor
Monmouth University

Ty Geltmaker, Ph.D.
Los Angeles, CA

Kerry Taylor
(UE) United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers Union, Local 150A
Department of History
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Shirley R. Rausher. Ph.D.(’70)

Rebecca M. Trussell, MA, New School University, 2004

Susan Thorne
Associate Professor
Department of History
Duke University

Eric Fure-Slocum

Stephen Kantrowitz
Associate Professor, History
University of Wisconsin-Madison

David McMurray
Chair, Anthropology Dept.
Oregon State University

David H. Serlin, Ph.D. (NYU ’99)
Assistant Professor, Communication
University of California at San Diego

Stephen Leberstein
Professor of History (retired)
The City College of New York
Member Professional Staff Congress AFT # 2334

Anna Marie Smith
Associate Professor of Government
Cornell University

Marc Stein, Associate Professor
Department of History
York University

Alex Urquhart
Ph.D. Student in American Studies, University of Minnesota 
Managing Editor for the Queer Twin Cities Book Project

Ryan Murphy
Co-Chair
Twin Cities Northwest Workers Solidarity Committee
Ph.D. Student
Department of American Studies
University of Minnesota

Elizabeth Freeman
Associate Professor of English
University of California, Davis

Kathleen McHugh
Associate Professor
Department of English
University of California, Los Angeles

Judith Butler
Maxine Elliot Professor
University of California/Berkeley

Fredric Jameson
William A. Lane Professor of Comparative Literature
Duke University

Joan W. Scott
Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

Talal Asad
Distinguished Professor of Anthropology
CUNY Graduate Center

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities
Columbia

Paul Gilroy
Anthony Giddens Professor of Social Theory
London School of Economics

Donna Haraway
Professor of History of Consciousness
University of California/Santa Cruz

Immanuel Wallerstein
Professor of Sociology
Yale

Etienne Balibar
Professor of Political Philosophy
Université de Paris, Nanterre

Stuart Ewen
Distinguished Professor in History and Sociology
CUNY Graduate Center

Richard Flacks
Sociology
University of California/Santa Barbara

Jill Lane
Assistant Professor of American Studies and Theatre
Yale University

Elaine Tyler May
Professor of American Studies and History
University of Minnesota

Michael Steven Smith
lawyer

Peter Marcuse
Professor of Urban Planning
Columbia

Gillian Hart
Professor of Geography and Chair, Development Studies
University of California/Berkeley

Derek Gregory
Distinguished University Professor, Geography
University of British Columbia

Don Mitchell
Macarthur Fellow, Professor and Chair of Geography
Syracuse University

Sandi Cooper
Professor Emerita of History
CUNY

Craig Greenman
Assistant Professor of Humanities
Colby-Sawyer College

Stefanie Lopez-Boy
NOW LDEF

Sonya Michel
Professor of History
University of Maryland and Fellow
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Jesse Lemisch
Professor Emeritus of History
John Jay College

John F. Stephens
Executive Director
American Studies Association

David M. Halperin
W. H. Auden Collegiate Professor of English
University of Michigan

Marv Waterstone
Geography
University of Arizona

Pete Daniel
Curator, National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution

Ethan Lowenstein, NYU PhD 2003
Assistant Professor of Teacher Education
Eastern Michigan University

Barbara Ransby
Professor of History
University of Illinois/Chicago

Stephen Kantrowitz
Associate Professor of History
University of Wisconsin/Madison

James Green
Professor of History and Labor Studies
University of Massachusetts/Boston

Carole Joffe
Professor of Sociology
University of California/Davis

David McMurray
Chair of Anthropology
Oregon State University

Gabriel Piterberg
Alastair Horne Fellow of St. Antony’s College, Oxford
Associate Professor of History, UCLA

Elliot G. Mishler
Professor of Social Psychology
Harvard Medical School

Marcus Rediker
Professor of History
University of Pittsburgh

Nancy Folbre
Professor of Economics
University of Massachusetts

Tim Tyson
Professor of African American Studies
University of Wisconsin/Madison
Visiting Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture
Duke University

Paul Sutter
Associate Professor of History
University of Georgia

Renate Bridenthal
Professor Emerita of History
Brooklyn College

John Bruni
Assistant Professor of English
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Tovah P. Klein
Director, Barnard College Center for Toddler Development
Department of Psychology
Barnard College

Ian Hansen
University of British Columbia

Susan Englander
Assistant Editor, Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project

Gwen Moore
State Representative
Wisconsin

Sarah Deutsch
Chair, Department of History
Duke University

Jen Schneider
Nature and Human Values
Colorado School of Mines

Michele Mason
Institute for International Studies
Stanford

Philip T.Niesser
Chair, Department of Politics
SUNY-Potsdam

Michael Schwartz
Professor of Sociology
Director, College of Global Studies
SUNY-Stonybrook

Corey Robin
Associate Professor of Politics
Queens College

Eileen Boris
Hull Professor of Women’s Studies
University of California/Santa Barbara

Mark D. Naison
Professor of History
Fordham University

James Hatley
Philosophy
Salisbury University

Sarah Kaiksow
Law
Oxford University

Larry G. Gerber
1st Vice-President, AAUP
Professor of History
Auburn University

SooJin Pate
University of Minnesota

Sarah C. Chambers
Associate Professor of History
University of Minnesota

Virginia Ravenscroft-Scott
Harvard University

Aysha Fatima

Patricia Morton

Sacha Crittenden

Elizabeth Jameson
Imperial Oil & Lincoln McKay
Professor of History and American Studies
University of Calgary

Peter Cole
History
Western Illinois University

Helen Charters
Senior Tutor in Linguistics
Auckland University

Dexter Arnold

Jon Curtiss
Organizer, AFT, AFL-CIO

Nitin Govil NYU PhD 2005
Assistant Professor of Communications
University of California/San Diego,

Ranjani Mazumdar NYU PhD 2000

James L. Secor

Anna Marie Smith
Associate Professor of Government
Cornell University

Thomas W. Volscho, Jr.
Sociology
University of Connecticut

Marc Stein
Associate Professor of History
York University, Toronto

Laura Briggs
Associate Professor of Anthropology
University of Arizona

Cindi Katz
Environmental Psychology
CUNY Graduate Center

Jon Wiener
Professor of History
University of California/Irvine

Claudia Koonz
Professor of History
Duke University

Bruce Robbins
Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Columbia

Ashley Dawson
Center for the Humanities
CUNY Graduate Center

Ruben Flores
University of California/Berkeley

Hugh Lusk
Lecturer, Department of Planning
Auckland University

Jan R. Lambertz
Associate Editor, Eleanor Roosevelt Papers
George Washington University

Zoe Lake
University of California/Berkeley

Jessica Johnson
American Civilization
Brown University

Arthur MacEwan, Chair
Department of Economics
University of Massachusetts/Boston

Hester Eisenstein
Professor of Sociology
Queens College and CUNY Graduate Center

Hector L. Delgado
Sociology and Anthropology
University of La Verne, California

Bill Mullen
Professor of English
Purdue

Van Gosse
Professor of History
Franklin and Marshall College

Atina Grossmann
Professor of History
Cooper Union

Lisa Wedeen
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Chicago

Steve Leberstein
Professor of History Emeritus
CUNY City College

Chad Allen Goldberg
Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Wisconsin/Madison

Mark Kesselman
Professor of Political Science
Columbia University

Nan D. Hunter
Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School

Sandra Addickes
NYU PhD

Peter Ranes
Professor Emeritus
CUNY

Michael Bader
Sociology
University of Michigan

Joel LeFevre

Dr. Philip T. Neisser
Chair, Department of Politics
SUNY Potsdam

Stefanie Lopez-Boy
Member of UAW 2320

Chad Alan Goldberg
Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Wisconsin

Jane Buck
President
AAUP

Barbara Weinstein
Professor of History, University of Maryland
President-Elect (2006)
American Historical Association

Norma Field
Robert S. Ingersoll Professor, Japanese Studies
The University of Chicago

Ron Eglash
Associate Professor
Science and Technology Studies
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Jeff Ballinger

Julia Mickenberg
Assistant Professor of American Studies
University of Texas at Austin

Ryan Murphy
Co-Chair
Twin Cities Northwest Workers Solidarity Committee
Ph.D. Student
Department of American Studies
University of Minnesota

Andrew Urban
Graduate Student in History
University of Minnesota

Slavoj Zizek
Co-Director
International Center for Humanities
Birkbeck College, University of London

Tia Kolbaba
Assistant Professor, Department of Religion
Director, Modern Greek Studies Program
Rutgers University

Allen M. Howard
Professor of History
Rutgers University

Alex Urquhart
Ph.D. Student in American Studies
University of Minnesota

Elizabeth Freeman
Associate Professor of English
University of California, Davis

Kathleen McHugh
Associate Professor
Department of English
University of California, Los Angeles

Andreas Huyssen
The Villard Professor of German and Comparative Literature
Columbia University

Cindi Katz
Environmental Psychology Program
CUNY Graduate Center

Carol Duncan
Professor Emerita
Ramapo College of NJ

Alan Wald
Professor of American Culture
University of Michigan

Tyler Curtain
Department of English and American Literature
University of North Carolina

Fred Moten
Associate Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity
University of Southern California

Adrian Rifkin FRSA
Professor of Visual Culture
School of Arts
Middlesex University UK

Jeremy Stolow
Department of Sociology &
Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia
McMaster University

Felice Lifshitz
Professor of History
Florida International University

Melani McAlister
Associate Professor of American Studies and International Affairs
George Washington University

Amy Dru Stanley
Associate Professor of History
University of Chicago

Robert K. Massie
Pulitzer Prize winning author

Kathryn Burns
Associate Professor of History
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Tani Barlow
Professor of History & Women’s Studies
University of Washington

Ken Kawashima NYU PhD
Asst. Professor of History & East Asian Studies
University of Toronto

Bryna Goodman
Associate Professor of History
University of Oregon

Miranda Massie
NYU LAW alumna
Civil Rights Lawyer

Laikwan Pang
Assoc. Professor of Cultural & Religious Studies
Chinese University of Hong Kong

David Chioni Moore, PhD
Associate Professor and Incoming Chair
International Studies Department
Associate Professor of English
Macalester College

Dear Colleagues;

Regardless of our individual opinion about unionization for graduate assistants, we (the undersigned NYU faculty members), believe that in order to protect academic freedom and to maintain an open and collegial atmosphere at the university, graduate students should be free to express and follow their beliefs about unionization without any fear of reprisals. At a time when this institution is under heightened public scrutiny, it is all the more important to preserve this enviable tradition of freedom at NYU.

Participating in union activities — including striking — is a good faith decision that each individual makes according to his or her conscience. We therefore call on colleagues, on the faculty and in the administration, to guarantee that there will be no effort to intimidate students who choose to participate in a strike or other union activity.

Specifically, we ask our colleagues to ensure that such students are not penalized with regard to grades, credits, academic funding, letters of recommendation, future teaching opportunities, eligibility for academic awards, among other things. More subtle forms of intimidation–such as offering pastoral advice to students about the impact of union involvement on their professional careers–should also be eschewed. In our opinion, neutrality on these issues is a stance we morally owe to our students.

Signatories

Thomas Abercrombie, Anthropology, FAS
Gerard Aching, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Rodolfo Aiello, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Gwendolyn Alker, Drama, TSOA
Richard Allen, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Julian Everett Allgood, Bobst Library
Edwin Amenta, Sociology, FAS
Emily Apter, French, FAS
John Archer, English, FAS
Adam Becker, Classics and Religious Studies, FAS
Thomas Bender, History, FAS
Lauren Benton, History, FAS
Edward Berenson, History and French Studies, FAS
Renee Blake, Linguistics, FAS
Eliot Borenstein, Russian and Slavic, FAS
Neil Brenner, Sociology and Metropolitan Studies, FAS
David Brimmer, Drama, TSOA
Barbara Browning, Performance Studies, TSOA
Joy Gould Boyum, Humanities Education, Steinhardt
Jane Burbank, History, FAS
Eduardo Capulong, Lawyering Program, Law School
Herrick Chapman, History and French Studies, FAS
Una Chaudhuri, Drama, TSOA, and English, FAS
Vivek Chibber, Sociology, FAS
Robby Cohen, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Jan Cohen-Cruz, Drama, TSOA
Christopher Collins, English, FAS
Joy Connolly, Classics, FAS
Frederick Cooper, History, FAS
Catherine Coray, Drama, TSOA
Pam Crabtree, Anthropology, FAS
Patricia Crain, English, FAS
Suzanne Cusick, Music, FAS
Laura Daigen-Ayala, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Arlene Davila, American Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Patrick Deer, English, FAS
Mark Dery, Journalism, FAS
Dipti Desai, Art and Art Professions, Steinhardt
Angela Dillard, Gallatin
Carolyn Dinshaw, Gender and Sexuality and English, FAS
EL Doctorow, English, FAS
Georgina Dopico Black, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Ana Dopico, Comparative Literature and Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Thomas Drysdale, Drama, TSOA
Lisa Duggan, American Studies and Gender and Sexuality, FAS
Stephen Duncombe, Gallatin
Troy Duster, Sociology, FAS
Ada Ferrer, History, FAS
Hartry Field, Philosophy, FAS
Alla Fil, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
JoEllen Fisherkeller, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Miriam Frank,General Studies, SCPS
Elaine Freedgood, English, FAS
Sharon Friedman, Gallatin
Everett Frost, Film and Television, TSOA
Norm Fruchter, Education Policy, Steinhardt
David Garland, Law School and Sociology, FAS
Brett Gary, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Kathleen Gerson, Sociology, FAS
Michael Gilsenan, Middle Eastern Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Faye Ginsburg, Anthropology and Culture and Media, FAS
Jeff Goodwin, Sociology, FAS
Linda Gordon, History, FAS
Manu Goswami, History, FAS
Greg Grandin, History, FAS
Adam Green, American Studies, and History, FAS
Ed Guerrero, Cinema Studies, TSOA and Africana Studies, FAS
Douglas Guthrie, Sociology, FAS
Sally Guttmacher, Health Studies, Steinhardt
Lynne Haney, Sociology, FAS
Phillip Brian Harper, American Studies and English, FAS
Harry Harootunian, East Asian Studies and History, FAS
Martin Harries, English, FAS
Christine Harrington, Politics, FAS
Vicki Hart, Drama, TSOA
Barbara Heyns, Sociology, FAS
Robert Hinton, Africana Studies, FAS
Martha Hodes, History, FAS
Ruth Horowitz, Sociology, FAS
Philip Hosay, International Education, Steinhardt
Diana Hughes, Psychology, FAS
Kathy Hull, General Studies, SCPS
Bernd Huppauf, German, FAS
Virginia Jackson, English, FAS
Walter Johnson, American Studies and History, FAS
Marion Kaplan, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, FAS
Rebecca Karl, History and East Asian Studies, FAS
Eric Klinenberg, Sociology, FAS
Terry Knickerbocker, Drama, TSOA
Barbara Krauthamer, History, FAS
Karen Kupperman, History, FAS
Andrew Lee, Bobst Library
Susie Linfield, Journalism, FAS
Zachary Lockman, Middle Eastern Studies and History, FAS
Laurence Lockridge, English, FAS
Michele Lowrie, Classics, FAS
Robert Lubar, Institute of Fine Arts, GSAS
Steven Lukes, Sociology, FAS
Richard Maisel, Sociology, FAS
Robert Malgady, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Jane Malmo, Drama, TSOA
Emily Martin, Anthropology, FAS
Randy Martin, Art and Public Policy, TSOA
Paul Mattingly, History, FAS
John Mayher, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
John Maynard, English, FAS
Anna McCarthy, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Robert McChesney, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, FAS
Micki McGee, Draper Program, FAS
Elizabeth McHenry, English, FAS
Mark Crispin Miller, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Toby Miller, American Studies and CLACS, FAS
Bella Mirabella, Gallatin
Timothy Mitchell, Politics and Middle Eastern Studies, FAS
Sylvia Molloy, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Harvey Molotch, Metropolitan Studies and Sociology, FAS
Jim Morgan, Fine Arts, FAS
Jose Munoz, Performance Studies, FAS
Fred Myers, Anthropology, FAS
Judith N?ethy, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
EugPne Nicole, French, FAS
Lara Nielsen, Drama, TSOA
Molly Nolan, History, FAS
Pedro Noquera, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Lorie Novak, Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Tavia Nyong=o, Performance Studies, TSOA
Bertell Ollman, Politics, FAS
Christopher Otter, History, FAS
Crystal Parikh, American Studies and English, FAS
Carol Parness, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Cyrus Patell, English, FAS
Michael Peachin, Classics, FAS
Marta Chaves Peixoto, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Ann Pellegrini, Religious Studies, FAS, and Performance Studies, TSOA.
Kimberly Phillips-Fein, Gallatin
Dana Polan, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Mary Louise Pratt, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Arvind Rajagopal, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Rayna Rapp, Anthropology, FAS
Christopher Ratte, Classics, FAS
Nancy Regalado, French, FAS
Timothy Reiss, Comparative Literature, FAS
Fred Ritchin, Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Moss Roberts, East Asian Studies, FAS
Susan Rogers, Anthropology, FAS
Avital Ronell, German, FAS
Renato Rosaldo, Latino Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Andrew Ross, American Studies, FAS
Kristin Ross, Comparative Literature, FAS
Kathleen Ross, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Jeffrey Sammons, History, FAS
Sukhdev Sandhu, A/P/A and English, FAS
Bambi Schieffelin, Anthropology, FAS
Martin Schain, Politics and European Studies; FAS
Ned Seeman, Chemistry, FAS
Richard Sennett, Sociology, FAS
Svati Shah, Gender and Sexuality, FAS
Karen Shimakawa, Performance Studies, TSOA and A/P/A, FAS
Beth Shinn, Psychology, FAS
Ella Shohat, Art and Public Policy, TSOA, and Middle Eastern Studies, FAS
Patrick Shrout, Psychology, FAS
George Shulman, Gallatin
Richard Sieburth, Comparative Literature and French, FAS
John Singler, Linguistics, FAS
Lok Siu, A/P/A and Anthropology, FAS
Robert Sklar, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Trika Smith-Burke, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Alan Sokal, Physics, FAS
Jeffrey Spear, English, FAS
Judith Stacey, Gender and Sexuality and Sociology, FAS
Robert Stam, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Mitchell Stephens, Journalism, FAS
Guenther Stotzky, Biology, FAS
Lisa M. Stulberg, Humanities and Social Sciences, Steinhardt
Eduardo Subirats, Spanish and Portuguese, FAS
Constance Sutton, Anthropology, FAS
Diana Taylor, Performance Studies, TSOA
Jack Tchen, A/P/A and Gallatin
Paul Thompson, Film and Television, TSOA
Sinclair Thomson, History, FAS
Elayne Tobin, General Studies, SCPS
Diana Turk, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Jim Uleman, Psychology, FAS
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Keith Vincent, Comparative Literature and East Asian Studies, FAS
Robert Vorlicky, Drama, TSOA
Joanna Waley-Cohen, History, FAS
Daniel Walkowitz, History and Metropolitan Studies, FAS
Marc Walters, Chemistry, FAS
John Waters, English, FAS
Ellen Willis, Journalism, FAS
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Psychology and Public Policy, FAS
Marilyn Young, History, FAS
George Yudice, American Studies and CLACS, FAS
Caitlin Zaloom, Metropolitan Studies and American Studies, FAS
Xudong Zhang, Comparative Literature and East Asian Studies, FAS
Edward Ziter, Drama, TSOA
Angela Zito, Religious Studies and Anthropology, FAS

We, members of Faculty Democracy, abhor the recent policy decisions taken by the President and the Provost regarding the penalties for striking Graduate Assistants that are scheduled to go into effect this Monday. Insofar as these decisions also affect academic matters such as evaluation of student work and assignment of teaching responsibilities within departments, they improperly encroach on the domain of faculty governance. If the administration proceeds with these unduly harsh and undemocratic policies, there will be consequences that may include, but are not limited to, the following: withholding grades, implementing a moratorium on the graduate admissions process, and informing prospective candidates for faculty positions, as well as those to whom offers are outstanding, of the administration’s persistent violations of faculty rights at NYU. We call on other faculty members and administrators to join us in pursuing these and other actions. In addition, there is an action you can take that would help prevent the administration from following through on its threats towards graduate assistants. A section canceled by a faculty member cannot legitimately be held to have failed to meet owing to the absence of a TA or preceptor. We therefore encourage faculty who hold classes with sections taught by TAs to unilaterally cancel all section meetings for lecture courses this week and indeed for the remainder of the semester. Those who choose to do so should be sure to notify all students in class so they do not waste their time by showing up, and their respective Dean’s office so administrators do not engage in needless surveillance work. We call on other faculty members and administrators to join us in pursuing these and other actions.

John Sexton, President
David McLaughlin, Provost
New York University
Bobst Library, 12th Floor
New York, New York, 10003

Dear President Sexton and Provost McLaughlin:

We, undersigned faculty at NYU, write to protest the implementation of sanctions outlined in your November 27th 2005 letter concerning the strike of GSOC/UAW Local 2110. These punitive sanctions, which, for the first group of students notified this week, amount to loss of a full year’s stipend, are draconian in nature, excessive relative to student labor penalties at other campuses, and antithetical to values that are foundational to academic, as well as civil, society. Moreover, this latest policy decision extends a disquieting pattern of unilateral governance at this campus. It has been conceived, announced, and implemented with no regard for standing disciplinary procedures at the Department or School level, which are the customary prerogative of faculty. While they are clearly intended to force a return to what is presented as proper order and business as usual at NYU, we believe that such penalties can only lead to greater animosity among the diverse members of this community, and a stain on this institution’s reputation that will take years to remove.

We call upon you to restore right and reason to this situation by rescinding these penalties, and ceasing to pursue their implementation in all future cases. Additionally, we urge that negotiations between representatives of the University administration and those of GSOC/UAW2110 be resumed. Ignoring this advice, and maintaining this ill-advised policy, only leads us all still farther down the road of disunity and mistrust.

Signatories

Thomas Abercrombie, Anthropology, FAS
Gerard Aching, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Charles Affron, French, FAS
Rodolfo Aiello, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Gwendolyn Alker, Drama, TSOA
Richard Allen, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Julian Everett Allgood, Bobst Library
Sinan Antoon, Gallatin
Walter Alvarez, Social Work, Wagner
Edwin Amenta, Sociology, FAS
Awam Amkpa, Drama, TSOA
Karl Appuhn, History, FAS
Emily Apter, French, FAS
John Archer, English, FAS
Gabriela Basterra, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Adam Becker, Classics and Religious Studies, FAS
Brigitte Bedos-Rezak, History, FAS
Zvi Ben-Dor, History and Middle Eastern Studies, FAS
Thomas Bender, History, FAS
Amy Bentley, Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Steinhardt
Claudie Bernard, French, FAS
Howard Besser, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Jacqueline Birnbaum, Music Therapy, Steinhardt
Renee Blake, Linguistics, FAS
Eliot Borenstein, Russian and Slavic, FAS
Joy Gould Boyum, Humanities Education, Steinhardt
Neil Brenner, Sociology and Metropolitan Studies, FAS
Roger Brown, Culture and Communication, SSOE
Barbara Browning, Performance Studies, TSOA
Jerome Bruner, School of Law
Eduardo Capulong, Lawyering Program, Law School
James Cassese, LCSW, Graduate School of Social Work
Herrick Chapman, History and French Studies, FAS
Una Chaudhuri, Drama, TSOA, and English, FAS
Peter Chelkowski, MEIS, FAS
Vivek Chibber, Sociology, FAS
Brian Cogan, Culture and Communication, SSOE
Jean-Louis Cohen, Institute of Fine Art
Lena Cohen, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Robby Cohen, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Robert Cohen, German, FAS
Jan Cohen-Cruz, Drama, TSOA
Christopher Collins, English, FAS
Joy Connolly, Classics, FAS
Catherine Coray, Drama, TSOA
Nina Cornyetz, Gallatin
Pam Crabtree, Anthropology, FAS
Patricia Crain, English, FAS
Suzanne Cusick, Music, FAS
Arlene Davila, American Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Lourdes Davila, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Patrick Deer, English, FAS
Mark Dery, Journalism, FAS
Dipti Desai, Art and Art Professions, Steinhardt
Maryann Dickar, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Angela Dillard, Gallatin
Hasia Diner, History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies
Carolyn Dinshaw, Gender and Sexuality and English, FAS
EL Doctorow, English, FAS
Georgina Dopico Black, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Ana Dopico, Comparative Literature and Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Thomas Drysdale, Film/TV and Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Lisa Duggan, American Studies and Gender and Sexuality, FAS
Stephen Duncombe, Gallatin
Troy Duster, Sociology, FAS
Nicole Eustace, History, FAS
Khaled Fahmy, MEIS, FAS
Catherine Fallon, Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Ada Ferrer, History, FAS
Hartry Field, Philosophy, FAS
Alla Fil, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Sybille Fischer, Spanish & Portuguese, FAS
JoEllen Fisherkeller, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Iris Fodor, Applied Psychology, Steinhardt
Miriam Frank,General Studies, SCPS
Elaine Freedgood, English, FAS
Sharon Friedman, Gallatin
Everett Frost, Film and Television, TSOA
Norm Fruchter, Education Policy, Steinhardt
Alexander Galloway, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
David Garland, Sociology, FAS, and Law School
Brett Gary, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Kathleen Gerson, Sociology, FAS
Ernest Gilman, English, FAS
Michael Gilsenan, Middle Eastern Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Faye Ginsburg, Anthropology and Culture and Media, FAS
Jeff Goodwin, Sociology, FAS
Linda Gordon, History, FAS
Manu Goswami, History, FAS
Greg Grandin, History, FAS
Bruce Grant, Anthropology, FAS
Jean Graybeal, Gallatin
Adam Green, American Studies, and History, FAS
Ed Guerrero, Cinema Studies, TSOA and Africana Studies, FAS
Douglas Guthrie, Sociology, FAS
Sally Guttmacher, Health Studies, Steinhardt
Yukiko Hanawa, East Asian Studies, FAS
Lynne Haney, Sociology, FAS
Phillip Brian Harper, American Studies and English, FAS
Harry Harootunian, East Asian Studies and History, FAS
Martin Harries, English, FAS
Christine Harrington, Politics, FAS
Vicki Hart, Drama, TSOA
Laura L. Hayman, Steinhardt
Wolf Heydebrand, Sociology, FAS
Barbara Heyns, Sociology, FAS
Robert Hinton, Africana Studies, FAS
Martha Hodes, History, FAS
Kathleen Holley, Liberal Arts
Philip Hosay, International Education, Steinhardt
Diana Hughes, Psychology, FAS
Kathy Hull, General Studies, SCPS
Richard Hull, History, FAS
Bernd Huppauf, German, FAS
Katherine Hurbis-Cherrier, Film and TV, TSOA
Steve Hutkins, Gallatin
Kota Inoue, East Asian Studies, FAS
Edwin Irizarry, Bobst Library
Virginia Jackson, English, FAS
Kim Jessor, Graduate Acting, TSOA
Walter Johnson, American Studies and History, FAS
Jonathan Kahana, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Marion Kaplan, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, FAS
Rebecca Karl, History and East Asian Studies, FAS
Esther Katz, History, FAS
Paul Kelleher, Draper Program, FAS
Julia Keydel, Film and Television, TSOA
Eric Klinenberg, Sociology, FAS
Zoya Kocur, Art and Art Professions, Steinhardt
Terry Knickerbocker, Drama, TSOA
Karen Kupperman, History, FAS
Antonia Lant, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Darlene Larson, American Language Institute, SCPS
Andrew Lee, Bobst Library
Susie Linfield, Journalism, FAS
Zachary Lockman, Middle Eastern Studies and History, FAS
Laurence Lockridge, English, FAS
Michele Lowrie, Classics, FAS
Robert Lubar, Institute of Fine Arts, GSAS
Steven Lukes, Sociology, FAS
Pedro Machado, Draper, FAS
Elizabeth Machlan, Expository Writing, FAS
Cecil MacKinnon, UG Drama
Holly Maguigan, School of Law
Richard Maisel, Sociology, FAS
Robert Malgady, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Jane Malmo, Drama, TSOA
Emily Martin, Anthropology, FAS
Randy Martin, Art and Public Policy, TSOA
Paul Mattingly, History, FAS
John Mayher, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
John Maynard, English, FAS
Anna McCarthy, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Robert McChesney, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, FAS
Micki McGee, Draper Program, FAS
Elizabeth McHenry, English, FAS
Sally Merry, Anthropology, FAS
Mark Crispin Miller, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Eleanor Miller, French and History,. FAS
Bella Mirabella, Gallatin
Nicholas Mirzoeff, Art and Art Professions, Steinhardt
Chris Mitchell, Politics, FAS
Timothy Mitchell, Politics and Middle Eastern Studies, FAS
Sylvia Molloy, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Harvey Molotch, Metropolitan Studies and Sociology, FAS
Haruko Momma, English, FAS
Jairo Moreno, Music, FAS
Jim Morgan, Fine Arts, FAS
Brian Morton, Creative Writing, FAS
Jose Munoz, Performance Studies, FAS
Michael Nash, Bobst Library,
Eugène Nicole, French, FAS
Lara Nielsen, Drama, TSOA
Molly Nolan, History, FAS
Pedro Noquera, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Lorie Novak, Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Tavia Nyong’o, Performance Studies, TSOA
Bertell Ollman, Politics, FAS
Eugene Ostashevsky, GSP, SCPS
Christopher Otter, History, FAS
Paul Owen, UGF/TV and Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Crystal Parikh, American Studies and English, FAS
Carol Parness, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Cyrus Patell, English, FAS
Michael Peachin, Classics, FAS
Marta Chaves Peixoto, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Ann Pellegrini, Religious Studies, FAS, and Performance Studies, TSOA
Karl Peterson, Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Kimberly Phillips-Fein, Gallatin
Rene Francisco Poitevin, Gallatin,
Dana Polan, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Ricky Pollack, Courant Institute
Janet Poole, East Asian Studies, FAS
Mary Louise Pratt, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Anne Rademacher, Metropolitan Studies, FAS
Laurin Raikin,Gallatin
Arvind Rajagopal, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Rayna Rapp, Anthropology, FAS
Christopher Ratte, Classics, FAS, and Institute of Fine Arts
Nancy Regalado, French, FAS
Martin Reichart, General Studies, SCPS
Timothy Reiss, Comparative Literature, FAS
Fred Ritchin, Photography and Imaging, TSOA
Moss Roberts, East Asian Studies, FAS
Edward J. Robinson, Physics, FAS
Avital Ronell, German, FAS
Renato Rosaldo, Latino Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Robert Rosenblum, Institute of Fine Arts
Andrew Ross, American Studies, FAS
Kristin Ross, Comparative Literature, FAS
Kathleen Ross, Spanish and Portugese, FAS
Jeffrey Sammons, History, FAS
Sukhdev Sandhu, A/P/A and English, FAS
Robert Scally, History, FAS
Martin Schain, Politics and European Studies; FAS
Ned Seeman, Chemistry, FAS
Richard Sennett, Sociology, FAS
William Serrin, Journalism, FAS
Svati Shah, Gender and Sexuality, FAS
Lytle Shaw, English, FAS
Michael Shenefelt, General Studies, Steinhardt
Karen Shimakawa, Performance Studies, TSOA and A/P/A, FAS
Beth Shinn, Psychology, FAS
Ella Shohat, Art and Public Policy, TSOA, and Middle Eastern Studies, FAS
Patrick Shrout, Psychology, FAS
George Shulman, Gallatin
David Sider, Classics, FAS
Richard Sieburth, Comparative Literature and French, FAS
William Simon, Cinema Studies, TSOA
John Singler, Linguistics, FAS
Lok Siu, A/P/A and Anthropology, FAS
Robert Sklar, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Mark Smith, Hebrew and Judaic Studies
Trika Smith-Burke, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Marilyn Sobelman, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Alan Sokal, Physics, FAS
Helga Tawil Souri, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Jeffrey Spear, English, FAS
Judith Stacey, Gender and Sexuality and Sociology, FAS
Robert Stam, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Mitchell Stephens, Journalism, FAS
George C. Stoney, Film, TSOA
Guenther Stotzky, Biology, FAS
S. L. Straussner, School of Social Work
Lisa M. Stulberg, Humanities and Social Sciences, Steinhardt
Marita Sturken, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Eduardo Subirats, Spanish and Portuguese, FAS
Constance Sutton, Anthropology, FAS
Diana Taylor, Performance Studies, TSOA
Jack Tchen, A/P/A and Gallatin
Paul Thompson, Film and Television, TSOA
Sinclair Thomson, History, FAS
Elayne Tobin, General Studies, SCPS
Tim Tomlinson, General Studies, SCPS
Gilbert Trachtman, Emeritus, Applied Psychology, Steinhardt
Diana Turk, Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt
Jim Uleman, Psychology, FAS
Siva Vaidhyanathan, Culture and Communication, Steinhardt
Shouleh Vatanabadi, General Studies, Steinhardt
Keith Vincent, Comparative Literature and East Asian Studies, FAS
Linda Voorsanger, Opportunities Program, Stenihardt
Robert Vorlicky, Drama, TSOA
Joanna Waley-Cohen, History, FAS
Daniel Walkowitz, History and Metropolitan Studies, FAS
Marc Walters, Chemistry, FAS
Bryan Waterman, English, FAS
John Waters, English, FAS
Michael Westerman, Psychology, FAS
Heidi E. White, General Studies, SCPS
Ellen Willis, Journalism, FAS
Lawrence L. Wu, Sociology, FAS
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Psychology and Public Policy, FAS
Marilyn Young, History, FAS
George Yudice, American Studies and CLACS, FAS
Caitlin Zaloom, Metropolitan Studies and American Studies, FAS
Xudong Zhang, Comparative Literature and East Asian Studies, FAS
Zhen Zhang, Cinema Studies, TSOA
Edward Ziter, Drama, TSOA
Angela Zito, Religious Studies and Anthropology, FAS
Daniel Zwanziger, Physics, FAS