The convention was a great success! Go here to see the action items adopted in the plenary session. More information will be posted here soon.
Autumn, 2005
Fellow Campus Organizers,
We
write to you as members of an emerging network of campus organizers who
believe that it is time to better coordinate our energy and organizing
efforts to fight for an accessible, diverse and fair public higher
education system. 
We note that our campuses are home to a wide array of progressive
organizations, yet these groups and unions tend to focus on specific
issues (such as sweatshops, the environment, Palestine, civil
liberties, antiracism, the war, labor) and are often composed of single
campus constituencies (i.e. exclusively undergrads, graduate students,
faculty, blue collar staff, etc.). Even amidst a real rise in campus
mobilizations across the nation, higher education is rapidly undergoing
changes that run counter to the interests of the majority of Americans.
These trends include the skyrocketing cost of tuition and fees, a new
wave of campus union busting, massive cuts in public spending on
education , the corporatization of campus research and services, the
elimination of affirmative action and ethnic studies programs, and the
corporatization of campus governance, to name but a few. Unfortunately,
at present, we lack a national grassroots organization that makes the
realization of accessible, public, diverse, and democratic higher
education its primary focus.
At a recent retreat in Ottawa, Ontario, campus organizers from six
public universities and colleges in the U.S. discussed the idea of
building some form of national higher education alliance or coalition
uniting students, faculty, and staff. This union would not compete with
existing groups, but would compliment them with its capacity to use
coordinated direct action tactics. In order to begin shaping this sort
of a national higher education union in cooperation with a wider
community of campus organizers, we are writing to invite you to an
organizing convention at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the
weekend of Oct. 20-23, 2005.
At
this convention, we will also begin coordinating a nationwide direct
action for the spring of 2006, which will allow us to coordinate our
messages and energies immediately. Two proposals we expect to see
raised at the convention are the coordination of a series of
educational teach-ins combined with "Tent State University" direct
actions, and the initiation of a process for a coordinated national
higher education industrial strike. Other associated direct actions
will likely be proposed. We encourage you to develop proposals as well;
much of the convention will be devoted to discussing, deciding on, and
planning these coordinated actions.
If you are
interested in attending the convention and/or in working on these
projects, please read the information on this website and fill out the convention registration form.
Once again, we stress that these projects will only succeed with
widespread participation. We hope that you will explore this website,
register for the October convention, and contact us to join in fighting
for a future of democratic, diverse and accessible system of American
higher education. Questions can be directed to education@libertytreefdr.org
Mohammed Abed
Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Al-Awda, Alternative Palestinian Agenda
Tony Barnes
Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Teaching Assistants Association AFT 3220
Dr. Patrick Barrett
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Director, Havens Center for the Study of Social Change and Social Research
Pabitra Benjamin
Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution & Action Wisconsin
Ginny Bormann
Classified Staff, University of Wisconsin-Madison
AFSCME 2412
John Bruning
Undergraduate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Student Labor Action Coalition & Associated Student of Madison
Julie Coon
Undergraduate, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Tent State University & UMKC Women's Center
Anthony Chattley
Graduate Student, Bloustein School for Public Policy, NJ
Tent State University & Air Force Veteran
Dan Clawson
Faculty, Dept. of Sociology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
President, UMass-Amherst Faculty Union
Andrew Culp
Undergraduate, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Tent State University & Assoc. Students for the U of M
Tom DeGloma
Graduate Student, Dept. of Sociology, Rutgers University
Tent State University
Holly Denning
Academic Staff, Sociology Instructor, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Mary Duran
Undergraduate, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Associated Students of Massachusetts
Meleia Cullman Egger
Masters in Geography, Michigan State University
Students for Peace and Justice
Tyler Endsley
Undergraduate, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Tent State University & Campus Greens
Darren Griffis
Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Vice President, Graduate Employee Org, UAW 2322
Leah Grupp-Williams
Undergradate, Macalester College
Student Labor Action Coalition
Charlie Hoyt
Undergraduate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Student Labor Action Coalition
Adam Jung
Undergraduate, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Tent State University & Campus Greens
Ryan Kaplan
Undergraduate, University of California-Santa Cruz
Tent University
Ashley Karlin
Graduate Student, Carnegie Mellon University
Christine Kelly
Associate Professor, William Paterson University
Dept. Political Science & Director, American Democracy Project
Ashok Kumar
Undergraduate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Associated Students of Madison & Student Labor Action Cltn
Mishy Leiblum
Undergraduate, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Take Back UMass & Free Higher Education Campaign
Stephanie Luce
Associate Professor, Labor Center, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Brian Lutenegger
Masters in Urban & Regional Planning Student, University of Michigan
Ben Manski
Law, Class of 2005, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution
Jed Murr
Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Graduate Employee Organization, UAW Local 2322
Jeff Napolitano
Undergraduate, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Take Back UMass & Student Government Association
Tony Palmeri
Professor, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
TAUWP/AFT-Wisconsin
Will Parrish
Graduate, University of California-Santa Cruz
Research and Advocacy Associate, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Pavel Payano
Undergraduate, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
President, Student Government Association
Dr. John Peck
Executive Director, Family Farm Defenders
James Ploeser
Undergraduate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison Fair Trade Action Alliance (MadFTAA)
Lena Posner
Undergraduate, Rutgers University
Tent State University
Todd Price
Professor, National Louis University
Austin Emmiett Purnell
Wesleyan University
NAACP & Progressive Student Alliance
Fletch Schubert
Undergraduate, University of Missouri Kansas City
Mike Sellers
Undergraduate, SUNY Albany
Mayoral Candidate, Cobleskill, NY
Lily Shank
Undergraduate, University of Minnesota
Global Studies Dept. & General College Truth Movement
Claire Stoscheck
Undergraduate, Macalester College (St. Paul, MN)
Defend Need Blind Admissions at Macalester & Mac
Students for Fair Trade
Uri Strauss
Graduate Student, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
President, Graduate Student Senate
Jen Walling
Law Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Student Senator & Campus Greens
Dave Wilcox
Undergraduate, College of DuPage, Illinois
Campus Greens
Nicole Wong
Undergraduate, University of California-Santa Cruz
Tent University