Friday, Feb. 26, the College of William and Mary Workers Union held a rally in the Sir Christopher Wren Building courtyard to protest the non-renewal of contracts of several non-tenure eligible faculty workers at the end of the spring 2021 semester. The NTE faculty were notified of this decision Wednesday Dec. 9 and Friday Dec. 11. News quickly spread to students via an open letter from Professor Scott Challener, one of the affected faculty members.
Around 150 students, faculty and staff came to the physically-distanced rally to show their support for the Workers Union. Attendees followed COVID-19 protocols, with members of the College Socialists, who work with the Workers Union, passing out masks with sayings such as “Protect W&M Jobs.” The Workers Union also asked supporters to bring pots and pans to make noise with, as a safer alternative to shouting.
The rally was led by Jasper Conner PhD ’24 who is a member of the W&M Workers Union.
The rally was led by Jasper Conner, a PhD candidate at the College, who is a member of the W&M Workers Union. Conner thanked the participants for their role in this cause.
“Thank you for coming out to the William and Mary Workers Union rally to protect William & Mary jobs,” Conner said. “It’s kind of a dark time, it’s a tough time to be a worker on a campus.”
Rebecca Klinger | The Flat Hat
Professor Fabian Arzuaga, an affected NTE faculty member, also spoke at the rally. He explained how approximately half of the faculty members at the College are tenured, putting the remaining half in a situation where their jobs are not secured.
“Many of these NTE faculty members have job titles such as visiting assistant professor” Arzuaga said. “This comes from days when someone was visiting from somewhere and you had a home institution to return to. The only home institution that visiting professors have today is the unemployment office.”
Arzuaga also likened modern colleges and universities to businesses trying to make a profit.
“It is now normal, I submit to you, that colleges and universities, whether public or private, are increasingly indistinguishable from business enterprises with respect to their external aims as well as their internal organization and norms of government,” Arzuaga said. “Institutions of higher education strive for the maximization of revenue.”
Arzuaga also argued that the comparison of a college to a business is supported by rising tuition costs, which are increasing at a rate four times higher than inflation.
“Alternatives exist at the campus, state and federal levels,” Arzuaga said. “Student debt can be cancelled. State colleges can be entirely state funded as they used to be. Colleges and universities can expand tenure or prioritize their spending to support the mission for instruction and learning over efforts to transform into resorts for the rich and heavily in debt.”
Another NTE faculty member at risk of losing his job, English professor Scott Challener also spoke at the rally. Challener referred to the 2019-20 academic year, when the College did not renew the contracts of 10 NTE faculty, while continuing to offer the same amount of classes within the affected departments.
“NTE faculty are teaching faculty,” Challener said. “We make up nearly half of this campus’s faculty and more than two-thirds of this country’s faculty. We do more teaching, and more care work, and more advising, and letter writing, and reaching out, and checking in, and more resource sharing and more actual listening than any other part of our faculty.”
“NTE faculty are teaching faculty,” Challener said. “We make up nearly half of this campus’s faculty and more than two-thirds of this country’s faculty. We do more teaching, and more care work, and more advising, and letter writing, and reaching out, and checking in, and more resource sharing and more actual listening than any other part of our faculty.”
Later in his speech, Challener also brought up how the failure to renew the contracts of NTE faculty contributes to continued institutional racism at the College.
“Black faculty are underrepresented at this institution,” Challener said. “They are 4.5% here in a nation that is 14% Black and a state that is 20% Black.”
This expanded on a point made by Arzuaga, who spoke about how NTE faculty are more diverse, and have a larger percentage of BIPOC individuals and women. On the other hand, tenured faculty are more likely to be white men.
Many current students at the College came to the rally to show their support, including Erik Wells ’23.
“I thought it was ridiculous,” Wells said. “At the time I remember reading the email from professor Challener getting circulated online and getting so angry. It’s just the latest in a long line of disappointments from this administration”.
Rebecca Klinger | The Flat Hat
However, seeing the turnout to the rally made Wells hopeful for the future.
“I just think it’s really, really reassuring to see this level of support,” Wells said. “I’ve seen so many people here who I know peripherally from classes or like through Twitter. It’s just a really affirming, really cool thing to see all these people from all these different areas come together to show their support for this faculty.”
To conclude the rally, Conner encouraged interested students and workers to reach out to the Workers Union or College Socialists for ways to get involved on campus. He added that he was happy with the turnout at the protest, and hopes that the students that attended will continue to be involved, and fight for the rights of workers and other social justice issues.
“Today and tomorrow is the right time,” Conner added. “Here, there, anywhere and everywhere is the right place. More scenes need to be made. More noise needs to be made. So let’s make it.”
“Today and tomorrow is the right time,” Challener added. “Here, there, anywhere and everywhere is the right place. More scenes need to be made. More noise needs to be made. So let’s make it.”