Dear DFA members,
Hopefully you have mostly wrapped up the academic year, got your grades in, and are preparing to either relax a little or get back to your research projects and other endeavors (that is, if you’re not preparing to teach summer session)!
As you are aware, those of us in higher education have endured an unprecedented assault on many fronts: our financial stability, our civil liberties, our freedom of speech, our intellectual freedom, our academic freedom, and our basic security. We are encountering a full-fronted assault on our university system by the Trump administration and its minions. The stakes for the future of higher ed and indeed the future of this nation could not be higher. Thankfully, we have some brave individuals and organizations who are fighting back. University professors across the country are strategizing and organizing a nation-wide fight back against those who seek to defund our research, deport our students, and deny our intellectual freedom. I know many of you are on the front lines of these efforts, and I applaud you for contributing to keeping higher education alive.
Thanks to your membership and participation, the Davis Faculty Association is actively involved in this fight. In this academic year, the DFA:
- participated in lobbying efforts in Sacramento to educate our representatives of the value our university provides to the State of California.
- held a symposium on Know Your Rights in collaboration with the UC Davis Law School to learn some strategies for fighting back against Washington’s assault on our international students. The local press covered this event.
- established a committee on research funding cuts at UCD to develop an understanding of the magnitude of the grant, contract, and fellowship revocations on campus and the ways in which UCD and UC are responding to these revocations. This new committee is exploring strategies that UCD faculty (in conjunction with other UC faculty) can use to aggressively fight back against the funding cuts. If you want to participate in the committee, write to DFA board member Don Palmer (GSM) at dfapalmer@gmail.com.
- worked closely with our umbrella organization, the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA), which unites us with faculty at all UC campuses. We are also actively collaborating with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The DFA is in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), part of the AFL-CIO which connects us with millions of other workers across the USA. The DFA is also part of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, which brings us closer to working peoples’ organizations across the Sacramento Valley. We are amplifying our power and asserting our rights as faculty members of the University of California, one of the largest employers in the State of California, in a state which has just been recognized as the fourth-largest economic power in the world!
- was an organizer of a May First (May Day) community/labor march through downtown Davis to help create a closer town/gown connection with Davisites. Our event was a huge success and covered locally in the press.
- held a successful town-hall meeting to discuss ways for faculty to come together and build our power.
- was a principle organizer of the No Kings march, that drew almost 4,000 people to the town of Woodland to protest the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants, workers, and our universities.
- initiated a voluntary survey on the impact to academic freedom by the Trump administration’s immigration policies. We are interested in better understanding how Trump’s policies have contributed to a worsening climate on campus relating to four indices: harm to research; harm to teaching/educational mission; harm to faculty campus speech/expression; and harm to student campus speech/expression.
- helped media outlet Cal Matters interview some of our faculty members who described some of the deteriorating conditions of our university infrastructure and help explain our frustration over dwindling economic support from the State.
- met with UC Council and UC Davis Police about harassment of students and faculty over their free-speech rights.
- wrote to the administration about our concern about revisions to APM-016 (Academic Personnel Manual’s section on Faculty Conduct and the Administration of Discipline) that continues now as the Regents want to crack down on academic freedom and 1st Amendment free speech rights.
- participated in the CUCFA Unfair Labor Practice filing against UC last September, which resulted in PERB filing a charge against UC this May.
- continued to pressure UC over our exorbitant health plan cost increases.
- collaborated with other UC faculty associations to pressure the administration to modify their invasive cybersecurity plan, such as Trellix.
- participated in lobbying visits in Sacramento arguing for increased state base funding to UC and back-filling of lost research grants.
- helped organize the March 19th “Stand Up for Research and Teaching” demonstration.
- helped mobilize for the Stand Up for Science rally in Sacramento.
- sent a letter to UCD administrators demanding UCD take specific steps to protect international students and scholars.
- joined CUCFA and 30 faculty associations nationwide in an amici curiae brief supporting a preliminary injunction sought by AAUP against Marco Rubio to halt the ideologically targeted deportations of students.
- urged Chancellor May to sign on to the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) statement.
If you feel like you’ve heard from us an awful lot this year, it’s because you have. The DFA has emailed its members (and sometimes all UCD faculty) 33 times in the past year and posted to the ucdfa.org website eighteen times since this time last year. We have been extremely active. There is much work to be done, and little time to waste! This is a time of great peril but also of great promise. There is no time to stand on the sidelines. No one is coming to save the UC. It is up to us!
The DFA is only as strong as our members. Reach out to all your colleagues and urge them to join the DFA. Step up and join our board and help us steer our organization into a brighter day!
Here is a link where you can learn more about ongoing participation with current DFA projects: https://ucdfa.org/get-involved/
On a personal note, I want to let you all know that I will be stepping down as chair of the Davis Faculty Association. I enjoyed serving as either co-chair or chair for nine years! I will continue on the board however, and I will continue to be active on campus. I am happy to announce that the DFA will be going forward with two stellar co-chairs: Sal Nicolazzo, Associate Professor of History, and Richard Scalleter, Professor of Physics, who has served in DFA leadership before. Thank you both for stepping up! I also want to give a shout-out to our illustrious staff member, Eric Hays. One of the strengths I have always stressed about the DFA is our ability to maintain equilibrium during both periods of high activism and lulls of activity. Eric has provided that continuity through his insightful monitoring of what’s happening at UCOP, in the State Legislature, with other sectors of academic labor, and on other campuses. I honestly believe that DFA would not have survived without his dedication. So, thank you Eric!
Finally, in spite of all the chaos and uncertainty I hope you have a chance to have a relaxing and productive summer!
Jesse Drew
Chair, Davis Faculty Association