Tag: brooklyn college

Upcoming PSC chapter meetings on the contract campaign in Spring 2011

March 19, 2011 / adjunctproject / 0 Comments

The following lists the dates for upcoming chapter meetings scheduled by the PSC to specifically focus on the union’s contract campaign. Please plan to attend the meeting on your local campus — and bring your friends and colleagues — to make sure adjunct demands are heard in your chapter!!!

The upcoming AP workshop “I’m Stickin’ to the Union: The Nuts and Bolts of the PSC and the Contract Campaign” on Wednesday March 30th at 6.30pm in Room 5414 at the CUNY Graduate Center will be an opportunity to get information on the union’s contract demands, the PSC’s bargaining strategy, the AP’s contract campaign, and how adjunct issues fit into the fight against budget cuts, as well as mobilizing for the special DA meeting the next day!!!

(chapter meetings already passed: HEO chapter, City Tech, CLT, QCC, York, Lehman, BMCC)

BCC — March 24, 12-1.50pm, Meister Hall, room 228

Hostos — March 29

Queens College — March 30

Brooklyn College — March 31, 12.30-2pm, Alumni Lounge of the Student Center

SPECIAL DA MEETING — Thursday March 31, 6.30-8.30pm, PSC Headquarters, 61 Broadway

Retiree chapter — April 4, 1-3pm, PSC office

John Jay — April 5, 3.30pm

Hunter College — April 6

Hunter Campus Schools — April 7

City College — April 12, 12.15pm

Graduate Center — April 13, 12pm

Manhattan Educational — April 14

LaGuardia — April 26, 3.30-5pm, room E500

Medgar Evers — April 27, 11.30am, room 2008B in the 1650 Bedford Ave building

COSI — April 28

PSC RALLY — May 5

Kristofer Petersen-Overton Reappointed!! Celebration Rally at Brooklyn College this Thurs, 12pm

February 2, 2011 / Alyson S. / 0 Comments

Attention CUNY Community,
As of today, Kristofer Petersen-Overton has been unconditionally reappointed to teach his Middle East course for this Spring 2011 semester. Brooklyn College finally responded to the swiftly galvanized public pressure from CUNY folks, the community, and supporters (literally) worldwide who had heard about his case and spoke out. See BC President Karen Gould’s letter reprinted below.

We will hold a Celebration Rally at Brooklyn College this Thursday, on schedule at 12pm, and call on all supporters of university justice and academic freedom to join us. We all who fought this fight collectively won alongside Kristofer, we tremendously benefit from this victory, and so we all deserve to celebrate! See you there. (And take a look at the joyous new flyer!)

We Stopped the Attacks on Academic Freedom! Kristofer Petersen-Overton is back!

Just a week before the start of spring semester classes, Kristofer Petersen-Overton was fired from his position as an adjunct lecturer of political science at Brooklyn College. A scholar highly regarded by many distinguished faculty at CUNY, Petersen-Overton was scheduled to teach a Middle East Politics course. His firing by Provost William Tramontano came hours after college President Karen Lee Gould was contacted by a New York State assemblyman who complained about the instructor’s academic writings on Israel and the Palestinians. It is clear that Petersen-Overton’s dismissal was the product of political pressure.

The college’s actions were a clear violation of academic freedom, including the university’s own official policy. We demanded that Petersen-Overton be fully reinstated in his position, and that his course on Middle East Politics be allowed to proceed as originally designed. The university ultimately respected this academic freedom, and we urge it to do so with all its employees and students. This is especially crucial with contingent faculty like Petersen-Overton, who receive none of the protections of tenure despite the fact that they teach the majority of courses at the City University of New York.

Stopping attacks on academic freedom is crucial to the rights of all of us who work and study at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York! We made this happen!

CELEBRATION RALLY details:

When: Thursday, February 3, 12-2pm

Where: Brooklyn College

Outside Boylan Hall in the campus Quad, near Bedford Ave.

Trains: Q Local to the Avenue H station, at Avenue H & East 16th Street. Walk 4 blocks east to the Ocean Avenue entrance. #2 (7th Avenue Local) or #5 (Lexington Avenue Express) to the Flatbush Avenue/Nostrand Avenue station.

Featured speaker: Kristofer Petersen-Overton

Sponsored by: CUNY Adjunct Project, CUNY Contingents Unite, Doctoral Students’ Council, Brooklyn College Student Union, Brooklyn College Palestine Club, Al Awda-NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, New York City Labor Against the War, American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC), Jews Say No!, too many more to now count!!!

For more info, or to co-sponsor, contact: Conor Tomás Reed at cocoreed@gmail.com, 979.204.9253

UPDATES: The GC Advocate is keeping a live blog on the case and they have compiled many of the letters that prominent intellectuals have sent to Brooklyn College on behalf of academic freedom (including, among others, Neve Gordon, Noam Chomsky, Rosalind Petchesky, Susan Buck-Morss, Marshall Berman, Katha Pollitt, Anne Norton, John Wallach, Moustafa Bayoumi, Greg Grandin, and President of the AAUP Cary Nelson). See the following links:

Day 1: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/new-blog-on-academic-freedom-issues-at-cuny/

Day 2: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/academic-freedom-at-cuny-day-2/

Day 3: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/academic-freedom-at-cuny-day-3/

Day 4: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/academic-freedom-at-cuny-day-4/

Also: check out THIS NEW AWESOME FLYER!!!

A VICTORY FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM!

February 1, 2011 / Calvin S. / 0 Comments

Last night our colleague, friend, and comrade, Kristofer Petersen-Overton was reappointed to his adjunct position in the political science department at Brooklyn College. This is a victory for academic freedom. As of now the rally/protest scheduled for Thursday will now be a victory party!

See the announcement below by president of Brooklyn College, Karen Gould:

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

Over the past several days, as a result of a provostial decision about an adjunct appointment, Brooklyn College has been thrust into a debate about academic freedom. This debate has been fueled at times by inflammatory rhetoric and mischaracterization of the facts. It is unfortunate that matters of utmost importance to our college community can be so rapidly co-opted by those with a political agenda and distorted by the media.

I stand united with you: We must never allow decisions about our students’ education to be swayed by outside influence. In the matter at hand, this certainly has not been the case. On behalf of every member of this institution, I reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the principles of academic freedom, faculty governance, and standards of excellence.

Today, the Department of Political Science and its appointments committee voted unanimously to recommend Kristofer Petersen-Overton to teach a graduate course on the Middle East. Based on information that has come to light, they are confident he has sufficient depth of knowledge and the intellectual capacity to successfully lead a graduate seminar. The provost now supports their recommendation, and I am in full agreement.

Brooklyn College continues to have a strong commitment to academic freedom. As one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, we value civil discourse on even the most difficult topics. We believe that open, substantive dialogue between those with different points of view is an essential component of a 21st-century education.

Equally essential are academic standards that ensure an excellent education for all students at all levels. During this calendar year, we will work together as faculty and administrators to ensure that our graduate programs are of the highest caliber.

It is now time for us to come together as a community and welcome Mr. Petersen-Overton to Brooklyn College. We wish him and his students a productive, rewarding semester of graduate study.

Sincerely,

Karen L. Gould
President

ALL OUT ON THURSDAY!!!

January 31, 2011 / Calvin S. / 0 Comments