OUR HISTORY

In the aftermath of the November 2016 election, a number of faculty at the University of Miami expressed concerns that the president-elect's policy agenda would disastrously affect educators in South Florida. The first issues we discussed were the threatened status of DACA students, the rise in hate crimes on campuses across the nation, the need for increased action on climate change rather than a denial of the scientific consensus, and the erosion of an informed citizenry in a media landscape compromised by “fake news.” We also wrote an open letter to The Miami Hurricane, which was signed by 502 faculty. We then founded the University Employee Alliance, inviting staff and graduate students as well as faculty to join.

We continue to ask ourselves: as an association of professionals in higher education, what can we do together that we could not do alone? What skills and resources do we bring to the table as educators? This right-wing electoral victory has been a wake-up call and has brought an extraordinary new degree of participation across the country. While voting out this extreme and volatile administration is a first priority, the need for political engagement well preceded 2016 and will outlast this particular administration.

People have already been working hard, and there are so many initiatives already happening on campus and in our city that need our support, from student activism for a Black Student Center and a Gender Equity Center to SAVE’s Fast Response group and the work of the New Florida Majority. The need for better communication across campus about local progressive projects and events has emerged as a priority for our group, and as our meetings progressed, we also realized that the group itself satisfied a need for progressive community.

We are also aware, as Michelle Alexander, Naomi Klein, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor emphasized in a recent public talk, that there is a need to generate visions of a better world, rather than simply reacting, “resisting,” and working towards a restoration of the status quo that produced this toxic political climate in the first place. We envision a society that thrives on active political participation in efforts for an equitable and just world.