Dear colleague,
The leaked Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade demands an answer from everyone who is dedicated to justice, democracy, and equality. The legal right to choose abortion is in immediate danger, and there can be no doubt that this ruling will be a decisive step toward undoing many other hard-won gains, including gay marriage, job protections for queer and trans workers, women’s rights, voting rights, and union rights, among other issues. A bare majority of unelected, unaccountable, hard-right Supreme Court justices is poised to usher in an era of minority rule.
As an urgent response to this crisis of democracy, we will hold a special Freedom School session on “Supreme Injustice: Defending Our Rights Against Minority Rule” on Monday, May 9, at 7 p.m. Click here to RSVP for this session. Help us spread the word by sharing this Facebook page. This will be the first and not the only opportunity to come together, think through this moment of crisis, and strategize our collective response as a union and a Rutgers community. We urge all of you who can to attend.
We’ll hear from a range of speakers, including Timothy Stewart-Winter, associate professor of History; Daria Roithmayr, the Richard L. and Antoinette S. Kirtland Professor of Law at USC; Hetty Rosenstein, long-time NJ state director of CWA and a statewide leader of the progressive movement; and Faustina Owoh, president of the Rutgers NAACP and an undergraduate double majoring in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies. The session will be hosted by Donna Murch, associate professor of History, and Ian Gavigan, PhD candidate in History and organizer with Higher Ed Labor United.
Rutgers AAUP-AFT began organizing Freedom School in 2020 to follow in the tradition of Ella Baker, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the long black freedom movement. The pandemic has disrupted both our ordinary lives and how we connect to each other. We want Freedom School to be a virtual classroom and discussion space for union members, students, and the broader communities that Rutgers serves, with the goal of developing leadership and political education.
Please join us online on Monday, May 9, at 7 p.m. for “Supreme Injustice: Defending Our Rights Against Minority Rule.” You can click here to RSVP for the Zoom link and click here to share the Facebook page. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our Freedom School YouTube channel. If you’re interested in getting involved in our union’s strategizing around responding to the Roe decision, please reach out to us at aaup@rutgersaaup.org.
In solidarity,
Donna Murch, New Brunswick Chapter President, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Timothy Stewart-Winter, Member, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
Ian Gavigan, Executive Council, Rutgers AAUP-AFT
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