• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers AAUP-AFT

Rutgers AAUP-AFT: 50th Anniversary

  • Our New Contract
    • Text of the Tentative Agreements
      • Full-Time Faculty and Grad Workers TA
      • Adjunct Faculty TA
      • Postdoc TA
      • EOF Counselors TA
      • Winter-Summer Instructors TA
    • Highlights of Tentative Agreements
    • Summary of Tentative Agreements
      • Summary of Full-Time Faculty and Grad Workers TA
      • Summary of Adjunct Faculty TA
      • Summary of Postdoc TA
      • Summary of EOF Counselors TA
      • Summary of Winter-Summer Instructors TA
    • Bargaining Status at a Glance
    • Opening Union Bargaining Proposals
    • 2018–22 Contracts
      • Full-Time Faculty and Grad Workers Contract
      • Adjunct Faculty Contract
      • Postdoc Contract
      • EOF Counselors Contract
      • Winter-Summer Instructors Contract
  • Who We Are
    • Our History
      • Our Union’s Timeline
      • The Living History of Our Union
      • Our Logo: The Story of the Pencil-Fist
    • Full-Time Faculty
      • Know Your Contract
    • Part-Time Lecturers
    • Grad Workers
      • Know Your Contract
    • Postdoctoral Associates
    • EOF Counselors
    • Winter-Summer Instructors
    • Retiree Assembly
    • Rutgers One
  • Know Your Union
    • Rutgers AAUP-AFT Officers
    • Executive Council
    • TA/GA Steering Committee
    • Chapter Leaders
    • PTLFC Executive Board
    • Union Staff
  • Resources
    • Our New Contracts
    • Know Your Contract
    • 2018–22 Contracts
      • Full-Time Faculty and Grad Workers Contract
      • Adjunct Faculty Contract
      • Postdoc Contract
      • EOF Counselors Contract
      • Winter-Summer Instructors Contract
    • Health and Safety FAQ
    • MoA on Infosilem
    • Salary Equity Program
    • Postdoc Merger Campaign FAQ
    • Reproductive Justice FAQ
    • Remote Instruction FAQ
    • OPRA Document Center
    • Promotion-Tenure Webinar Slides (2021)
    • Union Bylaws
    • Dues Charts
    • Student Scholarships
    • Student Paid Internships
  • News
    • Member News
    • Media Statements
    • Statements and Resolutions
    • On Strike Media Resource Center
    • RU Listening Podcast
    • By Our Members
  • Get Involved
    • Sign Up to Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • Freedom School
    • Committee on Political Education
    • Working Groups
      • Rutgers Grads United
      • International Students Working Group
  • Join Us!
    • Join Our Union
    • Become a Fellows Member
    • Why Join?
    • Dues Charts

The Living History of Our Union

On October 13, 2021, graduate students in Professor Andy Urban’s U.S. Labor History colloquium sat down to talk with Rebecca Givan, the president of Rutgers AAUP-AFT; Ann Gordon, the Emeriti Representative to our Executive Council; and Sherry Wolf, the union’s senior organizer. 

In the wide-ranging conversation that ensued, graduate students—in their roles as interviewers—had the opportunity to learn about the union’s history, its present struggles, and what the future might bring. This was also a consciousness-raising exercise. At Rutgers, graduate workers are members of the union and therefore have a stake in learning about how the union’s goals, composition, and philosophy has changed over time. Through this act of collaborative knowledge production, students also learned how they might organize for the future.

With this page and the accompanying posts written by the students, Rutgers AAUP-AFT hopes to begin building a section of the website dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of our own history. As the union continues to grow, we hope these histories can help provide a road map for moving forward.

AJ Boyd
Answering the Call: The Rutgers AAUP-AFT as a Model for Solidarity

Elissa Branum and Sarah Coffman
Labor History as Living History at Rutgers

Yazmin Gomez
The Fight for Humanity in Higher Ed

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Mail

Copyright © 2023 · Rutgers AAUP-AFT · 11 Stone Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1113 · (732) 964-1000 · aaup@rutgersaaup.org · Login · Return to top