CFA delegates and members across the state convened last weekend at CFA’s 101st General Assembly. While delegates committed much of their time to discussing and voting on resolutions and developing policies, they also honed their organizing skills, strategized around various campaigns, and celebrated and took joy in each other for their ongoing work to better public higher education and the broader community.

In her welcoming message, CFA President Margarita Berta-Ávila reminded all of us that we are never alone in the work that we do.

“We must remember each other’s humanity and organize for what we envision,”

– Margarita Berta-Ávila

“I might be our president who is speaking to a particular legislator, or speaking to the media, or repesenting us at meetings with different affiliates, but I am very clear that I am not there alone,” said Berta-Ávila, Sacramento State professor. “I’m fully capable of doing what I do because of all of you.”

Berta-Ávila reminded everyone that the movement is all of us, not just one individual or group, and that our unionism is a form of practice. She expressed that this practice must be connected to the realities of our lives and grounded in racial and social justice, so that our lives and the lives of those that come after can thrive. “We must remember each other’s humanity and organize for what we envision,” she said.

John Caravello, CFA Channel Islands member and CSU Channel Islands lecturer, also addressed the assembly, reflecting on his recent acquittal after nearly a year of facing federal charges. While expressing gratitude for everyone who showed up for him, he also insisted that members continue their work to defend democracy and protect immigrant communities.

“Unity is not the point… liberation is the point,” said Caravello. “But unity is a prerequisite for building power. We must act with urgency and from a place of power, not just in our struggle against the current administration’s attempts to kidnap our neighbors, not just against the current administration, but against our bosses who would love it if we kept our fight confined to the table and not in the streets.”

The assembly also included a surprise visit by a mock-Chancellor Mildred García—played by Elaine Bernal, CFA Associate Vice President of Lecturers, South. The mock-chancellor playfully taunted the CFA crowd by expressing her glee over faculty’s fictionalized shortcomings at the bargaining table and boasted that CFA would never be able to make lasting transformational change in the CSU. The crowd responded with boos, jeers, and finally chants that ultimately drove the mock-chancellor away in disappointment.

Keynote speaker Charlene Teters, a Native American artist, educator, and activist from the Spokane Tribe, leaned into the gravity of the current state of US politics and how the role of art can be used to critique it. Through her site-specific works, she challenges the legacy of colonialism and white supremacy and highlights the irrevocable damage they have done to her homeland.

One of her installations seeks to reexamine the cenotaph, Soldier’s Monument, in Santa Fe, which has since been partially toppled. Part of the inscriptions on the original monument contained language that dehumanized Indigenous people. In response, Teter’s installation simply bore labels describing two categories of people: savages and heroes.

Viewers of the monument have asked Teters which group of people the labels referred to, that is, who are the “savages” and who are the “heroes.” She responded, “It depends who’s telling the story,” inviting them to reflect on their own assumptions. Nevertheless, she emphasized how the labels could be used to either demoralize or inspire others depending on one’s perspective.

In another of her installation’s, “Way of Sorrows,” Teters draws a connection between forced migrations and marches and the US border crisis that Trump has exacerbated. She sheds light on the thousands of migrant children being held in US government custody who have been taken from their parents and are currently experiencing extremely harsh treatment, cruetly, and even death.

Teters described the US-Mexico border wall as a symbol of hate and division. “There have been many trails and tears and death in this hemisphere because of colonists,” she said. “The Way of Sorrows” seeks the spirit of hope… hope that we can be finally seen as human beings.”

During the assembly, member delegates approved five resolutions that addressed issues facing both our union and our campus community:

  • Resolution on Censorship in Libraries in the CSU
  • Resolution on CFA’s Position on ICE
  • Resolution to Align CFA with UAW’s Call for a Mass Strike
  • Resolution to Support Transgender, Gender Nonbinary and Two Spirit Persons and Their Allies in the CSU
  • Resolution of Gratitude and Appreciation for Outgoing ASCSU Chair Elizabeth Boyd

The final versions of the resolutions will be shared here once they become available.

Organizing workshops were also held over the weekend. One session explored how Time, Place, and Manner policies impact academic freedom and how chapters can best organize around them. Another session, led by CFA Monterey Bay members, focused on strengthening faculty engagement through the development of Campus Action Teams (CATs), where CAT leaders have one-on-one conversations, recruit new members, and cultivate new leaders to support faculty power on campus. A third session on our Ask 5 Campaign also featured direct organizing conversations and making assessments.

Finally, we recognized two CFA staff members for their dedication to the labor movement and mission of CFA: Maureen Loughran, who serves as CFA Sonoma’s field representative and has served in other CFA capacities for over 25 years, and Kathy Sheffield, who has served as CFA director of Representation and Bargaining for 20 years. As with so many other committed staff members, the labor and expertise of both Kathy and Maureen have benefited our union in countless ways.

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