Faculty Say: Stop Investing Our Pensions in Migrant Detention
CFA members are CalPERS members and we have been mobilizing
at CalPERS board meetings this summer to demand that our
pensions not be invested in the private prison companies,
CoreCivic and GEO Group.
Lawmakers have reached a budget deal that reinvests state funding
in the California State University system, including funding that
will expand student access to the CSU and fund additional
tenure-line positions.
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and faculty
activists are engaging in events, honoring the achievements and
contributions of their colleagues, and highlighting issues that
continue to impact the API community.
Increased funding for the CSU continues to be part of the state
budget proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom thanks to advocacy efforts
by faculty, staff, students and the support of lawmakers who
understand the need to reinvest in public higher education.
GRADUATION IN MEMORIAM: David Josiah Lawson was
supposed to be walking across the stage on Saturday, May 18 to be
awarded his diploma from Humboldt State. Instead, Charmaine
Lawson will be symbolically receiving it on her son’s behalf.
Both at the Fall Leadership Kickoff and at a recent meeting of
the CalPERS Investment Committee, CFA members proudly showed
their solidarity in calling on the pension system to stop
investing in private prison operators CoreCivic and GEO
Group. At the committee meeting, CFA Associate Vice
President Margarita Berta-Avila and others provided a series of
emotional and direct remarks to the assembled members.
On Tuesday, April 30, faculty and students were at the Capitol to
urge lawmakers to #FundTheCSU and support state budget
allocations that would strengthen the People’s University.
To learn more about CFA’s budget advocacy and sponsored
legislation, click
here.
CFA held a reception on Monday, April 29 honoring Senator Holly
Mitchell and Gov. Gavin Newsom for their efforts on behalf of
public higher education.
Both Newsom and Mitchell were at CFA Headquarters in Sacramento
to accept their awards during the reception, which also was
attended by numerous legislators, faculty, and students.
CFA hosted a rally in support of gubernatorial candidate Gavin
Newsom on Friday, Nov. 2 at San Diego State.
The event drew hundreds of students, faculty, and community
allies to the East Commons, where the crowd heard more about
Newsom’s commitment to protecting quality public higher
education.
TIME TO SPEAK UP: CFA activists will be at the
CalPERS Board meeting on Monday, June 17 to urge the board to
divest from private prisons running ICE detention centers.
CFA successfully defended faculty rights to academic freedom and
intellectual property during recent negotiations with CSU
management by rejecting proposals that would have diminished
faculty speech and eliminated faculty control of their
intellectual property.
Article 21 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement covers
summer term employment for CSU faculty. Many faculty with
semester, quarter, or academic-year appointments also will find
summer employment in the CSU.
Summer employment can vary from campus to campus. It may take the
form of state-funded year-round operations (including fee
buy-down) or self-support for-credit programs offered through
extension.
The following statement may be attributed to California Faculty
Association President Jennifer Eagan, a professor of Philosophy
and Public Affairs & Administration at California State
University, East Bay:
“Gov. Newsom has a history of fighting for the CSU and we are
grateful that he continues to show a serious commitment to
investing in the People’s University.
