Reclaiming the Ivory Tower

A new publication by Joe Berry, Reclaiming the Ivory Tower (Monthly Review Press & NAFFE, 2005) traces the emergence of the new majority faculty on US campuses. It provides a guide to action and suggests a strategy forward. 

Paul Buhle, of Brown University and author-editor of Encyclopedia of the American Left, Insurgent Images, and other books, describes Joe's as "a vital contribution to the most urgent subject on many a campus: the sudden transformation of the teaching workforce, the degradation not only of teachers but also of students and of society's gains from higher education." He goes on to note that "[e]veryone who teaches, every humane administrator and every alert student will want to read this book. It is even possible that Reclaiming the Ivory Tower will light the fire for a rebuilding of basic values of American education.”

Campus Equity Week participants may obtain discounted copies , discuss of the book, and organize author appearances and/or book release events by visiting the book's new website: www.ReclaimingtheIvoryTower.org.

Equality at El Chorro, CA

From the California Part-time Faculty Association's El Chorro Listserv

Dear community college colleagues and friends,

It is curious to note that with a Master's Degree in French literature of the 17th-19th centuries and 17 years of community college teaching experience, I have finally reached the point where I make as much per month, teaching a full load of 15 hours per week on three campuses, as a regular entry level custodian. Of course, I don't have the full benefits package, $100,000 life insurance or income protection and I have to drive 400 miles per week to get to my various campuses...but maybe some day my friends in the classroom and I will make as much to teach in a class room as some fortunate people get to clean them. Perhaps I aim too high...

David Milroy