Higher Education Under Attack--What Can We Do?

CHICAGO - March 20, 2014 - PRLog -- Higher Education Under Attack: What Can We Do?

Chicago, IL, 03/18/2014—A colloquium in support of higher education will be held at Northeastern Illinois University (5500 N. St. Louis Ave, Chicago) on Tuesday, April 1 from 2:30-4:15 pm. The event, titled “Public Education in an Age of ‘Austerity,’ will bring together Chicago faculty, staff, students, administrators, and union organizers to consider the future of public universities.

Topics under discussion will include rising student debt, shrinking state contributions to public universities, the corporatization of higher education, adjunct and contingent workers, and attempts to de-unionize workers in public institutions. The colloquium is inspired by the national defunding of higher education along with local events in Chicago, such as the University of Illinois-Chicago’s recent two-day strike, NEIU’s history of labor struggles, and NEIU student government resolutions against higher tuition and new systems of scheduling. Conference participants include James Thindwa (from the American Federation of Teachers); Jason Lukasik, Christina Gomez, Ellen Larrimore, and Sergio Almodovar (all from NEIU); and John Shuler (from UIC).

Free and open to the public, this event will be held in Alumni Hall on the main campus of NEIU. Come to hear significant discussion about the future of higher education, to voice your opinions and ideas, and to share some snacks.

For further information about this issue on a national scale, see the following interview with Theresa A. Sullivan, President of the University of Virginia: http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/sullivan-higher-education-under-attack/article_5003e46a-a726-5994-abcf-a7264122c9c4.html.