Freedom of speech cannot be a value this university only endorses for the wealthy. It is a value that we staunchly defend when it comes to students and faculty professors. And it needs to be a value we staunchly defend when it comes to adjunct professors, staffers and subcontracted employees.
Jim McCabe, a retired staff member and adjunct professor who worked at AU for 15 years, was arrested on Oct. 15 for handing out pamphlets about workers’ rights in TDR.
Jim McCabe’s arrest makes me furious. And it should make you even angrier.
The issue is larger than McCabe’s arrest. As video footage shows, Dining Services asked McCabe to leave TDR, which he had paid to enter, and he refused to do so. AU officials did not immediately call Public Safety and the Metropolitan Police Department.
But why on earth was he asked to leave in the first place?
McCabe was simply handing out fliers. As he said when he was arrested, he was tabling upstairs last week. Why should his actions be viewed differently in TDR? He wasn’t hurting anyone. He wasn’t being disruptive. He wasn’t even being particularly loud.
Just a few weeks ago, the AU’s faculty senate unanimously passed a resolution condemning trigger warnings as being antithetical to free speech. In lofty terms, the resolution declares that, “unfettered discourse, no matter how controversial, inconvenient, or uncomfortable, is a condition necessary to [the pursuit of knowledge]”.
The pamphlets that McCabe was handing out were vital to students’ pursuit of knowledge. They provided information on an issue right here on campus, an issue that showcases firsthand some of the most important economic issues of the 21st century.
“For an institution that was founded by Congress and likes to promote itself as the premier human rights institution of the country, it would serve them well to put their money where their mouth is,” said Carlos Mark Vera, a student involved in the Exploited Wonk movement that Jim McCabe’s pamphlets were endorsing. “For decades service workers had the same benefits as faculty and staff. That was until AU chose to outsource to third parties starting in the 80's. Since then service workers lost the right for their children to attend AU for free or take a course at AU for free. Something which is provided to AU staff.”
McCabe was informing students about worker conditions and the popular practice of subcontracting employees, which decreases accountability for companies (including universities). He also shared details on the daily lives of workers. TDR is the perfect place to provide that knowledge because that is where the workers work. It’s firsthand.
And AU had him arrested.
McCabe being asked to leave TDR is a blatant example of classism at this university. The fact that faculty’s free speech rights are codified and protected in resolutions from the Senate while McCabe’s free speech rights are ignored, to the point he was asked to leave and arrested, is disgusting.
Students at AU are known for getting up in arms about racism, sexism and homophobia. That’s a good thing. But it is time to make sure we get up in arms about classism as well. I am outraged by McCabe’s arrest. You should be too.
You should be just as outraged by McCabe’s arrest as you would be if a faculty member were asked to leave campus after publishing an article making controversial claims. You should be just as outraged as you would be if students tabling on the quad about divestment were asked to leave. You should be just as outraged as you would be if faculty or students were arrested for refusing to stop speaking their minds. Because that is what happened to Jim McCabe.
sostergaard@theeagleonline.com
Shelby Ostergaard is a senior in the School of Public Affairs. She blogs at shelbyostergaard.com.
