Faculty takes action amid a global pandemic and anti-union animus
By Michelle Altieri
Editor’s note: Since the article was originally written, Pride grants have been renamed as Public Education Partnership (PEP) grants. However, the overall program may still be referred to as the Pride in Public Education program. The word “Pride” has been replaced in the article that follows when grants are specifically referenced.
NJEA PEP grants can make a real difference in our communities, but using those funds to support college students specifically sometimes takes thinking outside the box. This is true in normal times, let alone when faculty members find themselves in the midst of a global pandemic that provides good cover for unprecedented anti-union actions from an administration intent to break our union.
Like many college commuters across the state, students at the County College of Morris (CCM) struggle financially to cover the inflated costs of living, often working part or full time while juggling four or five courses at a time. Institutional financial support can help cover some of the costs, but many students still struggle to make ends meet.
As Pride chair, I knew that NJEA guidelines do not allow PEP grants to be used for tuition waivers or the purchase of gas cards, but the acute struggles on our campus got me thinking about how we might be able to ease students’ burdens in a real way.
That same semester I was brainstorming was in the spring of 2021 when our administration announced they were not reappointing seven almost-tenured members of the Faculty Association of County College of Morris (FACCM), including the association president, grievance chair and communication chair. This outright union bust came on the heels of our ratification of one of our strongest faculty contracts in the college’s history, as well as several on-campus actions that showcased our growing strength and power.
That spring our union was in true crisis as we simultaneously worked to restore our faculty members’ jobs and fought to keep our members from succumbing to an escalating culture of fear. What I didn’t know at the time was that this budding Pride initiative would become an essential part of keeping our solidarity intact.
An FACCM lending library
Our first giveaway was developed with a “lending library” concept through which we would provide free general education course textbooks to students. We worked with the college bookstore and the English department to purchase dozens of composition texts in anticipation of our first giveaway in the fall of 2021, but we were met with a “cease and desist” letter from the college’s lawyer in an attempt to put a stop to the event.
Here we were, still reeling from both the COVID-19 pandemic and a catastrophic union bust, and the administration was threatening outright legal action if we went forward with our first Pride event. It doesn’t take much to grasp the devastating impact that had on faculty morale. Fortunately, several members found the courage to wear their red shirts and run the event so that CCM students could receive their first round of free textbooks.
This lending system worked well. Students returned their copies when they no longer needed them, and we added new titles each semester to extend the reach of the program. For several semesters we did just that, and the Pride events became positive moments in otherwise dire times while FACCM members were engaged in a three-year campaign of survival: devoting hundreds of hours to supporting the legal defense team trying to get our faculty reappointed, helping dozens of members navigate the grievance process, enduring retaliatory attacks from the administration, and appealing to college trustees, county commissioners and elected representatives for oversight—all to no avail.
Nevertheless, the Pride textbook giveaways held at the start of each semester continued to offer positive events that members were willing to risk supporting because they were putting free books directly into the hands of students. In an environment of documented retaliation against faculty members who wore FACCM T-shirts or buttons, showing up to a Pride event turned into an act of resistance in and of itself.
Stepping out of a comfort zone
There was a domino effect that couldn’t be ignored: The more members attended events and publicly supported FACCM, the more others were willing to take a step out of their comfort zone and volunteer their time as well. Through all the darkness, the textbook giveaways were a bright spark that showed—to ourselves and the administration—that our union was surviving, despite all the barriers we faced.
“Pride in a healthy organization had been an idea, a branding to boost our image,” current FACCM President Dee McAree remembers. “After the firing, it became an esprit de corps.”
But it wasn’t perfect.
Unfortunately, a fundamental flaw of the lending system is that it only helps a limited number of students. A student has to be enrolled in those specific courses to take advantage of the free books. Right from the beginning, student excitement from receiving a free textbook was tempered by the student disappointment of those leaving the event without one.
Wish Fulfillment serves more students
The FACCM Wishlist Fulfillment program, which was developed by me along with President McAree and FACCM Treasurer Debbie Poetsch, provided a way for us remedy that flaw. The Wishlist allows us to accept student requests for specific textbooks or access codes on a first-come first-serve basis.
We can meet students’ needs, no matter their major or the courses they are taking. This serves an unlimited number of students until the money runs out and we are never left with a library of unused textbooks to shelve. After one year of piloting this new version of the giveaway, I’m happy to report that more students are able to start the semester with the resources they need as a direct result of NJEA PEP grants.
At the time of publication, FACCM has given away more than $45,000 worth of free textbooks and school supplies to CCM students! We are also awaiting the final Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) ruling that we hope will reaffirm the September 2023 hearing examiner’s decision to reappoint our fired faculty members.
While the last three years of FACCM’s 50-year history has been fraught with unprecedented anti-union animus, we are grateful for the many members who faced adversity head-on to help our association survive.
“Pride is not just good will,” President McAree reflects. “It is resistance. It is unity.”
Michelle Altieri is an associate professor of communication at the County College of Morris and currently fulfills the roles of Pride chairperson and chief social media administrator for the Faculty Association of County College of Morris (FACCM). She can be reached at faccmpride@gmail.com. For Pride, FAST and legal updates, follow FACCM’s @saveCCMfaculty accounts on Instagram, Facebook, X and Threads.
Pride grants are now PEP grants
In May 2024, the NJEA Delegate Assembly approved a name for the Pride in Public Education community outreach grants. They are now known as PEP grants. PEP stands for Public Education Partnership grants.
For more information about PEP grants, visit njea.org/pep.