Next month, many of us will return to a workplace not seen since the pandemic started.

Yet we have no intention of a return to business as usual.

The coronavirus exposed inequities in our system of higher education and American society.

We must work together to do better, and we must aim high.

Last week, members of TAUP attended the first ever Higher Ed Labor Summit: Building a Movement to Transform U.S. Higher Education.

We joined with more than 75 union locals representing more than 300,000 workers in academia.

We had a collective vision for what higher education could become, and how it could better serve society.

“The summit was just a first step in building synergies and collective consciousness among higher education workers,” said Will Jordan, TAUP president and associate professor of urban education.

“Our colleagues in colleges and universities across the country face common challenges, which can only be solved by working together towards common goals,” Jordan said.

Steve Newman, former president of TAUP, also attended last week’s conference.

“I was very gratified to see hundreds of leaders from higher ed unions,” said Newman, an associate professor in the English Department at Temple University.

“A New Deal for Higher Education welcomes faculty, librarians, staff, and others – strategizing to fight back nationwide against the corporate and austerity-driven vision of the academy that continues to do so much damage. This was only a first step, but a necessary one.”

“The conference was a call to arms,” said Debi Lemieur, who serves as chair of TAUP’s adjunct constituency council.

“Listening to so many others from around the country speak out about the need to fight for better working conditions for ALL of those who work in Higher Education, inspired me to continue that fight here on the local level at Temple University,” said Lemieur, an instructor in the College of Liberal Arts.

All of us should read this Vision Platform on Building A Movement To Transform Education. This platform will energize and inspire.

We could indeed make this happen.