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Crisis in Public Higher Education (11/4)

Join us!

Where: The Murphy Institute, 25 W. 43rd St., 18th Floor
When: Friday, November 4th, 8:30am-10:30am

REGISTER HERE

Decades of disinvestment have been dismantling public higher education systems. These institutions have served generations of economically disadvantaged students, often from immigrant and communities of color. How did we get here? What is the path forward?

Speakers:

  • Joseph K. Awadjie, B.S., graduate student at Brooklyn College, Chairperson of the CUNY University Student Senate, CUNY Student Trustee, President of the Graduate Student Government at Brooklyn College, as well as Second Vice President of the Brooklyn College Alumni Association
  • Stephen Brier & Michael Fabricant are City University of New York professors and co-authors of, Austerity Blues: Fighting for the Soul of Public Higher Education. Michael Fabricant also serves as the First Vice President of the Professional Staff Congress.
  • Nivedita Majumdar, Associate Professor of English at John Jay College and serves as the secretary of the Professional Staff Congress.
  • Moderated by Penny Lewis, Academic Director and Associate Professor of Labor Studies at the Murphy Institute and serves as a university-wide officer and in the Graduate Center faculty chapter leadership for the Professional Staff Congress.
Home, Murphy News, Union Semester

Meet NY Union Semester Fall 2016!

Welcome our Fall 2016 NY Union Semester class!

16 students from Virginia, Massachusetts,  New York City, Montreal, Mexico City, Florida,  Illinois and others are thick in the middle of NY Union Semester. 11 graduate students and 5 undergraduates are at a range of host organizations, including SEIU 1199, Transport Workers Union Local 100, UNITE HERE, Laborer’s and others. Among their placements they are conducting strategic research, meeting with workers, creating digital content for campaigns, advocating for public funding and seeing the inner workings of the most union dense city in the US.

Read more…

Continue reading Meet NY Union Semester Fall 2016! →

Home, Murphy News

Congratulations, Graduates!

By Padraig O Donoghue

On May 20th, the Murphy Graduation Party was held. A big congratulations to our graduating class of 2016! And a big thank you to all the staff who planned and worked this event! Our gratitude, too, to our wonderful MCs on the night — Sheryl Calderon (MA in Labor Studies graduate) and Joel Thomas (MA in Urban Studies graduate) — for guiding us through the evening’s celebration.

Our graduating degree students “passed the torch” to our degree graduates of the future, so we are in good hands.

We look forward to seeing our graduates next at the CUNY School of Professional Studies commencement ceremony on Monday, June 6th.

Passing the Torch
By Walter Romney
 
As we pass the torch to the next graduates
We’d like to say “CATCH!”
A world in turmoil awaits your guiding hands.
A disintegrating nation needs to be rebuilt in a new form.
Come and build. Come with new ideas, new visions…
we hope for a better way to live.
You are now on a path to creating a better tomorrow.
You already have the torch, so let’s start moving.
The world is at a crossroad, come show the way home.
 
Walter Romney is a College Assistant at the Murphy Institute.


All photos CC-BY Aaron Lenchner

Alumni Spotlight, Home, Labor Studies, Murphy News, Student Stories

Current and Former Murphy Students on Democracy Now!

Yesterday’s edition of Democracy Now! featured current Murphy Institute Advanced Certificate student Bob Master and Labor Studies MA alum Pam Galpern, participants in the Verizon workers strike, talking about why they’re striking, how Verizon has responded and where they’ll go from here.

Check out the coverage at Democracy Now!

Home, Labor Studies, Murphy News, Union Semester

Celebrating Union Semester’s Wrap

Huge congratulations to our graduating NY Union Semester students of spring 2016! We are so pleased that so many of our students had life-changing experiences this semester. This semester, our students hung out with union presidents, organized for a potentially devastating Supreme Court case, talked to roadpavers about their rights at work, used popular education to train union leaders, helped facilitate a strike authorization vote, handled grievances for low-wage workers — and more.

For our final celebration on May 20, 2016 we heard a wonderful speech from student Andrew Brockwell (PSC-CUNY intern) and were treated to a singalong of “Union Maid” from Claire Edwards (1199 SEIU intern). We cannot wait to see you all in the movement going forward!

You could find Union Semester students talking to pedi-cab drivers, wearing a hard hat in Queens, coordinating community organizing efforts out of schools, building a plan to bring sustainable development to their home borough of the Bronx, memorializing Triangle Shirtwaist victims and playing pick-up basketball games.

Extra congratulations to our folks who have been offered union and community organizing work and internships already. You earned it!

Home, Murphy News, Opportunities

Calling All Applicants: Fall 2016 Deadlines Approaching

Time is running out to apply for Fall 2016. Don’t miss out. Important dates are coming up fast — apply to our graduate degree and certificate programs in Labor Studies today!

New York Union Semester is a full-time intensive academic and internship program that provides students with an opportunity to put their passion for social justice to work, both inside and outside the classroom. As part of the program, students intern four days a week at a union or worker-rights organization. During the evenings and all-day on Fridays, students take classes with the renowned Labor Studies faculty at the Murphy Institute. To learn more about NY Union Semester, contact Sarah Hughes at (212) 642-2075 or unionsemester@sps.cuny.edu.
<<Apply here>>

The MA in Labor Studies strengthens the ability of students to advocate for equity and social justice in their communities and workplaces. Students develop critical thinking, analytical and leadership skills, while learning about labor law, organizing, collective bargaining, international perspectives, labor relations and strategic research. To learn more about our graduate level labor studies programs, please join us on May 23, 2016 at 6pm.
<<RVSP here >>

To learn more, contact Laurie Kellogg at 212-642-2055 or laurie.kellogg@cuny.edu
<<Apply here>>

We have certificates on both the graduate and undergraduate level, including our Certificate in Labor Relations. This certificate is offered through an educational partnership between Worker Institute at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the Murphy Institute, and provides NYC area union members, officers and staff with practical knowledge, skills and resources needed to be effective practitioners. In addition, the Certificate in Labor Studies is designed for individuals who want to study the social, political and cultural impact that the organization of work has on employees and their communities. To learn more about our certificate programs reach out to David Unger, Coordinator of Labor Relations Certificate Programs at (212) 642-2011 or david.unger@cuny.edu
<<Apply here>>

Also, don’t forget to join on May 24, 2016  for 4th Annual Joseph S Murphy Scholarship Reception for Diversity.
<<RSVP here>>

Photo by Doub.co, TR via the Noun Project