Earlham trustees decline teachers’ union

After months of deliberations, Earlham College won’t voluntarily recognize a teaching faculty union.

Tom Thornburg, the trustees’ board chair, announced the decision Feb. 3. 

An ad hoc committee of trustees had explored the request for the union and made a recommendation to the board. The board made its decision with its financial oversight role firmly in mind, according to a news release. 

Early in 2024, faculty and other Earlham community members had raised concerns about compensation, support for families with children and respect in the workplace.

Ryan Murphy, associate professor of history and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, said approximately 85% of faculty favored forming a union.

However, a 1980s Supreme Court decision determined that professors at private universities aren’t protected by labor laws, so the college doesn’t have to recognize a union, Murphy said.

Instead, faculty will need to convince Earlham’s board to reconsider its decision. Since private discussions didn’t work, faculty can consider stating their case more publicly through protests and other communication that is protected under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Murphy said.

Although the board doesn’t currently have the capacity to adequately address faculty salary and benefit concerns, all options will be evaluated as trustees seek to assure Earlham’s health for the future, Thornburg said in the release.  

Earlham has budgeted a 2% raise for all employees at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year and is looking into child care options within its budget restraints. 

Several steps are being taken to increase enrollment to improve Earlham’s financial future. 

For instance, alumni donors are funding a campus “fly-in” program to eliminate barriers for prospective students to visit campus from long distances. Donor-funded mileage reimbursement for campus visits is also offered to future students living in Indiana and bordering states.

Another new program personalizes the campus visit experience by pairing teaching faculty with admitted students with a shared interest in their academic scholarship or cocurricular programming. 

When deciding on the union, Thornburg said the committee focused on the college’s strengths, especially the excellence of its teaching faculty, a strong relationship between students and teaching faculty, and a distinctive approach to governance based on its Quaker values. 

The committee concluded that recognizing a union would diminish rather than enhance those strengths, he said.  

Thornburg said the board was saddened to learn that many Earlham community members feel the respect and trust necessary for effective governance have broken down at Earlham in recent years. Board members “are committed to reinvigorating the trust, mutual respect and sense of shared mission central to Earlham’s governance,” he said. 

Murphy said those leading union organization efforts were dismayed they didn’t receive advance notice of the Feb. 3 email that was simultaneously sent to all employees letting them know that the union wouldn’t be recognized.

In addition, Murphy said faculty weren’t pleased that the board waited 51 weeks to reply to their petition for the union but then called a 7 p.m. Feb. 4 online meeting for workers — a little more than 24 hours after the press release was sent — to discuss the decision.

Murphy said some faculty are still teaching at that hour or leading campus activities and couldn’t participate, while others might have children or elders to care for and can’t make arrangements to join on short notice. Thus, union supporters recommended that faculty not participate in the Zoom call, and only three of approximately 100 did.

Murphy said professors love teaching at Earlham and their students, but they aren’t at their best in the classroom when they’re struggling with personal issues such as a lack of safe local child care for their families.

While finances remain a concern for the trustees, Murphy hopes Earlham officials will implement solutions that don’t cost more but can improve instructors’ quality of life, such as preferential scheduling for classes when faculty can get help with child care. He said faculty feel they have to navigate everything on their own.

Earlham’s past President Anne Houtman, who retired in July 2024, and current President Paul Sniegowski, were kept apprised of discussions but didn’t attend the sessions or contribute to the decision-making process, Thornburg said in the release.