Los Angeles, CA., July 17, 2020 — The Loyola Marymount University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) today announced that it has raised and distributed more than $20,000 to help support furloughed staff members during the ongoing crisis. Following the announcement in May of more than 230 full furloughs across LMU’s campus, the LMU-AAUP chapter began working with faculty and staff allies to find direct and material ways to support our furloughed colleagues. The chapter hosted an online fundraiser, raising a total of $20,350 from more than 200 individual donors. Current and former students, faculty, staff, family, and friends from across the country dug deeply.
Working closely with the Latino/a Staff Association, the LMU Staff Senate, and Viernes por la tarde, the LMU-AAUP reached out with a bilingual application to all furloughed staff inviting them to apply for an equitable grant. Ultimately, nearly 70 grants of $300 per person have been sent out. While this amount of money pales in comparison to the lost wages, it is the LMU-AAUP’s hope that this tangible show of solidarity can be of some material help and serve as an indication of how deeply we value staff at LMU.
The chapter has also issued a statement of solidarity with staff, adopted in June by the LMU-AAUP membership, urging the University to reinstate our colleagues and move the University to a transparent and truly equitable budgeting process now, and in the future. As more cuts loom, it is vitally important that any cuts be progressive and start at the top, trimming from the branches and not the roots. This is longer and harder work than merely donating funds, and it will call on all of us to stand united not only in support of the very principles Loyola Marymount University stands for— the encouragement of learning, the service of faith, and the promotion of justice—but also to struggle to realize these principles in practice.