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No restrictions. Copyright for Official University records is held by Wesleyan University; all
other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their
descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. [Identification of item], American Association of University Professors, Wesleyan
University Chapter Records, #2005-5, Special Collections & Archives,
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA. Received as transfers from the Library Office (#2010-10), the office of Academic
Affairs (#2005-5), and Richard Vann (#2006-60). Processed by Drew Flanagan, May 2010 Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, May 2010 During the 1970s and 1980s, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
worked to unionize college and university faculty and professional librarians, and
to coach them in collective bargaining with administrations. A group calling itself
the Faculty Caucus voted to become a chapter of the AAUP in October 1974,
reactivating what was then a dormant chapter. The reconstituted Wesleyan chapter
adopted its constitution on October 9, 1974, with Victor Gourevitch as its president
pro tem. Over the following two decades, the chapter took part in negotiations with
the administration, including University President Colin Campbell. Beginning in
1977, Nathanael Greene, Vice President for Academic Affairs, would serve as
Campbell’s liaison to the AAUP. AAUP activities at Wesleyan also included collecting
information on faculty compensation at various colleges and universities and
attempting to gather student body and alumni support for their bargaining efforts.
Membership was voluntary, and the group never represented more than a bare majority
of the faculty. The activities of the group appear to have dropped off around
1990. This collection includes operating documents, memoranda, correspondence and notes of
the Wesleyan chapter of the AAUP from 1973 to 1987. It also includes published
information from the national AAUP and from AAUP branches at other institutions,
most notably Yale and Trinity College. It also contains books and pamphlets put out
by the AAUP, mainly from the 1970s, as well as membership kits from several years.
The chronological files contain notes, memoranda, and correspondence from members of
the AAUP to the group, and between the AAUP and the administration. The largest portion of the collection, Series 1: Accession #2010-10, consists of
chronological files from the Wesleyan chapter, beginning in 1973 and ending in 1986.
There is a gap with only a few documents from the 1978-1979 school year. The greater
part of the documents from 1978-1979 are contained in box 5. The first two boxes are
entirely chronological, spanning from August 1973 to May 1982. Box three completes
the chronological files up until December 1986. It also includes folders containing
undated documents and collected documents on several subjects, including documents
from the national AAUP, compensation information from various institutions,
historical documents on the reactivation and proposed constitution of the AAUP at
Wesleyan, and a copy of the Wesleyan chapter newsletter from February 1983. The
fourth box contains published materials from the national AAUP, most notably AAUP
membership kits for 1982 and 1985, a copy of
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT, USA
During the early period, major correspondents include then-President of the University Colin Campbell and Wesleyan AAUP president pro tem Victor Gourevitch. Campbell remains one of the main correspondents in the collection throughout the period from 1973 to 1987. Beginning in 1977, much of the correspondence from the administration is signed by Nathanael Greene, then VP for Academic Affairs, while others are signed by Richard W. Greene. AAUP documents beginning in early 1977 are often signed by Vernon K. Dibble, Peter Kilby, Erhard Konerding, Richard Boyd, Meredith Swenson and/or Andrew Szegedy-Mazak. Of interest in the period of 1975-1976 are several letters to and from then-CIA director George H. W. Bush regarding the activities of the CIA on university campuses. In 1978, several documents feature the signature of Hayden White, then director of the Wesleyan Center for the Humanities. In the later period, (beginning in 1979 or so) Burton Sonnenstein becomes one of the main correspondents for the AAUP. Correspondence from U.S. representatives Sam Gejdenson and Toby Moffett relating to AAUP issues is featured during 1982. Beginning in 1985, David Adams, Henry Abelove, Paul Haake, and Donald Moon were all major correspondents.
The major topic of this collection is the various disputes and negotiations between
the AAUP and Wesleyan’s administration in the period between 1973 and 1986. Other
topics addressed include the political activities of the AAUP on the national level.
Box 1, folder 14 contains documents relating to the AAUP’s opposition to what it saw
as the infiltration of universities by the CIA. Of interest are letters to and from
the CIA director at the time, George H. W. Bush, as well as printed materials put
out by the AAUP on the subject of the CIA’s dealings with universities. In box 3,
folders 10-15 are arranged thematically. Folder 10 contains AAUP documents published
by the national organization during 1985 and 1986. Folder 11 contains information on
compensation at various colleges and universities considered to be Wesleyan’s
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.