Good morning, my name is Nathan Kapoor. I am an Assistant Professor in the History Department and speak on behalf of the United Faculty of ISU.

We have been bargaining with the administration for months, and recently signed seven tentative agreements moving us closer to a contract. Despite this exciting movement, there have been proposals that have made little to no progress. I want to talk about one of them.  

And as a historian, I thought I would begin with a short story.

On September 9th, 2022, in the wake of the Uvalde Shootings that left 21 people dead, a Michigan State University Professor, Stephanie Anthony, asked the Academic Senate and Board of Trustees of MSU, “Are we doing enough? Is there anything that we could do as an institution to ensure that our community is safe?” Five months later, Michigan State University would fall prey to a mass shooting. They had not done enough. 

In case you don’t remember the pictures of the campus shortly thereafter. I think it is worth looking at them to see the flowers strewn between the door handles of rooms that might have been locked, had the university bothered to put them there. 

If you have a hard time imagining what being in such a room might be like, Old Main, the room we are all in, has one door in the back that does not have an accessible lock. The other two doors, according to staff, are sometimes locked and are not easy exits… Imagine teaching in a space like that; ISU staff work with this on our minds every day.

Unfortunately, mass shootings and college campuses make for common headlines. Across the institutional and political spectrum, calls for change blare loudly and somehow seem to fall silent just as quickly. Every stage of my education was/is rattled by mass shootings, from Columbine as I entered Middle School with a clear backpack-  to the Virginia Tech Shootings that led to the addition of mass shooter instructions pasted in every my college classrooms. And in my first job as a professor, I find myself begging my administration to do something about it.

It’s a problem. We all know it. We have students and professors who survived mass shootings.  Many of us know someone who has suffered directly from a mass shooting. 

We know the familiar calls to add stricter gun laws, arm teachers, install metal detectors, add more background checks, etc… people remain hopelessly obsessed with a fix-all. As a historian of medicine, I know that people obsess over panaceas and miss the small steps that can make a huge difference. 

In the security studies that follow these tragic events, such as the Sandy Hook Advisory Committee, one of the most common solutions is adding accessible locks on classroom doors. Whether we are talking about Sandy Hook, Uvalde, MSU, Virginia Tech, NIU just up the road from us, or even students here at ISU barging into and harassing a WGSS class as happened last Fall, experts agree that locks provide a powerful deterrent. No one suggests they would stop all violence or make campuses perfectly safe, but they would help. 

So why talk about this here? What does this have to do with the bargaining? Well, it’s because, after months of negotiations and proposals, the administration just (as in on July 31st - two days ago) responded. They drafted a Memorandum of Understanding, which said that for the collective bargaining agreement, they would commit to putting locks on all new buildings and “try to” add locks in some existing buildings. 

Five months ago, we put explicit demands in our proposal, asking the administration to budget and pledge real support for campus community safety. When not simply ignored, these concerns are minimized or framed by Admin spokesperson Mark Bennett as impractical. The Admin team's commitment amounts to a “trust us, but don't verify,” which is downright patronizing regardless of intent.  Real progress has yet to be made. That’s why we are demanding you direct your negotiations team to come to an agreement with us to keep faculty & Students safe. We want a clear and concrete plan for how they will implement these necessary changes.

Try as the administration might to paint faculty demands as hysterical, selfish, overly particular, or out of touch, these calls from the faculty represent an actionable issue that benefits everyone. It makes people safer, whether talking about students, faculty, parents, or anyone on campus.

How can the administration not be in support of this? Faculty members have even located grants and offered to aid in procuring funds for adding locks to classroom doors. 

I have sat in bargaining since the Union presented its first proposal, on February 28, 2024, and I have watched the administration’s team refuse to deal with us and almost always assume the worst of faculty demands. We want a better learning environment for our students and a workplace for our colleagues and administration. I love this university and teaching our students. I want my students and colleagues to be safe. I WANT TO BE SAFE. As we cope with mounting political instability and bargain about being the best university we can, would it not be wonderful if we, as employees and employers, could come together on something simple to make a difference? 

Your action -or inaction- will demonstrate to every UFISU member and all ISU families the value you place on the people who live and work within your walls.