Historical Documents: Reactivation and Proposed Constitution of the Wes AAUP

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on several subjects, including documents from the national AAUP, compensation information from various institutions, historical documents on the reactivation and proposed constitution of the AAUP at Wesleyan, and a copy of the Wesleyan chapter newsletter from February 1983.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 The Layman’s Guide to the National Labor Relations Act, a copy of the AAUP Policy Documents and Reports from 1973, A Primer on Collective Bargaining for College and University Faculty, and a hardcover book entitled Faculty Unions and Collective Bargaining. Box 5 contains Accession #2005-005, which includes office files covering the period of 1985-1987, and Accession #2006-060, containing a number of AAUP papers from January 1978 to March 1980, as well as AAUP publications from 1973. The collection contains mainly typewritten items, but also notes and drafts of documents on lined paper. Many of the documents are on AAUP letterhead.

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 "peer institutions." Folder 12 contains historical documents on the reactivation of the AAUP at Wesleyan, as well as a draft of the group’s constitution. Folder 14 contains documents sent from the national AAUP to the chapter head at Wesleyan, and Folder 15 contains collected salary information from Wesleyan and its peer institutions throughout the period of 1973-1986. Box 5, folders 1 and 2 are AAUP office files covering 1986-87 and contain an agenda, correspondence, faculty compensation and housing information etc. Box 5 also contains documents relating to the Center for the Humanities and Wesleyan University’s investments in South Africa as of 1978. The AAUP advocated for divestment from South African businesses as a protest of apartheid.