An Open Letter to Dean Earl Lewis

Dear Dean Lewis,

I was appalled to see you cross the Borders picket line on Friday evening. Like many other graduate students at the University, I regarded you as one of more progressive voices in the upper echelons of the administration. I know you to be a well-respected historian and author of several articles on race and class issues in the U.S. I also know you to be a strong proponent of affirmative action and a prominent leader in U.S. higher education.

Read more

Given all of these stellar qualifications and your support of graduate students at U-M in the past, I do not understand how you found it in yourself to enter a bookstore where workers have been on strike for over a week. I do not understand how you can support affirmative action — a policy that attempts to correct differences in access to education and jobs — on the one hand, and on the other, endorse a corporation that does not even pay its workers a living wage. I do not understand how you can separate struggles for justice within the academy from those that occur down the street. Finally, there’s the issue of basic human dignity and respect. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Borders Inc. has engaged in a systematic union-busting campaign for months now and has made absolutely no moves towards settling a fair contract though employees have been on strike since last Saturday. I’m curious as to how it behooves an educator like you to support a company that treats its employees with such callousness. I’m especially disappointed given that your actions seem to contradict the values you profess elsewhere.

The questions I raise here are not mine alone. I would appreciate a response from you at the earliest.

Sincerely,

Pavitra Sundar
Women’s Studies & English