Faculty union marches to hand petition against Ecke’s firing

By Grace Bertrand

Members from the executive committee of Rider’s faculty union marched to Rider President John Loyack’s office at Moore Library on Oct. 7 to hand him their signed petition that calls for the reinstatement of former adjunct professor Kate Ecke and an apology from Loyack for his decision to fire her. 

The march was announced by Rider’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors in a Sept. 29 facultywide email with the goal of showing solidarity among the faculty union in their demands. The email also announced an on-campus petition that faculty were given the opportunity to sign, which garnered 102 signatures. 

Ecke was abruptly terminated on Sept. 17 for political posts on her personal Facebook account about conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, which Loyack said “did not reflect [Rider’s] expectations for respectful and civil engagement” in his Sept. 17 universitywide email announcing the termination. 

Rider’s AAUP chapter Chief Grievance Officer Jeffrey Halpern said, “We want to simply let the president know there is a unified faculty support for academic freedom. That’s the purpose.”

Halpern said the march was not a “big demonstration” but more of a symbol of unity from the faculty union, specifically the executive committee.

The march commenced outside of Fine Arts as the executive committee made its way to the ground floor of the library where the offices of Loyack and Provost Kelly Bidle are located. Upon arrival, the union stopped Loyack on his way into his office, handing him the petition. 

Four Public Safety officers were present on the walk to Loyack’s office, including Director of Public Safety Matthew Babcock, and remained outside the library while the faculty union handed the petition to Loyack. 

Richard Zdan, one of the executive committee’s at-large members and an associate sociology professor-lecturer, helped organize the march and facilitate the physical petition. He said, “The issue of the firing of Professor Ecke is not about anything she said. It’s not about anything she did. It’s about the concept of academic freedom and the university’s decision to violate her academic freedom.”

Joining the march with the union was She’ron Mason, senior sociology major, who felt it was important for students to stand with their professors in the fight for academic freedom. 

As the petition was handed to Loyack outside of his office, Mason spoke up and said “A lot of us [students] are really disappointed by the firing, especially in a situation like this. It’s a very serious topic.” 

In response to the faculty union and Mason, Loyack responded saying, “I appreciate your opinion.” 

In an Oct. 7 interview with The Rider News, Mason said, “For the university to fire Ecke over something like this, it just goes to show where [they] stand. They don’t stand with the people. They don’t stand with the victims.” 

Following her posts, Ecke received threats to herself, threats to her personal business, and according to administrators, the Rider campus was threatened, although no “Timely Warning” was issued to alert the community. In Loyack’s Sept. 17 email, he stated that several individuals at Rider received a threat “as a result of this individual’s actions.”

Mason said that finding out about Ecke’s firing through Loyack’s email felt like students were being kept in the dark and described the email as vague. She said, “[They] tried to purposely keep the student body in the shadows about that with the email … not telling us what the behavior was. That seems to be the theme with the administration here is that they don’t tell us when issues are going on and what kind of issues they are.”

It was important to the AAUP that they demand not only Ecke’s reinstatement but also a university apology, specifically naming Loyack and Bidle who were responsible for Ecke’s termination.

In the Sept. 29 facultywide email, the faculty union wrote, “We must stand together and send a clear message to President Loyack and Provost Bidle that we will defend our rights under the Agreement and that attempts to divide and conquer us will fail.” 

Additionally, the AAUP  partnered with the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey to launch a statewide letter-writing campaign. The campaign has received 342 letters as of Oct. 7. 

A student-led change.org online petition launched on Sept. 17 also called on Rider to reinstate Ecke. As of Oct. 7, the petition has garnered 438 signatures. 

In an Oct. 7 facultywide email, Rider’s AAUP chapter thanked the faculty for their support with signing the physical petition and announced that it had filed a grievance for Ecke’s firing and is awaiting a response from the administration. The email stated, “Today, we delivered the petition signatures to President Loyack. We are proud to report that we are sending a massive, unified message… Kate is extremely appreciative of all the support she has received, and she is ready to return to Rider to support you.”

Zdan said that the faculty union will be satisfied once Ecke is reinstated and the university apologizes to her for their violation of their labor agreement, Article IV Academic Freedom, which states that the university will “not threaten, coerce, or discipline members of the bargaining unit because of what they say or what they do as private citizens.”

Zdan explained that the march to Loyack’s office represents the faculty union going to bat for something much bigger than Ecke’s termination.  

He said, “Academic freedom is under attack nationwide and this is part of a broader threat to higher education … Professor Ecke’s firing represents an attack on the very foundations of education as a concept in this country. And that’s not just a Rider thing, that’s not just a higher-ed thing, that’s an education thing.” 

Jackie Incollingo is the faculty advisor for The Rider News and a faculty union member. She had no part in the writing or editing of this story.