AAUP grievance case set to move to final step
By Grace Bertrand
After filing a grievance against the university, the faculty union’s case for Kate Ecke, a former social work adjunct professor who was abruptly fired in September, was dismissed by the university’s attorney on Oct. 22.
Ecke was terminated on Sept. 17 after posts on Facebook about conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk led to threats made against her and the university.
Rider’s chapter of the Association of American University Professors filed a grievance on Ecke’s behalf, challenging the university’s decision to fire her. A hearing was held on Oct. 16 with Rider’s AAUP Chief Grievance Officer Jeffery Halpern and the university’s attorney. Ecke was not present at the hearing.
According to Rider’s AAUP website, the hearing should be between the grievant, a representative of the AAUP and a representative of the university. The university’s attorney then acts as the hearing officer and has seven days to render a decision in the case.
On Oct. 22, Rider’s AAUP executive committee heard from the university’s lawyer that Ecke’s case would be dismissed and did not state any reasoning, according to Richard Zdan, Rider’s AAUP at-large member of the executive committee.
“We went through the process, and internally, the university informed us that they were denying the grievance without actually addressing the merits,” Zdan said.
Rider’s AAUP executive committee reached out to challenge the dismissal, but the university’s attorney has still not responded with why the case was dismissed, Zdan said. Vice President of External Affairs Kristine Brown declined to comment on the matter, stating it was a personnel issue.
The faculty union has seven days to appeal the decision to move up to the second step in the process, where the grievance would have been appealed to Provost Kelly Bidle or a designee, according to Rider’s AAUP website.
“Because the university denied [the case] without commenting on the merits, it’s impossible to appeal a decision if you don’t know what the decision is based on,” Zdan said. “So, what we said was we want to go immediately to step two.”
The university responded to Rider’s faculty union saying they would be more comfortable moving directly to arbitration, according to Zdan. Arbitration is the third and final step in the grievance process and takes place when the AAUP is not satisfied with the appeal to the provost. In this step, an arbitrator is appointed by the university and, after looking at presented information from both the university and the faculty union, they will make a final decision.
Zdan said Rider’s AAUP executive committee is not aware of when the arbitration meeting will take place.
In October, Ecke told The Rider News she was considering pursuing legal actions of her own against the university. While she said she could not comment on any legal cases, Ecke said that Rider’s attorney responded to a letter from the AAUP, saying that they were not going to settle the case and that other Rider employees had seen her Facebook posts and complained.
Ecke will be speaking at a panel discussion on Nov. 7 at Rutgers University, hosted by Rutgers’ AAUP’s Joint Academic Freedom Committee, that features speakers from campuses in New Jersey, New York and Texas who have seen or experienced a crackdown on basic academic freedom and free speech.
“It’s really important for Rutgers to host panels like this because it shows a real commitment to academic freedom and open dialogue. Those are values every university should protect,” Ecke said. “After what I experienced at Rider, this feels especially meaningful.”
The roundtable discussion, called “Fighting for Our Right to Teach and Learn,” will also have other speakers joining Ecke, including Tom Alter, an associate professor at Texas State University who was fired for speaking at a conference on socialism, and Max Weiss, a professor at Princeton University who was disciplined for speaking about Palestine.
“I’m definitely nervous but this is something I really believe in,” Ecke said. “As educators, we talk a lot about courage and critical thinking and this is a chance to live that out. Even though it’s uncomfortable, I know that growth doesn’t come from staying quiet. It comes from showing up and using your voice when it matters.”
