What do we mean by Our University? Part 3, As IU Administration Increases Their Censorship and Assault on Free Speech, Union Recognition Becomes Ever More Important
Date: Monday, October 20, 2025
This week, IU administration continued their battle against free speech on campus by firing the head of the Indiana Daily Student paper and cutting all future print editions after the IDS questioned admin’s attempts to censor its news content.
This isn’t just a free speech issue; it’s a labor issue. IU admin have shown they are willing to censor genuinely incredible student journalism just to preserve their own reputation. They care more about their reputation and their bottom line than they do about education or students. What happens when they try to extend that into our classrooms and our labs? What happens when it’s our advisor or our colleagues whose jobs are the line?
The more harmful, unilateral decisions IU administration makes without consulting the affected graduate workers, faculty, staff, and undergrads, the more clear it becomes that we need a seat at the table. We need to be in conversation with IU administration so we can advocate for our workers and our campus before destructive actions like this take place and can exercise our leverage to preserve our campus community.
The only way to protect our jobs, our research, and our work is through collective bargaining. Demanding union recognition and collective bargaining rights gives us not just a seat at the table, but a platform to advocate for ourselves and our colleagues in a way admin can’t afford to ignore.
IU must recognize the IGWC as the collective bargaining representative for graduate workers.
A union protects us all. It’s that simple.