Thread by @saraelizaj

we live in a red state in which Republicans just dismantled state university education. it takes years to build the infrastructure for viable higher education and all that has been undone in two weeks. thousands will be fired and the rest will leave. this is seriously evil shit.

programs for the vulnerable, seniors, the homeless: all cut. scholarships: cancelled. the worst of #akleg gone off #22strong alone, “obeying” the gov. this is textbook fascism. red states, again, please take note of the rightwing movement in your states bc you could be next.

as I mentioned before, this hurts people of color—indigenous communities in a state with a large native population—the most, in every possible way. it is targeting them. it is not just about anti-intellectualism, though that is a part ofc. textbook fascism.

the Republicans who supported the veto override, the Republicans shocked by how “crazy” and “insane” this is, think they are part of a different party. wake up. these are the ideologues that run your party now, and who now run our lives in red states.

fascism has an evolution and a different manifestation in every country and era. our train left the station long ago. we are rolling along in our train and the end stop is straight up Hell for the vast majority of people. how many canaries need to die in the coal mine?

the 2020 election does not matter. it will change nothing. ICE will still let kids die in detention. universities and repro rights will still be successfully destroyed. punishments and rights violations will grow more severe. this is in an overwhelmingly terrifying situation.

I really don’t know what to do. people say they want to “stay and fight” for the US rather than flee and I want to fix things but what does effective “fight” look like? it’s not canvassing for Bernie Sanders, I can say that.

it is now after 5pm on Fri and the override has officially failed. #22strong #akleg are barbaric.

just read the statements given to the press by these gaslighting fascists. frontiersman.com/news/group-of-…

unions can’t protect you if financial exigency is declared. did you know that? those of you in faculty unions, you are not safe. here is our union w/ some advice for us all:

here is our union also pointing out that a cut of this magnitude, and ao rapidly, means that programs can’t Teach Out (allow students to finish programs). ktuu.com/content/news/F…

even with our new fascist governor threatening the uni, we assumed we would be able to Teach Out. we also assumed that our contracts protected us for a year. financial exigency means we can be stranded, students can be stranded, anything goes. we all spent $ we would have saved.

we made commitments (like signing leases, etc) we never would have made. this attack is brutal and unprecedented. if you teach at a flagship state research uni, as I do, try to imagine what it would be like if, in the span of 2 weeks, the existence of your uni was jeopardized.

there are two types of shock you experience. the first is that you suddenly may not have a job and no new prof jobs are even starting until Aug 2020. the second is that fascist legislators just destroyed the STATE UNI in HOURS. we were short EIGHT votes. that’s a lot, yet so few.

I know that no matter what happens to me personally, I have been terrorized and traumatized by these two weeks. it has been surreal, disorienting, and visceral, and triggering. we focus on physical needs but don’t discount the psychological toll this takes, and would take on you.

—and on your students. it is deeply disturbing that this story is not getting more national attention. If you teach in public higher ed, start talking to each other and organizing now. Use our suffering as your example and motivation.

Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks: “I got emails from France, scientists over there saying the University of Alaska is the leader in climate-change research. I received the same thing from Algeria, saying Alaska is the Arctic university.” adn.com/politics/alask…

it’s not even just about faculty snd students in AK. FASCIST LEGISLATORS JUST CUT THE WORLD LEADER IN CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH BY 135 MILLION DOLLARS. Scientists in France emailed legislators. This is truly truly insane and no one is paying attention.

Board of Regents for the UA system met today and decided to pospone the financial exigency vote until July 30, so more waiting.

also I really shoulda been hashtagging this whole thread but forgot so #Alaska #highereducation #highered #UAStrong #UniversityofAlaska