The threat is revealed in this copy of a letter below, a response to the Chair of the Department of Film and Media Studies, Jay Roman, who was a messenger for the threat.
April 7
Jay,
This is a response to your November 11 letter. It shouldn’t be confused with that request you repeated at the November 7 meeting for me to contact Hunter Attorney Sandra Nunez. In this April 7 message to you, I address the saber rattling about “disciplinary action.”
The following action would much better serve the truth because it would be nonpartisan, impartial and independent as well as free of the department’s rank nepotism and cronyism and any Administration imprudence, and it would be transparent. Hunter is accountable to certain city, state and federal agencies. An investigation by such an agency, besides the benefits described, could require statements given under oath.
[Note: Regarding Hunter Attorney Sandra Nunez who emailed me April 10, Monday; see below. I have no idea what she means.
RE: Response to November 11 Letter Sandra Mary Nunez Sent: Monday, April 10, 2017 3:40 PM To: Greggory w Morris No. I did not.
Sandra M. Nunez Office of Legal Affairs Associate Attorney/Deputy Labor Designee Telephone: 212 -772- 4098
From: Greggory w Morris Sent: Friday, April 7, 2017 11:28 PM To: James Roman Subject: Response to November 11 Letter
April 7 Jay,
This is a response to your November 11 letter. It shouldn’t be confused with that request you repeated at the November 7 meeting for me to contact Hunter Attorney Sandra Nunez. In this April 7 message to you, I address the saber rattling about “disciplinary action.” The following action would much better serve the truth because it would be nonpartisan, impartial and independent as well as free of the department’s rank nepotism and cronyism and any Administration imprudence, and it would be transparent. Hunter is accountable to certain city, state and federal agencies. An investigation by such an agency, besides the benefits described, could require statements given under oath.
I’m trying to get background information on situations like the one I’m describing here (as succinctly as possible):
Three students in a journalism ethics class of 21 decided that they didn’t like the class (two flunked an assignment and one didn’t do the assignment) and met with a deputy chair of my department who told them how to file a complaint against this instructor and the deputy chair said that the department has been trying to get rid of this instructor and that their complaint would help.
The three students took the information back to the instructor’s journalism ethics class, relayed what the deputy chair said and tried to recruit students to joint in the complaint. The deputy chair also told the students that one they should tape the instructor’s class. One did. A dean told the instructor that at least 13 students supported the complaint but it was subsequently learned that this wasn’t true, that there was a hardcore of about as many as six students.Eventually, three students filed the complaint and, later, another student joined the complaint. Usually complaints about grades are settled by the grade appeal process.
I’m trying to learn how widespread is this abuse of a policy as well as the manipulation of students to attack professors this way.
Thanks for any information,
Gregg Morris
Assistant Professor
Tenured
We have received reports from faculty members about experiences of targeted harassment and intimidation. We want to get a greater sense of the prevalence of this at colleges and universities around the country.
If you have been targeted as a result of something you have said in your classroom, in your publications, or outside work (on social media for example), please tell us what happened by filling out the form. All information will be kept confidential; we’ll contact you if we’d like to follow up or publicize your story.
Also, a link to a dated YouTube broadcast. The plans is to get back in touch with the news organization who taped this. More being done to make new contacts.
There are efforts in the works to generate more media attention like this but not necessarily with a diversity of mugs. More people are needed to go public, that is, be interviewed for news stories. More about this later. Even better is sending in a personal statement to NYHWA that will make sure it’s delivered to NYS elected officials:
Send NYHWA Your Personal Account of Workplace Bullying
From NYHWA: “We once again will are seeking personal accounts from individuals who have experienced workplace bullying. We intend to distribute accounts that we receive to all 213 state legislators at all three of our lobby day events. Personal accounts are very helpful to show the range of tactics, employer responses and health issues that employees encounter when they are targeted in the workplace.
Personal accounts are most effective when they are no longer than 2 pages long and get to the heart of the matter. Accounts should state what happened, how the abusive behavior affected you, the employment conditions during the period you incurred the abuse and also the one’s current employment situation.”
“If you are willing to write your personal account and are willing to identify yourself, we ask if you can look up who your state Senator and Assembly member are. We will personally hand deliver 213 copies
of your personal account the entire membership of the NYS legislature and inform those that you are a constituent of know that you live in their district.
Personal accounts from constituents are also extremely useful as legislators have a personal investment to address concerns of those they represent. Personal accounts can be anonymous as well.”
“Please use the following links to verify who your State Assembly member and Senator are and pass them along to us with your personal account.”
To verify who your NYS Assemblymember is, complete the form found at this link. To verify who your NYS Senator is, complete the form found at this link.
Please send your personal accounts to mikes@nyhwa.org or via postal mail to:
NYHWA
5500 N. Bailey Avenue, #43
Buffalo, NY 14214
