Group Seeks Labor E-Mails by Michigan Professors
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: March 29, 2011
A conservative research group in Michigan has issued a far-reaching public
records request to the labor studies departments at three public universities
in the state, seeking any e-mails involving the Wisconsin labor turmoil.
William Cronon, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
The group, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, declined to explain why it was
making the Freedom of Information Act request for material from professors at
the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State University. But
several professors who received the records request, which was first reported
by Talking Points Memo on Tuesday, said it appeared to be an attempt to
intimidate or embarrass professors who are sympathetic to organized labor.
This records request, which was filed Friday, comes several days after the
Republican Party of Wisconsin made a records request to a prominent University
of Wisconsin history professor, William Cronon, who had severely criticized the
state’s Republican governor, Scott Walker, over his push for legislation to
weaken public-sector unions.
The Mackinac Center, which describes itself as a nonpartisan research and
educational institution and receives money from numerous conservative
foundations, asked the three universities’ labor studies faculty members for
any e-mails mentioning “Scott Walker,” “Madison,” “Wisconsin” or “Rachel
Maddow,” the liberal talk show host on MSNBC.
Greg Scholtz, the director of academic freedom for the American Association of
University Professors, said: “We think all this will have a chilling effect on
academic freedom. We’ve never seen FOIA requests used like this before.”
Roland Zullo, a labor studies professor at the University of Michigan, said he
found the center’s request “puzzling.” “It seems an odd request for an
institution that claims to be nonpartisan,” he said.
Michael D. Jahr, the Mackinac Center’s vice president for communications,
declined to discuss the records request. Ken Braun, managing editor of the
center’s political newsletter, declined to give the reason for it. He said the
newsletter, Michigan Capital Confidential, had made the request and often makes
such public records requests.
“As a general policy, we don’t discuss our FOIAs until we write about them,” Mr.
Braun said. He said the records request could have been much broader but was
limited to a handful of topics at just the labor studies departments, instead
of also including history and political science departments.
Mr. Braun said the center’s request was in no way coordinated with the Wisconsin
Republican Party’s FOIA request to Professor Cronon.
After one recent records request, the center reported that taxpayers were paying
the salary of an elementary school teacher even though she was released from her
teaching duties to work 100 percent on union issues.
Marick Masters, the director of labor studies at Wayne State, said he had
nothing to hide. “This looks like an attempt to embarrass us,” he said. “I
haven’t engaged in any partisan activities here. I think they’re probably
interested in seeing the extent to which labor studies centers in the state
have helped orchestrate the protests in Madison.”
Professor Cronon, who describes himself as a political independent, said he was
angry about what he called an attempt at harassment. He said that he had never
engaged in any nonscholarly political work on university computers or time,
which is prohibited, but that he was still concerned about the release of any
e-mails. The Republican Party requested e-mails mentioning several politically
related words, including Mr. Walker and several legislators.
“There is an academic freedom issue here,” Mr. Cronon said.
Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin,
declined to explain why the records request was made. He criticized Professor
Cronon for questioning the party’s motives. “I find this troubling,” he said.
“Like anyone else filing a public records request, I don’t have to give a
reason.”
"When we cannot communicate, we get sick, and as our sickness increases, we
suffer and spill our suffering on other people."
-Thich Nhat Hanh
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Kevin M. DeJesus
PhD Candidate (ABD)
Department of Geography
York University
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