We are moving. Below is our first Press Release. We are currently recruiting substantial support from the Native Hawaiian community and small Hawaii farmers. But that's just the beginning. We are also laying the groundwork for similar actions in universities across America, and still further afield. If you want to join our action or start one of your own, contact us. If you don't have any university connections, but have ideas for different types of action, let us know about them. We are open to any suggestion. We will give help and advice wherever we can.
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PRESS RELEASE from CONCERNED FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF
HAWAI‘I.
Yet another matter of critical concern for the
University of Hawai‘i is just emerging. Two weeks ago, an Open Letter of
Protest signed by more than sixty faculty members from the University of Hawai‘i
was sent to Robert Bley-Vroman (Chancellor, Mānoa), Reed Dasenbrock
(Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs) and Maria Gallo (Dean, College of
Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR)). The Letter concerns
two interrelated issues.
The first issue concerns restrictions placed on the
academic freedom of Professor Hector Valenzuela, an Extension Specialist in
CTAHR. These included his freedom to raise legitimate questions
concerning certain aspects of biotechnology, to hold meetings at which such
aspects would be discussed, to provide notice to students and faculty of
similar meetings organized by others, and to perform other actions that would
normally form part of his professional obligations as an extension
specialist.
The second issue, which we believe to be the
underlying cause of the first issue, concerns practices followed by CTAHR for
the last two decades, which have led to specific violations of CTAHR’s own mission
statement (detailed in the Letter appended here). CTAHR has prioritized
the interests of large out-of-state corporations over those of small local
farmers despite its obligation under the Land Grant College Act to support the
food producers of the area it serves. While small local farmers mostly
produce food for consumption in Hawai‘i, the corporations that CTAHR vigorously
supports merely exploit Hawai‘i’s tropical climate for the experimental testing
of pesticides and pesticide-resistant crops, thereby creating health hazards
for those living in areas where the pesticides are sprayed.
The first and second issues are so closely interlinked
that they cannot be separated. Attempts to silence those like Professor
Valenzuela who question such practices are a consequence of corporate influence
on university policies, a systemic problem affecting universities nationwide.
We requested a preliminary response to our Letter
within ten working days, but have received nothing from either the Chancellor
or the VCAA. We did receive a response from the Dean, but found it
unacceptable, since it avoided any specific engagement with the issues we had
outlined, treating those issues as of a kind that could be dealt with only
internally by CTAHR, without any involvement of the rest of the University or
the general public.
We strongly disagree; both issues should concern every
resident of Hawai‘i. The purpose of academic freedom is to ensure that
the community has access to a wide variety of views and opinions, rather than
only those of a particular interest group. A university standing on
“ceded lands” owes to the Hawaiian people from whom those lands were stolen the
vital duty of protecting their future livelihood. A university founded
under the Land Grant College Act owes to the community that supports it the
vital duty of ensuring a reliable flow of pesticide-free food. Yet
since the overthrow of the Monarchy the percentage of food produced in Hawai‘i
that is eaten in Hawai‘i has declined by nearly 90%--a situation that in times
of growing world-wide political instability and climate change puts the entire
population of these islands at risk from any event that might interrupt imports
of food.
The failure of leading UH administrators to admit the
significance of the issues raised in our Open Letter, or even acknowledge their
existence, leaves us with no option but to place them directly before the
general public. We are therefore initiating a public campaign to discuss
these issues. We hope this will contribute to transformations within the
University that will help those of us who work in it to better work alongside
and serve all who live in Hawai‘i.