The Executive Committee of the Marquette University chapter of the American Association of University Professors is pleased to award its second annual Shared Governance Award to doctoral candidate Sarah Kizuk. In her work with the Marquette Academic Workers Union, Sarah has shown us that shared governance, true shared governance, requires more than dialogues on the third floor of the Alumni Memorial Union.
When the academic core of the university is under attack, securing the right of faculty to meaningfully participate in decisions that affect the classroom, the laboratory, and the library, demands something more. In her work, Sarah has been a vigorous organizer — talking to faculty and staff across the campus one on one to listen to their concerns and to build a culture of solidarity. In the dark, early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Marquette’s top administrators endeavored to use a crisis to justify a massive wave of cuts to faculty and staff, Sarah leapt into the fray – organizing action after action, and helping our colleagues to see that when we stand together against efforts to deconstruct higher education, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. More than a miracle for Marquette, Sarah Kizuk has been a model for all those who wish to strengthen shared governance when the ideals we cherish are under assault.
Marquette AAUP 