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Individual members of UALE and allies

Attacks and support of labor ed programs/ Impact of Trump2?

Duggan, Lynn S.

Tue, Apr 7, 2026 10:25 PM

Friends,

We could use some help/feedback on a short piece about recent developments in institutional attacks against or support of labor studies/ education programs for a short "sidebar" to accompany an article Ruth Needleman and I have just written about the elimination of Labor Studies at Indiana University. Our former program (we both retired from IU LS) is being gradually dismantled over the next four years, along with a hundred other diverse programs and DEI efforts throughout the state. In May 2025, after last minute changes, Indiana's Republican supermajority passed a budget that restructures public higher ed. It requires that bachelor’s degree programs graduate a minimum of 15 students per year, raises other degree thresholds, and changes faculty councils’ role to a purely advisory one. Within a month of the bill's passage, the state's public colleges and universities restructured 404 degree programs. The majority of these will be consolidated/ merged. About 100 other programs (with active majors and enrollments) are being eliminated along with Labor Studies.

There is a still a small hope that an appeal may result in an exemption, but IU has become unrecognizably fascistic under President Pamela Mitten. A 2026 documentary film about this is available at https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/3NIQC6XQ4Lf0zG768fpflH5IRo5?domain=comforty.vhx.tv.

We (Ruth and I) have been asked to provide some context about what's happening with labor education/studies programs at other universities and colleges. We've put together five short paragraphs (see attached) containing our impression and gleaning some salient info from Helena Worthen's 2025 article in Dollars and Sense magazine. We'll be happy to share our article as well (reply to me).

We would be grateful for feedback and info what's going on at other programs as soon as possible (please read our short "sidebar" piece, attached).

This isn't the first attack on IU Labor Studies; but until this one we had held onto the program. There is a still a chance that an appeal could result in an exemption (LS enrollments had tripled in the five years before this draconian bill passed), but the university is unrecognizable these days under President Pamela Mitten. A 2026 documentary film covering what has happened since she was hired is available at this link: https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/3NIQC6XQ4Lf0zG768fpflH5IRo5?domain=comforty.vhx.tv

In solidarity/ La Lucha Continua,

Lynn Duggan

Associate Professor Emerita

Department of Labor Studies

School of Social Work

Indiana University

Bloomington, IN 47401

lduggan@iu.edu mailto:lduggan@indiana.edu

Friends, We could use some help/feedback on a short piece about recent developments in institutional attacks against or support of labor studies/ education programs for a short "sidebar" to accompany an article Ruth Needleman and I have just written about the elimination of Labor Studies at Indiana University. Our former program (we both retired from IU LS) is being gradually dismantled over the next four years, along with a hundred other diverse programs and DEI efforts throughout the state. In May 2025, after last minute changes, Indiana's Republican supermajority passed a budget that restructures public higher ed. It requires that bachelor’s degree programs graduate a minimum of 15 students per year, raises other degree thresholds, and changes faculty councils’ role to a purely advisory one. Within a month of the bill's passage, the state's public colleges and universities restructured 404 degree programs. The majority of these will be consolidated/ merged. About 100 other programs (with active majors and enrollments) are being eliminated along with Labor Studies. There is a still a small hope that an appeal may result in an exemption, but IU has become unrecognizably fascistic under President Pamela Mitten. A 2026 documentary film about this is available at https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/3NIQC6XQ4Lf0zG768fpflH5IRo5?domain=comforty.vhx.tv. We (Ruth and I) have been asked to provide some context about what's happening with labor education/studies programs at other universities and colleges. We've put together five short paragraphs (see attached) containing our impression and gleaning some salient info from Helena Worthen's 2025 article in Dollars and Sense magazine. We'll be happy to share our article as well (reply to me). We would be grateful for feedback and info what's going on at other programs as soon as possible (please read our short "sidebar" piece, attached). This isn't the first attack on IU Labor Studies; but until this one we had held onto the program. There is a still a chance that an appeal could result in an exemption (LS enrollments had tripled in the five years before this draconian bill passed), but the university is unrecognizable these days under President Pamela Mitten. A 2026 documentary film covering what has happened since she was hired is available at this link: https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/3NIQC6XQ4Lf0zG768fpflH5IRo5?domain=comforty.vhx.tv In solidarity/ La Lucha Continua, Lynn Duggan Associate Professor Emerita Department of Labor Studies School of Social Work Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47401 lduggan@iu.edu<mailto:lduggan@indiana.edu>

Duggan, Lynn S.

Wed, Jun 3, 2026 6:29 PM

Please forward. We're interested in collaborating with the many other programs and departments under attack across the country.

In solidarity,
Lynn and Ruth

Lynn Duggan

Associate Professor Emerita

Department of Labor Studies

School of Social Work

Indiana University

Bloomington, IN 47401

lduggan@iu.edu mailto:lduggan@indiana.edu

From: Duggan, Lynn S. lduggan@iu.edu
Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 6:25 PM
To: ualelist@list.uale.org ualelist@list.uale.org
Cc: Needleman, Ruth A. rneedle@iu.edu; Worthen, Helena Harlow hworthen@illinois.edu
Subject: Attacks and support of labor ed programs/ Impact of Trump2?

Friends,

A 2026 documentary film about this is available for viewing at https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/3NIQC6XQ4Lf0zG768fpflH5IRo5?domain=comforty.vhx.tv.

Thank you to those who responded to our request for information on what's going on in other labor studies / education programs. Attached is a PDF of the article Ruth Needleman and I wrote on the elimination of Indiana University's Labor Studies Department for the May-June issue of Dollars and Sense. For a PDF of the entire annual labor issue of D&S, please click here<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lRvtAwpToWW2rLLrLPyAoTmGF7vjP0i_/view>. Please forward. We're interested in collaborating with the many other programs and departments under attack across the country. In solidarity, Lynn and Ruth Lynn Duggan Associate Professor Emerita Department of Labor Studies School of Social Work Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47401 lduggan@iu.edu<mailto:lduggan@indiana.edu> ________________________________ From: Duggan, Lynn S. <lduggan@iu.edu> Sent: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 6:25 PM To: ualelist@list.uale.org <ualelist@list.uale.org> Cc: Needleman, Ruth A. <rneedle@iu.edu>; Worthen, Helena Harlow <hworthen@illinois.edu> Subject: Attacks and support of labor ed programs/ Impact of Trump2? Friends, We could use some help/feedback on a short piece about recent developments in institutional attacks against or support of labor studies/ education programs for a short "sidebar" to accompany an article Ruth Needleman and I have just written about the elimination of Labor Studies at Indiana University. Our former program (we both retired from IU LS) is being gradually dismantled over the next four years, along with a hundred other diverse programs and DEI efforts throughout the state. About 100 other programs (with active majors and enrollments) are being eliminated along with Labor Studies. A 2026 documentary film about this is available for viewing at https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/3NIQC6XQ4Lf0zG768fpflH5IRo5?domain=comforty.vhx.tv.