Author: Administrator

The university has no obligation to follow a law that contravenes the Constitution and undermines our liberties.

At the Oct. 23, 2025, regular meeting of the membership and executive board of UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965, a unanimous vote approved the following statement:

The UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 stands ready to defend the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which is incorporated onto the state of Arkansas through the Fourteenth Amendment.

The First and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit the Arkansas General Assembly from enacting any law “respecting the establishment of religion” or “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion. But the General Assembly has violated these constitutional prohibitions by passing Act 573 of 2025, which endorses and encourages the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school and university classrooms. By privileging a particular faith tradition over others, Act 573 establishes an official creed for students. And by using state authority to marginalize other faiths, the law discourages the free exercise of those religious traditions. In enjoining four Northwest Arkansas school districts from complying with Act 573, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks called Act 573 “plainly unconstitutional.”

The UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 demands that the University of Arkansas protect the Constitutional rights of its students and staff by refusing to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms. The University has no obligation to follow a law that contravenes the United States Constitution and undermines the individual liberties at the foundation of our democracy.

Arkansas Act 573 of 2025 (PDF) requires the blanketing of posters of a translation of the Ten Commandments in government buildings, public schools and institutions of higher education, as well as hanging posters stating “In God We Trust.”

Over the summer, the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued four school districts on behalf of seven families in U.S. District Court with Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1. Since then, two other school districts were added to the lawsuit. In August, the federal judge assigned the case granted a temporary injunction blocking the new law in those districts.

Act 573 remains in effect otherwise. UA received a donation of 500 Ten Commandments posters and is hanging them throughout the Fayetteville campus.

Besides Local 965’s opposition, others are opposing the law as it’s being applied to the university. The UA Faculty Senate approved such a resolution (PDF) last May. A prominent donor is stopping scholarship contributions over the law’s enactment.

Time, location update: Also, an undergraduate student is organizing a teach-in to explore the topic. Junior Nathan Gray has reserved HOEC 102 (Human Environmental Sciences building) for the teach-in 5-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. For planning, Gray asks those interested to complete a brief form.

In his October message, Local 965 President Hershel Hartford wrote, “While I personally adhere to a set of moral principles that these commandments embody, I want to emphasize that our membership, much like our broader university community, is rich in diversity. We encompass a wide spectrum of theological beliefs and many who do not subscribe to any faith. This diversity is a strength that encourages critical thinking, respectful discourse, and a spirit of inclusion — hallmarks of the educational environment we strive to foster.”

Walter Hinojosa, president of the Northwest Arkansas Central Labor Council, was one of four speakers to address the Fayetteville, Arkansas, No Kings Day of Defiance rally Saturday, June 14, 2025. Reported the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: “Around 10,000 people march Saturday June 14, 2025, down Dickson Street in Fayetteville as part of the nationwide ‘No Kings Day’ peaceful demonstrations against the Trump administration’s policies. Some 2,000 protests were held across the United States. Indivisible NWA and NWA Community Hub cohosted the event.” Local 965 members walked with their banner in the Dickson march. Following is Walter’s speech:

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I am so glad you could join me for this special birthday celebration.

I am sure you are all here celebrating the 97^th birthday of Che Guevara. Unlike another birthday event elsewhere today, I am not being paid to be here. Are you? I thought not.

Every single day since January 20th, I have totally exhausted my allotment of cuss words. It just keeps getting worse.

Then I look out and see so many people, and I know that together we can make this horrific nightmare end!

Still, I have to ask: When did firing park rangers, expert scientists and air traffic controllers become a better idea than simply taxing billionaires?

When did denying millions of health care or giving Musk and his musketeers ALL government data become a better idea than simply taxing billionaires?

As a retired political scientist, here’s my thumbnail analysis of the Declaration of Independence: The first one-third of it is a stirring description of the relationship between a government and the governed. The other two-thirds is why the King of England was such an asshole. We’ve been against kings since 1776. Why would we want another asshole now?

Today, I speak on behalf of the NWA Central Labor Council representing thousands of workers like FEMA workers, postal and railway workers, those who take care of our veterans — thank you Brother Bruce [Bruce Appel, president of Local 2201 of the American Federation of Government Employees], educators — thank you Local 965 [UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965] — and our first-responders, to name just a few. Let’s give a big hand to the police for safely getting us to this park!

This administration has put anti-union and anti-regulation fanatics in charge of worker safety and worker rights.
This will cost worker lives!

Our Ozempic queen governor has opened the door for our children to work harder, longer and in more dangerous workplaces, and
That shit ain’t right!

Between the kiddie-run DOGE, that “big, beautiful” wealth redistribution bill, and those hugely unsuccessfull tariffs, we will all suffer greatly.

This administration is so full of incompetents, abject racists, drunks and weirdos that our government cannot function properly, but that is their goal
And elections do have consequences!

To them, waste, fraud and abuse are not the targets, they are the primary objectives, and the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution be damned!

Beloveds, organized labor is one of our last defenses against this travesty.

I extend to you today an invitation to join us in the labor movement.

Join us in fighting back against the Forces of Darkness and Evil.

If you are in a workplace that is represented by a union, then join the damned union.

And, if you are a union member, then urge your union leaders to participate in our labor council and in the state federation!

If there is no union where you work, then help us start one.

A movement cannot be detained, and solidarity cannot be deported! 

Join with us and make your voice heard so that together we can be the voice for the voiceless!

Thank you, and happy birthday, Che!

A Resolution Statement from the University of Arkansas Workers Union

The board of UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 condemns in the strongest possible terms the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision the week of April 11, 2025, to revoke the visas of five of our international graduate students without due process. (NW Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article and alternate link)

Since the founding of the republic, the right to due process has been the cornerstone of the American system of justice. The founders, ever vigilant to the possibility of tyranny, added the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution to protect individuals against the abuses of what they feared could become arbitrary and abusive use of state power: “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The language cannot be more clear — the amendment’s protections apply to all persons, including the international students, and not just citizens. But the students who have had their visas revoked have not been afforded due process — they haven’t heard the accusations made against them, they haven’t seen the evidence that prompted the government’s action, and they haven’t been given the opportunity to defend themselves in front of a judge.  

In justifying the revocations of more than 300 international student visas on campuses across the nation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted in late March, “I think it’s crazy — I think it’s stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into their country that are going to go to their universities as visitors — they’re visitors — and say I’m going to your universities to start a riot, I’m going to your universities to take over a library and harass people. I don’t care what movement you’re involved in. Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt? We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not become a social activist that tears up our campus.”

This explanation does not make sense as it pertains to the five international students here at the University of Arkansas. Those familiar with the goings on around the UA flagship campus know that no one has taken over the library or harassed people or torn up campus. These sorts of acts are just not happening at the University of Arkansas — nor at many other places where students have had their visas revoked.

If the State and Homeland Security departments believe that a certain international student has committed a crime and wants to revoke their visa, they must follow the Constitution of the United States. The federal government needs to articulate the alleged crime, present evidence to support the charge, give the student the opportunity to present evidence in defense, and have all the evidence heard by an impartial judge. That is the American way.

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The resolution was drafted by UA Associate Professor of History Michael C. Pierce, who wrote a corresponding guest column published April 15, 2025, in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “UA Students Deprived of Rights,” (alternate link). Pierce is a member of the Executive Board of Local 965.

Following up on the resolution Rogers station KHBS-TV/KHOG-TV interviewed Professor Pierce in a 2:03 report “University of Arkansas Professor Speaks Out about Revocation of Student Visas” on April 15, 2025.

The website of Fort Smith station KFSM-TV posted “University of Arkansas Workers’ Union Condemns Visa Revocations of International Students” on April 15, 2025.

Analysis cites this resolution and quotes Professor Pierce: “The Trump Administration Comes for U of A Students, and the U of A Stays Silent,” Arkansas Times, April 18,2025.

“2 University of Arkansas Students Regain Visa Status after DHS Termination,” Fayetteville stations KNWA-TV/KFTA-TV, April 25, 2025.

“UA Confirms Five Students’ Visas Restored: Status Terminations Bring Rise in Worries over Deportations,” (alternate link), Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Friday, May 2, 2025