Coatsworth and Graduate Students

John Coatsworth studies the economic history of Latin America and also happens to be Provost at Columbia University. He wrote a letter rejecting the idea of graduate students unionizing like other employees.

For my part—and, in this, I speak for my colleagues in the University administration and for many faculty members—I am concerned about the impact of having a non-academic third-party involved in the highly individualized and varied contexts in which faculty teach and train students in their departments, classrooms, and laboratories.

I am trying to decide whether it's ironic or just appropriate for someone who has studied Porfirian Mexico to make an anti-union argument.