After having their tenured and tenure-track appointments terminated, thirteen faculty members of Mount Vernon College, a small women's college in Washington, D.C., filed suit against The George Washington University and Mount Vernon College in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia on December 16, 1998. The complaints include breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional or tortious interference with contracts, and age discrimination.

Following an affiliation agreement between the two institutions in October 1996, which was reached as Mount Vernon sought George Washington University's financial help to preserve the college and its mission, the small women's college was taken over by GWU and ALL faculty, tenured, tenure-track, and adjunct alike, received notice of the termination of their employment effective no later than May 31, 1999. Although first- and second-year Mount Vernon students were transferred to George Washington University, Mount Vernon College faculty were not incorporated into the George Washington University faculty and did not receive any severance. GWU continues to solicit alumnae for funds for "Mount Vernon College." GWU now speaks enthusiastically of a "new Mount Vernon College," obviously one which lacks the tenured faculty who devoted years of work to Mount Vernon College.

Faculty involved in the suit believe that this is an assault upon the principle of tenure. Generally the acquisition of a college preserves faculty status. There are few, if any, precedents for ignoring and abandoning essential tenure rights. Consequently, we have established an organization, the Faculty Action Committee, to raise funds to help defray the substantial legal costs associated with a suit against a powerful, wealthy institution. The faculty members, most of whom are now unemployed, have already incurred significant legal fees and expect to need an additional $100,000 more simply to bring the suit up TO trial. If the suit goes THROUGH trial, we will need substantially more.

We ask for your support in this battle to preserve the integrity of tenure and the viability of the tenure system. Please be as generous as your means will allow. Contributions may be made to:

The Faculty Action Committee 3715 Jocelyn Street, NW Washington D.C. 20015

The Faculty Action Committee expresses its deepest gratitude for the support of the AAUP Conference of the District of Columbia who, in the CDC Advocate, Vol. II, No. 2, p. 2, issued the following call: "THE ADVOCATE urges its readers to provide generous support to our colleagues in their time of need."

Please help spread the word by forwarding this message to friends and colleagues. With your help, the Faculty Action Committee will remain steadfast in its determination to defend the integrity of tenure. If you think of other ways in which you are able to support us, please let us know. E-mail Milt Eisner at eisner@erols.com.

Many thanks for your support.

Sincerely, The Faculty Action Committee Name, Status, Date of Tenure or Standing for Tenure, Age Monica L. Heppel, Associate Professor of Anthropology, 1995, 50 Rosemary Bolig, Professor of Human Development, 1996 (OSU:1980), 54 James Burford, Associate Professor of Art, 1984, 54 Maureen Casamayou, Associate Professor of Political Science, 1993, 52 Milton Eisner, Professor of Mathematics, 1983, 51 Sharon Ahern Fechter, Professor of Spanish and English as a Second Language, 1989, 44 Bruce Hill, Associate Professor of Biology, 1989, 57 James Hull, Associate Professor of English, 1986, 50 Ann Kennedy, Assistant Professor of English as a Second Language, 2000, 47 Patricia Ortman, Associate Professor of Human Development, 1994, 51 Behnaz Quigley, Professor of Business Administration, 1983, 54 Gail Rebhan, Associate Professor of Photography, 1994, 46 Joseph Wnuk, Associate Professor of Interior Design, 1998, 56 If you would like more information, please visit our website: http://www.erols.com/eisner/mvc.htm