From our colleagues at Faculty Staff Union at the University of Massachusetts Boston (FSU-MTA-NEA):
In a brazen act of retaliation, Africana Studies Professor Keith Jones has been slated for termination this May (2026). Over the last five years at UMass Boston, no other eligible faculty member has been denied continuing appointment.
Professor Jones’s unjust termination is a direct result of both his union activity, which has sought to hold the administration accountable to its urban mission, and his efforts to root our campus culture in anti-racist pedagogies and a restorative justice framework. His termination is not simply about a single UMB community member – it represents an enormous loss for the university, our students, the Africana Studies Department, and our neighboring communities.