From Anne Balay, Incoming General Member of HELU Steering Committee
On December 5 & 6, the city of Detroit and Wayne State University hosted the incoming and outgoing HELU steering committee, other electeds, and staff for a strategic planning retreat and lesson handover. Many of us had roots in Detroit, and it was the perfect spot for us all to talk through our future as a team. Walter Reuther, Grace Lee Boggs, TDU . . . the auto industry and unions shaped the city, both in their rise and their retreat.
We visited the Carhartt mothership, threw axes competitively, and told “campfire stories” about what brought each of us to HELU. We imagined narratives of how HELU can seize control of higher education, shifting it away from corporate greed and increasing job stratification and towards a populist, accessible, and critical public good.
Our focus for the weekend was on HOW to accomplish our goals. In small groups, we strategized May Day uprisings, state-wide or regional legislative and policy campaigns and coordinated bargaining. Always, we came back to organizing: each HELU activist, delegate, and member will need to personally engage with our networks, our neighbors, and others to grow our movement. Meetings and emails aren’t enough; relationships and community are what get people activated and engaged. We sat in the conference rooms of this iconic public university and imagined differently.
You’ll get a formal and official report in January, but the retreat left me excited to get this started, so I wanted to warn you: strangers will phone you up and ask what brings you to this work and what you want to fix next. They might tell you a story about their involvement, and they will want to hear yours.
