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Vogel receives AFT's 2002 Leadership Achievement
Award July 12, 2002 PRESIDENT FELDMAN: We have a few awards being given out this morning to very deserving people and organizations. I hope you'll forgive me for taking the opportunity to present just one of these awards to someone with whom I feel I have a special relationship and who's been a terrific union leader and great comrade in arms and a person of smarts and vision, the president of the University Professionals of Illinois, Mitch Vogel. (Standing ovation) Well, sisters and brothers, here is a man who truly loves his union. He's always been willing to take on any task on the union's behalf and he takes it on with vigor and with insight, with enthusiasm and good humor. He's one of those people, and we all know at least a few, but really a few, who is extremely gifted in figuring out the right policy path and very skillful in leading people to walk that path with him. I just want to give you one example, because it's also a good example of how the union is able to work together across divisional and constituency lines. A few years ago I appointed a task force on teacher education because we know that it needs revamping and we also know that it's a delicate subject since we have a lot of teacher educators in our higher education ranks and a lot of teachers who (inaudible) in the classroom. So I appointed a task force of pre-K to 12 and higher education leaders. Mitch was on it to develop a position for the union on revamping teacher education. It was not an easy job. For an education professor, it was a particularly difficult job. Because you would think that someone in his position might be a little defensive about examining teacher education from top to bottom, but not Mitch. Actually, Mitch was the key in bringing the group around to a tough position that we took on developing a core pedagogy. That was a beefing up of liberal arts, expanding political experiences and setting very high entry and exit standards for teacher education. That is leadership in the best tradition of the AFT. (Applause) Mitch began his career as a teacher in the Chicago Public School System. Of course, he was a member of Chicago Teachers Union Local 1. In 1967, he went on to become a professor in the division of education at what is now Northeastern Illinois University. It was there in an early strike to win collective bargaining that Mitch began his work as a union activist. He held a number of chapter offices until 1980, when he was elected secretary-treasurer of the newly chartered University Professionals of Illinois. And in 1986, he became UPI president, and he served in that role ever since. In 1994, he led the union through one of the most difficult challenges imaginable, which was the breakup of the university system and the loss of some of the union's affiliates, a new mandate for each institution to bring in its own contract. You can imagine the nightmare that that was. He brought the UPI through this passage stronger than ever is just simply an extraordinary achievement. I just want to say one more word before I present this award. A couple months ago Mitch called me to tell me that he decided to retire from the union presidency, which he couldn't be talked out of doing it in August. Apparently having fun with his wife and children and grandchildren was more important to him than negotiating dozens of contracts and dealing with the endless merry-go-round of managers. What distorted priorities, Mitch. (Laughter) MITCH VOGEL: Family values. PRESIDENT FELDMAN: Family values. I have to inform you, though, that just retirement and saying good-bye is not an acceptable option. So I put you on warning that my colleagues and I are going to call on you frequently as we go forward to draw from your energy and your wisdom and your brotherhood. You may be retiring from your presidency and may have a bit more time with your family, but we intend to keep you fully involved in the AFT activities. Mitch Vogel. (Standing ovation) It's a very beautiful plaque that says: "The American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, presents its year 2002 Higher Education Leadership Award to Mitchell Vogel for his leadership, courage, passion and vision in the struggle to gain and preserve the rights and privileges of higher education faculty and staff through collective bargaining. AFT 77th Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada." (Applause) MITCH VOGEL: Thank you, Sandy. Not for this or just for this, but for your friendship and your leadership and, to use the word again, vision. It has been very helpful not just to me, but the important thing to keep in mind is that we're doing things for other people. We've been very successful. At the last breakfast, Bill Scheuerman received a gift from an outgoing leader of a hard hat. I thought at the time that that was inappropriate. A flack jacket might have been more appropriate. (Laughter) But upon reflection, I think it should have been another hat, a white hat. I think the symbol for all of us in this room is that we all wear white hats and we're doing the work that needs to be done to preserve one of the most important resources in our nation, and that's our higher education system. All of us deserve something like this. We do it for ourselves because quite often our members don't do it for us. (Laughter) So we need to applaud all the work that we've done. (Applause) I leave knowing that the Higher Education division of the AFT and the AFT is much better than it was when I first started. I just can think of the growth, look at the number of faces in this room that are new and the number of faces that I have known for many years. I'm confident that all the terrible things that are happening out there, we'll be able to overcome. Again, thank all of you for your friendship. My telephone number is still listed, same as it was before. My e-mail address is the same. And I hope to talk to as many of you as often as possible. Thank you again. Thank you. (Standing ovation) |
