LEO Communications Committee 5/23/25 LEO Communications Committee 5/23/25

LEO Goes to Lansing: AFT-MI Higher Ed Lobby Day

On Wednesday May 14th, 10 LEO members and staff organizers joined members of eight other AFT-MI locals for AFT-MI first ever Higher Ed Lobby Day in Lansing. We met with our legislators to advocate for increased spending for our state’s 15 public universities and 31 community colleges. Lobby Day was also a chance for us to push back against attacks on immigrant students and workers, as well as attacks on DEI.

LEO Communications Committee 9/28/23 LEO Communications Committee 9/28/23

Member Perspectives: LEO at UAW

Member Matt McManus shares his perspective on solidarity with striking UAW workers.

LEO Communications Committee 5/12/23 LEO Communications Committee 5/12/23

Member Perspectives: My First LEO Retreat

Member Matt McManus shares his perspective on attending his first LEO union retreat.

LEO Communications Committee 4/14/23 LEO Communications Committee 4/14/23

Member Perspectives: Days on the GEO Picket

Member Matt McManus shares his perspective on showing solidarity with GEO during their 2023 strike.

LEO Communications Committee 8/29/22 LEO Communications Committee 8/29/22

Member Perspectives: #HotLaborSummer [Part 4]

Member Diane Aretz shares their takeaways from attending the 2022 Labor Notes conference in Chicago.

LEO Communications Committee 8/19/22 LEO Communications Committee 8/19/22

Member Perspectives: #HotLaborSummer [Part 3]

Member Craig Regester shares their takeaways from attending the 2022 Labor Notes conference in Chicago.

LEO Communications Committee 8/12/22 LEO Communications Committee 8/12/22

Member Perspectives: #HotLaborSummer [Part 2]

Member Bobby Madamanchi shares reflections on what it was like to be at the 2022 Labor Notes conference in Chicago.

LEO Communications Committee 8/7/22 LEO Communications Committee 8/7/22

Member Perspectives: #HotLaborSummer [Part 1]

Member Jimmy Brancho shares their perspective on what it was like to be at the 2022 Labor Notes conference in Chicago.

LEO Communications Committee 3/31/22 LEO Communications Committee 3/31/22

Member Perspectives: On Ramadan 2022, Which Begins With April

Member Noha Beydoun shares her perspective on Ramadan and how best to support Muslim students during this month.

LEO Communications Committee 6/10/21 LEO Communications Committee 6/10/21

Member Perspectives: LEO-GLAM, “There is strength in the union”

On June 3, 2021, librarians, archivists, and curators (LACs) held their first membership meeting as “LEO-GLAM.”

GLAM stands for “galleries, libraries, archives, and museums,” and it’s a commonly used shorthand for the kinds of environments our information professional and cultural heritage colleagues work in here at the University of Michigan.

At this meeting, Colleen Marquis [they/them]—an archivist on the Flint campus—delivered powerful opening remarks summarizing how LEO-GLAM came to be. We are excited to share their words with you, and we hope you find this vision inspiring.

LEO Communications Committee 4/30/21 LEO Communications Committee 4/30/21

Member Perspective: “Dear Students, Go forth into the Wild, Beautiful, Terrible World and Use Everything you Gathered Here”

In this Member Perspective, lecturer Margot Finn shares the final letter she wrote to her students after a remote semester. Like for many faculty teaching remotely, and especially for those managing asynchronous classes, connecting with and engaging students has been both the most difficult and challenging, and also at times the most powerful and fulfilling. Her letter captures so much of the overwhelming nature of the work—for faculty and for students—as well as the anxieties, hopes, and highlights that teaching offers in regular times and that have been felt even more acutely during this past year.