Rift With Faculty Union Remains As Rutgers President Steps Down

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — As Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announced Tuesday he will be stepping down from the job in June, there is still a deep rift between him and the Rutgers' faculty union, the AAUP-AFT.

Faculty union head Todd Wolfson said the union has been "sorely disappointed" in Holloway's leadership. Tension still stems from the first-ever Rutgers faculty strike last year — five heated days where professors refused to teach class.

"When President Holloway came to Rutgers four years ago, we welcomed him and his promise to bring a new direction to many initiatives we value at our university — particularly his promise to build a better, more collaborative relationship with our unions," said Wolfson, a Rutgers journalism professor. "We were sorely disappointed that he didn’t take the opportunity to lead his administration in this way, including in bargaining our new contracts in spring 2023, which were only concluded after Rutgers’ first-ever educators’ strike. We hope the next president of Rutgers has the same intention to bring a new direction at our university — but follows through on that commitment with actions."

Holloway declined to respond. But he revealed this week that it was during the April 2023 strike that union protesters showed up outside his home at 7:30 a.m. one day. Holloway told NJ.com the incident not only made him fear for the safety of his wife and children, but also required campus police to post a quad car outside his front door, and insist Holloway have a 24/7 police escort.

"I didn’t sign up to have a police detail with me everywhere I go," Holloway said this week, of his decision to step down.

A spokesman for the union said this week that "the unions didn't organize the picketing of President Holloway's residence, though individual members participated, of course. Also, Holloway's residence is a university building; it's next to the football stadium."

"Most important of all, there was never any threat to President Holloway's or his family's security," the union spokesman added. "All picketing wherever it took place on university property was entirely peaceful. We know of no arrests or even the possibility of an arrest happening during the five days of the strike. The police response that Holloway needed round-the-clock security was a wild overreaction to the kind of protest that happens routinely in any strike or movement demonstration ... What's ironic is that it was President Holloway who threatened to get a court injunction against our strike, which raised the prospect of police arresting the people who do the work at Rutgers. From our point of view, that was the real threat."

Holloway has always maintained the professors' strike was illegal, as public employees cannot go on strike in New Jersey.

To end the five-day strike, Holloway agreed to "substantial" salary increases for full-time professors, grad assistants and teaching assistants. But those salary increases were only funded after Gov. Phil Murphy intervened and "contributed significant state resources for the agreement," an anonymous union source told NJ.com at the time.

Holloway said this week he remains concerned that agreeing to those professor salary increases will lead to tuition hikes, especially once that one-shot infusion of state aid from Murphy runs out.

“We will have to keep going back to the state and say we need X tens of millions of dollars to cover those wage increases,” he told NJ.com this week.

Holloway announced Tuesday he will step down as Rutgers president on June 30, 2025. He will take a one-year sabbatical and then join the Rutgers faculty full time, where he will teach American history and African-American history.

"We will welcome Professor Holloway back into our ranks and hope we can find ways to work together for a better Rutgers for all," said Wolfson.

Tuesday: Rutgers President Holloway Announces He Will Resign At End Of Year