LIU Lockout: Fill-In Sociology Professor Resigns in Protest

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — An adjunct sociology professor resigned Monday morning from Long Island University (LIU) in protest over the ongoing faculty lockout that continued to roil the Fort Greene campus this week.

Four hundred full-time and part-time professors remained barred from entering the Downtown Brooklyn-adjacent LIU campus — without pay or health insurance — as an ongoing contract dispute entered its second week.

Fill-in instructors have been hired to instruct university courses in place of regular faculty.

"They don't even know what they're doing; they're petrified; they can't teach," Daniel Lorient, the professor who resigned in protest, said of his newly hired colleagues, who he said are working to bring a sense of normalcy to the classroom during a time of great tumult.

Lorient began as an adjunct lecturer at LIU in August, according to his LinkedIn profile. One month later, he said he's already grown weary of the school's administrative decisions.

LIU is the first higher-ed institution in U.S. history to lock out its faculty.

"LIU is an extremely expensive school," Lorient said Monday, standing in front of a crowd of student protesters gathered at the campus gates. "You're paying all this tuition and you're being cheated. This is a disrespect to you and I'm not going to be part of it."

Hundreds of LIU students have joined the teacher protest — voicing their concerns, in particular, over what they see as a lack of quality replacement instructors. Many of the protesters have been calling for the resignation of LIU president Kimberly Cline.

The LIU Student Coalition has launched a petition urging the LIU administration to end the lockout, and urging students to drop their classes if a deal was not reached by Monday night. The last day to drop courses at LIU Brooklyn was Tuesday Sept. 13.

Lead photo by Aaron Simon