rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/protect-tenure-at-osu?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-protect-tenure-at-osu' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> UAOSU Organizing https://actionnetwork.org/groups/uaosu-organizing https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg We, the undersigned members of the Oregon State University community, call on President Murthy to reverse the termination of tenured faculty in the College of Health and reaffirm the university’s commitment to shared governance, academic freedom, and tenure protections. In August 2025, three tenured Professors in OSU’s College of Health received “not for cause” termination notices following a sudden “reorganization” of the Family and Community Health Program. The Administration cited OSU’s loss of SNAP-Ed federal funding as justification, despite the fact that these faculty members were not supported by that grant. The funding loss appears to have been used as a pretext to downsize an entire College of Health program.   The terminated faculty have dedicated decades of service to OSU through their teaching, research, and service in partnership with Oregon’s communities. Despite having earned tenure—intended to provide indefinite protection—they were neither consulted nor offered alternatives such as voluntary FTE adjustments, reassignment to another unit, or accelerated retirement. Everything about the manner in which the terminations were carried out raises serious concerns about the erosion of academic freedom, shared governance, due process, and job security for all faculty. These terminations blatantly violate OSU’s own policies on program reorganization and elimination, Oregon state statute, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement between UAOSU and the OSU Administration. If terminations happened this way in this instance, we are left to believe that terminations can happen like this to any faculty, at any time. Taken with the sudden elimination of the Search Advocate Program and the Social Justice Education Initiative earlier this year, it is another troubling sign of the OSU Administration’s disregard of policies and regulations. By eliminating tenured positions without transparent, inclusive shared governance processes, the Administration has undermined the core principles of the Academy. Tenure is not a privilege—it is a foundational promise that safeguards academic freedom and ensures OSU remains a trusted source of education, research, and extension service for all Oregonians. Tenure and the academic freedom it protects is a key part of a democratic society. This decision threatens public trust in Oregon’s only land-grant university and its mission to equitably extend research and education across the state. Higher education is already under attack, it does not need assistance from those who are supposed to oversee and safeguard it. We respectfully urge President Murthy to restore trust in tenure and shared governance by immediately reinstating the three terminated Professors to their College of Health positions https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/protect-tenure-at-osu