News releases

STATEMENT BY CHANCELLOR DAVID WARD
(In coordination with the University of Michigan, Indiana University)
2/18/2000

We today (along with the University of Michigan and Indiana University) announce that we will conditionally join with the Workers Rights Consortium in order to try to work toward a fair and just monitoring system and governance structure that will address our principles and will show sensitivity towards licensee concerns.

We take this step without endorsing all of the provisions stated in the preliminary charter of the WRC, which will meet in April in New York City. As part of the WRC process, we will work actively to address the concerns articulated by the Advisory Committee, such as the fairness and credibility of the monitoring system as well as governance structure and organizational viability.

We will participate in the process so long as we are making progress towards achieving these goals and we commit to using our best efforts to advance the process.

We will rely on our respective Advisory Committees or successor groups composed of faculty, staff and students, to inform our judgment about whether participation in the process continues to be warranted in our universities' best interest.

We also will commit resources to support appropriate pilot projects or other efforts to create effective education or enforcement mechanisms.
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