Our decision to rename the UVU chapter of the AAUP in honor of David Keller is meant as a statement about a tradition David helped establish and that he has kept viable for a decade and a half.
One highlight in this history was David's work to bring Cary Nelson, then President of the National AAUP, to campus. Cary spoke forcefully and intelligently to audiences that included AAUP members, members of the UVU Senate, members of the faculty, students, and most of the UVU Administration. Discourse about academic freedom will never be the same on our campus.
Most significant, however, has been David's work in behalf of members of the UVU faculty who, variously, have been denied due process in decisions of tenure and promotion and dismissal. In the name of our chapter, David argued various cases skillfully and forcefully. For those whose cases were reheard and for whom positive decisions resulted, this was critical intervention. And even those cases that were lost were meaningful as they further established the principle that questionable decisions will be challenged.
Our chapter proudly continues this tradition of shared governance, of faculty solidarity, of due process, and most essentially, of academic freedom.
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