I got to see a great deal of the strike. I made the giant skeleton puppet that traveled the gates of Manoa and participated in rallies at the Capitol, the federal building and Kapiolani Park. In the normal course of the semester, professors are usually running to keep up with their commitments of research, teaching and service. Social interactions common in other fields don't happen as regularly in academia, as professors search their calendars for precious hours to spend in the lab, the library or the studio. In addition, professors tend to be independent thinkers and passionate about their beliefs.
Ideological differences can create divisions between colleagues.
Out on the picket lines I saw colleagues from all fields come together for a common cause. I saw the passions that sometimes divide faculty united into a common passion and belief in the university. I saw professors coming together with public school teachers to strengthen their shared mission of public education. The feeling of hopelessness and despair which has been hanging over UH faculty like a dark cloud since the budget cuts began in the mid-nineties lifted, when the faculty took action to create change. I would like to thank all the students who understood that this strike was not about the additional 1 percent raise we were awarded in the contract.