ABSTRACT
It was supposed to be a dull day downtown. On September 28, 1999, I rode the subway to the court building where I would offer testimony to a hearing officer from the New York regional office of the National Labor Relations Board. I was to testify, of my own volition, on behalf of New York University graduate students who were seeking to join a union, then return uptown to teach my afternoon class in NYU’s School of Education. When I entered the room where the hearing was to take place, however, it was easy to tell that the stakes were high. I already knew that NYU had hired the same high-profile law firm used previously by Yale and presently by Columbia University. But to my surprise, not one but three lawyers for the university were present along with two high-ranking university officials, each dressed in a carefully pressed suit and tie: the vice dean of my school and NYU vice president, Robert Berne. Then there I was, a young, untenured assistant professor, dressed in rumpled khakis. I was called to the stand, and lawyers for both sides began with prepared questions. The hearing room grew increasingly tense, the questioning increasingly fierce.
