Furlough Friday Event

Natasha Zaretsky et al are planing an event this Friday to celebrate our furloughs. Her flyer is below; after the break, her fuller announcement about the event.
Furlough Friday Flyer

I am writing to invite everyone to Furlough Friday, an event that will be held this coming Friday, April 29th between 11 and 3 on the North Lawn in front of Morris Library (facing Pulliam Hall). The purpose of Furlough Friday is to come together and poke fun--by having fun!--at the administration’s ridiculous fiction that somehow we are now working less because we are being paid less. Please feel free to bring lawn chairs, beach balls, and any other objects that suggest leisure, lollygagging, and idleness.  

Furlough Friday has a more serious purpose, as well. We hope to use this opportunity to collect stories about the furloughs--what happened in your department, what you chose to do with your form, etc. So please come prepared to tell us your "furlough" story. In the meantime, we are urging people to do two things in response to the imposed pay cuts (i.e. "furloughs"). First, we are encouraging everyone to write letters to their Deans informing them that--contrary to administration directives--they are working on their furlough days. For a great example of one such letter, see the following by Foreign Languages and Literatures professor Veronique Maisier: http://siucfaculty.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-colleague-veronique-maisier-asked-me.html. If you do write a letter to your Dean, can you please let me know? Second, we are encouraging people to use instant reply email messages on their furlough days to inform colleagues and students that they have been furloughed, that they cannot reply to email, and that if the lack of availability is inconvenient, all colleagues and students should feel free to register their annoyance with the Office of the Chancellor.

Hopefully, at Furlough Friday, we can brainstorm other ways of collectively responding to the furloughs. But mostly, we hope to use the event as a way to playfully mock the spurious idea of "furloughs" while also having some fun in the midst of an increasingly stressful situation.

Please share the flyer and help spread the word about this gathering. Hope to see you all on Furlough Friday (hopefully the rain will be over by then).