As a faith leader, I support Elon
non-tenure-track faculty who are forming
a union!
Dear President Book and Provost House:
We write to you to voice our support for the non-tenure-track faculty at Elon University, who are coming
together to form a union and foster greater justice and democracy at their workplace. We urge you be
neutral and let the faculty vote on their union.
As faith and community leaders, we regularly encounter people who are struggling to make ends meet.
The reasons for their struggles are legion. Perhaps their employers moved operations elsewhere and laid
them off. Or they work several low-paying jobs to provide for their families—but none of them offer
enough hours to provide health insurance or retirement benefits. Or maybe they have decent jobs but are
burdened with student or medical debt.
And what of our educators? They, too, face mounting challenges to a stable life. North Carolina, once a
national leader in public education, has systematically disinvested from it in recent decades. Funding cuts
means fewer resources for students and stagnating wages and benefits for teachers. This time of
uncertainty has required bold moral action. Accordingly, we were inspired by the courage of North
Carolina public school teachers who united, thousands strong, for the “Red for Ed” rally in Raleigh in May.
These teachers stood up for the future of their profession and the future of their students.
Now, the non-tenure-track faculty at the university you lead are standing up for their rights—both moral
and legal—in forming a union. Over the past decades, Elon University has become a leader in higher
education in this state, not least because of the student-focused model it has pioneered under the
stewardship of you and your predecessors. As teachers, mentors, and counselors, the faculty who have
filed for a union election are among those making your student-centered mission a reality, day in and day
out.
Their desire for a union is also desire for greater belonging in the Elon community. This is true belonging,
based on the mutual respect of negotiating, in good faith, to improve their working conditions, which are
their students’ learning conditions. Raising standards for faculty will help students continue to grow and
the university community to flourish.
In the spirit of justice and moral clarity, we call on you to be neutral and allow these faculty to decide on
the critical matter of their union for themselves, through a free and fair election.

 Sincerely,
Ben Floyd, Pastor, Blackburn’s Chapel UMC
Ben Haas, Pastor, Emmaus Way Church
Reverend Caitlin Tremper, Associate Pastor, First United Methodist Church Asheboro
Reverend Doctor Christopher B. Hughes, United Methodist Pastor, retired
Rev. Chris Breslin

Pastor, Oak Church

Chris Agoranos, Pastor, Calvary-Resurrection UMC
Craig Schaub, Parkway United Church of Christ
David Stephen Cloniger, M.Div.; Ph.D. Davidson, NC
Denver Douglas Clewis, Elder, Fla. Conference United Methodist Church, Retired
Eric Solomon
Reverend Doris (Dottie) Gibbs, retired elder in the WNC Conference of the UMC
Dr. Robert Charles Scott
Gregory K Moss
Reverend James Marsh Jr, Pastor at Bread of Life Church Washington DC
Reverend J Jay Kennett, Hillsborough UCC
Jeremy Morris, United Methodist Church
Jessica Rigel, Reverend, PC(USA)
John S. Friedman, Rabbi Emeritus: Judea Reform Congregation
Reverend John Thornton, Durham, NC

 Karen Kurtz, United Methodist pastor
Imam Khalid Griggs, Imam, Community Mosque of Winston-Salem
Kim Ingram, Director of Min Serv, WNCC, UMC
Rev. Melissa St. Clair, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)/United Church of Christ
Rev. Dr. Michelle J. Morris, Center for Vitality
Nancy Miller Campbell, Associate Pastor, SouthPark United Methodist Church
Pastor James Brunson, First Baptist Church
Rev. Ashley Crowder Stanley, Sr. Pastor, Mills River United Methodist Church
Reverend Brian Elwell, Head Pastor, Knob Creek UMC, Kadesh UMC, and St. Peter’s UMC
Rev. Dr. J. Diane Mowrey, Chaplain Emerita, Queen’s University of Charlotte
Rev. Kelly P. Carpenter, Senior Pastor, Green Street United Methodist Church
Reverend Dr. Julie A Mavity Maddalena, Interim Pastor, Georgetown Congregational UCC
Reverend Dr. Stephen Boyd, Minister's Conference of Winston-Salem & Vicinity
Reverend Shelly Webb, WNC United Methodist Clergy
Susan Eldon, Pastor, Saxapahaw United Methodist Church
Suzanne Watts Henderson, Queens University
Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Mann, Minister Emeritus, Parkway UCC, Winston Salem
Reverend Dr. Timothy C. Murphy, Senior Pastor and Teacher, Plymouth Congregational Church