Editor’s note: Maris Stella (Star) Swift is a retired professor of labor and employment law, and the opinions expressed in this piece are Swift’s own.

My wife and I (together) proudly served over 50 years as faculty at Grand Valley State University. During that time, we enjoyed our careers, taught thousands of students, represented the University at national and international conferences, worked with outstanding faculty colleagues and staff and saw excellent administrative leadership at the University. It took us by surprise when we received letters stating that our retiree health benefits were to be reduced/eliminated. So, we attended a meeting on the Allendale Campus in hopes that we would better understand this administrative decision. We were greatly disappointed as we left the meeting, not only in the content but also in how it was handled.

Why were there no town halls before the decision was made? Why was the communication with us so cryptic? The one central question asked before, during and after the meeting was: Why isn’t the administration here to talk to us?

No one from the current GVSU administration was present for the meeting except one employee from the Human Resources Department. He did not actively take part in the meeting, claimed to know nothing about the decision and sat in the back of the room on a table texting and swinging his legs as if he had not a care in the world. Eventually he looked up from his texting to tell us he knew it was an emotional time but that we must adapt to change. This disrespectful treatment and abrupt attitude was not appreciated by the current and former employees present.

The purpose of the meeting, apparently, was simply to explain our lump sum payment or annuity options. It was conducted by an outside firm. The members of the outside firm who spoke did not clearly answer questions, seemed unprepared, did not offer handouts of the important charts in their presentation, admitted there were very recent major changes to the packet we were previously mailed, told us repeatedly that we were fortunate to get anything and that we should trust the (unspecified) annuity insurance firm that has yet to be chosen. Multiple times the attendees asked if they could be emailed a copy of the presentation. As of now, we have received no such email or snail mail with the corrections to the program.

I am a retired labor and employment attorney and for over 10 years I oversaw, as chair of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC), all of the public sector bargaining in the entire state — police, fire, teachers, universities, city and county employees. Coming from this background, I previously had admired GVSU for its steady hand with employees and its commitment to a respectful environment throughout the community regardless of union status. This type of leadership is uncommon because it shows strong emotional intelligence and a core belief that everyone in the workplace matters. This was the GVSU we taught at and happily retired from. We always felt like GVSU had our backs even during previous challenging financial times.

I know most of the public universities in Michigan are unionized and almost all the public-school teachers in the state are unionized. Until now I never saw a need for unionization at GVSU due to excellent leadership, financial responsibility and planning, and the above-mentioned community respect. We all had a common purpose to serve the students. We (as faculty) did not make as high a salary compared to other institutions, but we were always told our health benefits were safe and well managed. When we retired, we trusted that the University was financially sound.

I do not know what happened to the fund for employee retiree health benefits. I have heard numerous opinions from current and former employees. Yet, we received zero answers at the meetings set up (and unattended) by GVSU administration. I just know that the trust former administrations built over decades is gone and that it is a huge loss for all of us in the GVSU community. When I looked around the room at the meeting I saw current and former employees angry but also sad about this loss. The University is no longer the place we remember, and that is the greatest loss for us all.