Rocky Top’s faculty voices are picking at the seams of the global garment industry.
In a recent letter drafted by the Department of Sociology and the global studies program, faculty and staff signers petitioned Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and members of the UT administration to adopt a policy requiring all UT licensees that “sourced, produced or purchased collegiate apparel” sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
This letter comes, in part, as a response to the fatal factory collapse on April 24, 2013 that killed more than 1,000 factory workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital. Before this, the letter references additional calamities that include 500 other apparel worker deaths in twenty other locations prior to the collapse at Rana Plaza.
Rob Spirko, the Faculty Senate’s communications officer and English professor, said the resolution, should it pass, will mark UT as the first school in the Southeast to adopt the accord licensing policy, joining 24 other schools that agreed to the policy’s terms.
Four of these schools, Spirko elaborated, are ranked as top-25 public universities, thus aligning with goals set by UT administrators in 2010 to reach status as a “Top 25” public institution.
“We can’t really tell the [VolShop] what to do, but we can say ‘Look, the faculty all think this is a good move,’” Spirko said. “It shows that we are paying attention to some of these issues. It’s a way we can say, ‘Okay, how can we make sure things don’t suck for the people who work in the factories?’ because we want to be an ethical institution.”
As chair of the Senate’s Athletics Committee and professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Dean Kopsell ensured this outline for ethically made apparel was also seen by UT Athletics, a major licensee for university apparel.
While Kopsell made the distinction between apparel made specifically for athletes and apparel sold at other outlets like the VolShop, he said UT Athletics’ spokespeople were “very transparent” on the issue.
“We’re supposed to think globally and act locally,” Kopsell said. “So, this is one of those things that if you think on a global scale, if we’re going to purchase things through the university, we want to make sure that those in charge, coming from the top down, know that those are coming from a legitimate organization and from people who are being treated ethically regardless of where they are on the planet.”
Because of UT Athletics’ recent switch to Nike as partner for athletic apparel, Kopsell said his inquiry asked if the program’s new licensing with the company fell under the terms in the accord.
In a brief update written to the Faculty Senate president Joanne Hall, Kopsell relayed Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration and Sports Programs Mike Ward’s response to the concerns raised by the sociology department’s letter:
“I very much appreciate the faculty’s concern on this issue. The athletics department and the university are happy to have a primary apparel partner (Nike) who has signed the accord. We have great trust in Nike and their corporate citizenry.”
Ward was not available for comment, but did reference the faculty letter’s concern for VF Corp, a specific subsidiary identified as a UT licensee that does not comply with the accord’s terms.
Ward states in Kopsell’s update that he “does not believe there is a single accord to manage this issue in its entirety,” clarifying that UT Athletics would be “happy to participate in any groups evaluating the university’s stance on this issue if deemed appropriate.”
Among other motions on curriculum changes, faculty benefits and a new undergraduate research fee, the resolution for the accord will be brought up for vote at the next Faculty Senate meeting on April 13.
For more information about the Faculty Senate, its members and agendas, visit their website.
