At the Dec. 1 convening of the University and Student senates, both bodies voted in favor of a resolution that called for the priority hiring of University workers displaced by the realignment of the University. This action should be applauded; however, it is critical that workers’ support not end there; the entire University community should rally around the displaced workers.

The displaced workers symbolize the ambiguity of the entire strategic positioning process. Many University workers who have spent the majority of their professional careers trying to accomplish exactly what the University administration supposedly seeks to do in its strategic positioning have found themselves excluded from its inception and are still unsure of their futures after its implementation.

It is important to make University officials aware that they cannot just “do as they may” in any regard, especially when it comes to the well-being of the people they employ. It is already tragic enough that the University is closing the door of educational opportunity to many people because of the strategic positioning. The University cannot just sit back idly and let the displaced workers be “bled out.” The University community should rally behind them and give them support.

These talented workers have an investment in the success of Minnesota and have already demonstrated how much they value the University. The University administration would be foolish not to place the same value in them and give them priority in hiring.

The University administration has already demonstrated its contempt for fairness in how it approached the strategic positioning. Let us hope that it does not show the same contempt for the workers who not only desire the success of Minnesota, but also make it possible. Let us also hope that if the University administration does not make it a priority to rehire the displaced workers, we will be compelled to act and speak out against it.