The Faculty Finds a Voice...
In the 1960's the first faculty newsletter, FEDER, was published under the auspices of the FCJC (Flint Community Junior College) Federation of Teachers, Local 1686. It established an important tradition.After the Michigan Education Association was selected to be the college faculty's bargaining unit in 1969, there was a lapse of two years in which the faculty received only periodic reports about issues of concern. But in September, 1971, and official newsletter, "The Moving Finger," under the authority of the Board of Directors of GCCEA (Genesee Community College Education Association) was launched.
For the next seven years the "Finger's" editorship would alternate periodically between Maurice Naughton and Jim Hines. It quickly became established as the voice of the GCCEA and as such carried "periodic reports form the President and the Board of Directors on issues of faculty concerns" and informed "the faculty of the policies and activities of the Association.
Although the editorship changed to Anna Bradley and Grayce Scholt in January, 1979, the purpose of the publication remained essentially the same. In addition to reports and commentary, the newsletter actively solicited opinions from faculty members and regularly ran editorials by the Association's president. The January, 1979, issue carried the first "Badger" cartoon, which would become a regular feature.
By the March issue, the editors were considering changing the name of the newsletter. "The Moving Finger" title had been taken from Edward Fitzgerald's "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam":
"The Moving Finger writes: and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all they Tears wash out a Word of it."By the April issue, the Association's Board of Directors had approved the new co-editors' title, FORWARD. The arguments against the "The Moving Finger" title had been that it invited "vulgar comments," and that it was "literary," suggesting to some that the newsletter reflected "too strongly the opinions of the language division."
Arguments for the FORWARD title were based on definitions of the word as cited in the American Heritage Dictionary: "Moving toward a position in front," "eager," "bold," "fresh," "progressive." (Synonyms were "self-assertive" and "pushy.")
The co-editors said, "We hope that the march ahead will be toward a better future (for the institution.) We will try to nudge things in that direction.
That "nudging" has gone on up to the present as one concern after another (often a crisis) has had to be dealt with, the FORWARD has remained a viable way for the Association's president and board of directors to communicate with the members-as well as being a way for faculty members to vent their opinions on many subjects, from specific concerns such as having shelves installed in the women's restrooms and fixing the leaky roof on the fieldhouse to creating far-reaching policy changes that affect the goals and purpose of the entire institution.
In January, 1982, the co-editorship changed to Grayce Scholt and Cy Leder. From 1990 to April, 1998, Cy Leder took over the helm alone, but he was joined in October by Leslie Vitale. In January, 1994, Leslie Vitale and Kon Prokos became co-editors.
Along with editorials, guest editorials, and other "serious" articles, the newsletter has run other features with varying purposes. "The Golden Apple" award is given periodically to an individual or a department who made some worthwhile contribution that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. "The Rotten Apple" is awarded for the opposite reasons.
A guidon (a banner with "MCC" on it) has preceded the title at the top of the page one since March, 1979. It originated in the first "Badger" cartoon which showed Don Quixote carrying it. In medieval times, a guidon was used to show the position of a guide, or the line on which a troop formation was to be made. The editors explained that the point of using the guidon as a symbol was that it seemed to "distinguish our union troop which wars (with words) on anything that seriously interferes with the education of students."
Graphics to correlate with certain items have long decorated the FORWARD's pages in an attempt to enliven as well as enlighten. And the "Badger" cartoons-usually the last page of the newsletter-which have appeared in every issue since January, 1979, have attempted to reflect faculty concerns with at least some degree of humor. (See Appendix)