Dear colleagues,

As indicated in a previous Letter from Noji, the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network to Support APU Lecturers, which was established in order to provide support for an APU lecturer who has initiated a court case, has opened a bank account, and here issues an appeal for a fund raising campaign.

Since the decision to support the APU lecturer's court case is also a decision to criticize the organization to which one belongs, it is perhaps natural that many people might be anxious that providing support by signing petitions or expressing personal opinions might prove disadvantageous in a number of ways. However, providing financial support is an anonymous activity and therefore safe. Moreover, it will have a significant and substantial impact. This form of support will not only be a declaration of our determination to support a colleague who is in trouble and who has resolutely taken a stand in protest against the Trust, but will also be an expression of no-confidence in the managers of the academy who have recently fallen into a narrow-minded mindset. We hope that as many members of the Ritsumeikan Academy as possible take the opportunity to utilize this method of support.

We believe that if this type of development unfurls in the organization, it will demonstrate that the organization that is Ritsumeikan is still healthy, enhance the social trust in the Ritsumeikan Academy, and contribute, if only in a small way, to the formation of a "Ritsumeikan Brand".

Notification of the Opening of a Bank Account for Financial Contributions to Support an APU Lecturer

Dear colleagues,

From All Members of the Ritsumeikan Faculty Network to Support an APU Lecturer

A bank account has been opened for people to deposit financial contributions to help support the APU lecturer who has initiated a court case seeking a temporary disposition to preserve his or her status. All funds deposited in this bank account will be transferred directly to the lecturer.

  滋賀銀行南草津駅前支店

  普通預金口座番号 633143 名義人立命館教員ネット

  Shiga Bank, Minami Kusatsu Ekimae Shiten

  Ordinary Account: Account Number 633143, 
  Account Holder Ritsumeikan Kyoin Netto

The lecturer in question was fired in March. We hope to gather at least 1.2 million yen in contributions from within the academy to help with this individual's living expenses from April to November, when it is expected that the court decision will be handed down (in other words, 150,000 yen a month), but would like to see a much greater sum raised.

We will report on a regular basis how many deposits have been made, and what the total sum contributed is. The number of contributions will serve as a barometer of internal criticism of the Board of Trustees' position in this incident.

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Editor: Toru Tsujishita
( College of Science and Engineering, Professor )
Japanese version sent to 3889 faculty members and staffs,
archived in http://ac-net.org/rtm/No/87, 　
this version sent to 406 faculty members,
archived in http://ac-net.org/rtm/No/98