The Corporate Education of a Union Organizer

Cap Pannel for The Chronicle Review

By Kyle Schafer

I grew up as a working-class kid outside of Minneapolis. When I was little, I told family members that one day I'd be rich and would buy them nice things. I must have been remarkably obnoxious.

Still, I was good at school. I worked hard and aimed high, eventually getting myself accepted to Northwestern University. My parents had taken some community-college classes but didn't have degrees, and there I was, headed to one of the most elite universities in the country.

I don't