March 1999:  The first 17 colleges and universities announce their intention to affiliate with the Fair Labor Association (FLA).  Several also announce their intention to require public disclosure by their licensees of factory locations producing collegiate merchandise.

May 1999:  The FLA is formally incorporated with a founding board of nine directors (four companies, four NGOs, and a university representative).

June 1999:  The first meeting of the University Advisory Council (UAC) takes place in Washington, D.C., with many of the 100 members present.  A delegation of students is invited to participate in the meeting.  Carol Kaesebier of Notre Dame and Jim Wilkerson of Duke are elected co-chairs.  The UAC unanimously adopts a resolution calling for the FLA to specify certain women's rights in its monitoring benchmarks, which the FLA board subsequently agrees to do by unanimous vote.  At that same meeting, 22 universities announce they are supporting a year-long NGO training program under the auspices of the International Labor Rights Fund.

September 1999:  Chuck Ruff is appointed chair of the FLA board.  A lawyer with experience in private practice and public service, including service as a Watergate prosecutor, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and most recently as White House counsel during the impeachment process, he also has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to human rights issues.  University representatives participated actively in the search. The UAC Executive Committee holds its first meeting in Chicago. Two hours of the meeting are devoted to a conversation with students.

October 1999:  Several companies, including Nike and Gear for Sports, announce their intention to publicly disclose the locations of factories where they produce collegiate merchandise.

December 1999:  Second meeting of the UAC Executive Committee. Bob Durkee of Princeton is elected the official university representative to the FLA board.

January 2000:  Sam Brown is appointed executive director of the FLA.  Along time human rights activist, Sam served as treasurer of the State of Colorado, ran the Peace Corps and Vista during the Carter Administration, founded and ran a company to build low-income housing, and served from 1994-1998 as the U.S. ambassador in eastern Europe responsible for implementing the Helsinki Accords. Again, university representatives participated actively in the search. Sam, Chuck Ruff, Bob Durkee, and other representatives of the FLA begin a series of travels that will take them to more than 20 campuses in the course of the spring.

February 2000:  Third meeting of the UAC Executive Committee.  An FLA website is activated at www.fairlabor.org.  Through the website the FLA releases its Guidelines for the Accreditation of Independent External Monitors. The NGOs in the FLA issue a living wage statement.  The NGOs also announce the formation of an NGO advisory council, initially with 15 members from the U.S. and abroad.

March 2000:  The U.S. Department of Labor issues a 200-page study that had been requested by the FLA, on "wages, benefits, poverty line and meeting workers' needs in the apparel and footwear industries" in 36 countries, including the U.S.

April 2000:  The FLA opens office space in Washington, D.C. Searches are launched for three senior staff positions: Director of Monitoring, Director of Accreditation, and University Liaison.  The UAC Executive Committee meets and sends to all UAC members a proposed program for small licensees.  The Executive Committee also unanimously adopts a resolution calling for a
change in the FLA's supermajority voting process.  The FLA board authorizes field testing of specific monitoring benchmarks and guidelines in five countries during the month of May.  These benchmarks and guidelines were developed with active participation by university representatives.  They include the women's rights provisions previously proposed by the UAC.

May 2000:  Monitors are invited to begin the process of applying for accreditation.  Maureen Murtha, recently of the U.S. Department of Labor, is appointed FLA executive officer.  The current number of schools in the FLA is 134. The National Council of Churches fills the fifth NGO seat on the FLA board; Levi Strauss (one of the 11 companies currently in the FLA) fills the fifth industry seat.  Both the NGOs and the companies have one more seat to fill.

June 2000: The second annual meeting of the UAC takes place with 50 of the 137 member schools represented and 9 other schools and 7 students attending as guests. Carol Kaesebier of Notre Dame and Rut Tufts of UNC are elected co-chairs of the UAC; Bob Durkee of Princeton is re-elected to the FLA board. The UAC votes unanimously to require all FLA-affiliated schools with licensing programs to adopt policies that require the public disclosure of factory locations by their licensees. It also adopts recommendations regarding an FLA program for small licensees and approves resolutions that encourage educational programs and research on the concept and implications of a "living wage;" endorse FLA efforts to develop and help fund internship opportunities for students; and create a task force to examine a variety of issues, including selection of factories, selection of monitors, the third party complaint procedure and a possible UAC initiative to augment regular FLA monitoring. GEAR For Sports joins the FLA.

July 2000: The FLA board adopts a 46-page Monitoring Guidance document that includes detailed instructions to monitors and Benchmarks that enumerate specific standards under each provision of the FLA code, including the women's rights provisions proposed by the UAC. The board appoints Maureen Murtha as University Liaison.

September 2000: The FLA board approves the UAC-recommended program for small licensees with a request that it be reviewed in the summer of 2001. The board also adopts a resolution encouraging companies to use accredited NGOs whenever possible in their independent monitoring. The number of affiliated colleges and universities reaches 145. The UAC Executive Committee invites 40 major collegiate licensees to an October 31 informational meeting.

October 2000: Two university-initiated reports are released. One, on a yearlong study of working conditions in seven countries where a substantial portion of university-licensed apparel is manufactured, was commissioned by five universities--Harvard, California, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State--and prepared by Business for Social Responsibility Education Fund, the Investor Responsibility Research Center and MIT assistant professor Dara O'Rourke. The other, on a pilot project involving five major collegiate licensees and the non-profit monitoring firm, Verite, was jointly sponsored by the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) and six schools--Boston College, Duke, Georgetown, UNC-Chapel Hill, USC and Wisconsin-Madison.
 
October 9, 2000