In
1969, in response to student and community demands, the Africana Studies
and Research Center (AS&RC) was established at Cornell University.
Now, over 40 years later, Provost Kent Fuchs has recently announced that
the Africana Studies and Research Center will no longer exist as a Center,
but will be reduced to department status and subsumed under the structure
of the College of Arts and Sciences. Provost Fuchs made this unilateral
decision without discussion or consultation with the Africana faculty,
and faculty members have issued a statement in opposition to this dictatorial
action. The current Director of the Africana Center, Professor Robert
L. Harris, Jr., has resigned in protest. Africana alumni and students
are also opposing this action, and are now asking for your help and assistance.
Below is a petition drafted by Cornell University
and AS&RC alumni, please read it and demonstrate your support by adding
your signature and circulating this widely. You do not need to be a graduate
of Cornell University in order to sign the petition. You can access and
sign the petition at the following website:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveafricana/
As supporters of the Africana Studies and
Research Center (AS&RC) at Cornell University, we stand resolute in
our solidarity with the Africana Studies faculty in opposition to Provost
Kent Fuchs' brazen and appalling attempts to undermine the Africana Center
with a hasty and unilateral decision to reposition this institution relegating
it to the status of a "unit" within the College of Arts and
Sciences. We are particularly troubled by the news that this action was
taken without consultation with the Africana Studies faculty or an extensive
internal or external review that would normally accompany a change of
this magnitude. We believe there is simply no justification for such an
undemocratic decision; this action reflects a deep disrespect and contempt
for the Africana Center and its faculty, students, and staff. The fact
that Africana faculty have demonstrated their opposition, and the fact
that the Center's Director, Professor Robert L. Harris, Jr., has resigned
in protest, should serve as testimony to this ill-advised course of action.
We contend that the quality and effectiveness
of the AS&RC as a center of knowledge and the principle force for
faculty diversity is rooted in a distinctive relationship to the university,
beyond the jurisdiction of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Africana
Studies and Research Center was founded as a Center for specific intellectual
and pedagogical reasons. Those reasons remain as relevant today as they
were more than 40 years ago when the Center was first established. Furthermore,
we regard the Provost's contention that his decision is motivated by a
desire to increase the Center's faculty and resources toward the establishment
of a Ph.D. Program, as hollow and counterintuitive. Those of us who are
well-versed in university systems and structures understand that this
organizational shift is deeply tied to issues of power, control and financial
resources. We understand that although the Africana Center is not fully
autonomous, there are significant consequences that will arise from being
reduced to department status ("a unit") within the College of
Arts and Sciences. In particular, allocation of resources and faculty
lines, as well as tenure decisions and other important matters will be
subjected to a different process, one that is not likely to benefit Africana
Studies in the long-run. Moreover, despite the claims of university administrators,
we know that it is not necessary to change Africana's status in order
to establish a Ph.D. program. Following the external review in 2006, there
was widespread agreement to create a doctoral program in Africana Studies
with no discussion of a relationship to the College of Arts and Sciences.
It was clear then as it is now that resources and faculty lines are the
main requirements for the establishment of a Ph.D. program, and there
is no reason to deny those resources to Africana as a "Center".
We stand firm in our opposition to this assault on the status and institutional
integrity of the AS&RC, and we strongly urge Provost Fuchs to reverse
course and avoid what will surely be detrimental to the quality of educational
life and public image of Cornell University.
Leslie M. Alexander, Ph.D., Associate Professor,
The Ohio State University
Scot Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University
of California, Los Angeles
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