Our very own mission statement acknowledges the university's commitment "to cultivate in our students an understanding of the citizens and cultures of the world, realizing this goal through curriculum, study abroad, and students who come to Tufts from abroad." Although Tufts University thrives in attracting students from all over the world and in offering celebrated study abroad opportunities, it fails to provide an inclusive curriculum that focuses on the experiences and demands of our very diverse student population. Across all disciplines, this year has witnessed an alarming departure of faculty of color; and no written administrative commitment to alleviate such threat posed to the few courses that concentrate on the understanding of different communities. In light of the sudden emergence of 11 hate crimes on our campus and the weakening of our Nondiscrimination Policy, we -concerned students working endlessly to see these changes addressed - feel that it is necessary to convey the inconceivable loss of faculty and the widening gaps in our Tufts curriculum. In fact, we believe that the remedy for these upsetting curricular threats is a crucial step in fighting prejudice and intolerance in our campus and society.
On Faculty Retention
When one thinks about the most exciting, fun, and enriching classes at Tufts, courses like Professor Gill's "African American History," Professor Robinson's "African American Politics," and Professor Glater's "Race, Sex, Class, and Law" come to mind. The common thread that these classes share is that they are taught by some of the most intelligent and talented black minds of their field. Unfortunately, courses like these are being threatened as Tufts becomes an increasingly uncomfortable environment for black professionals and academics. This year alone eight black faculty members left Tufts. Over the last four years, 32 black professors, directors, and administrators have departed the University.
The Pan African Alliance believes that these departures are the result of three basic problems affecting all faculty of color at Tufts. One: The sense of isolation felt by faculty of color due to the lack of colleagues to support them. Two: The administration's resistance to accommodate faculty of color with their academic and professional needs. Three: The inability of Tufts to match the competitive salaries offered to faculty of color at other institutions. In short, faculty of color are finding Tufts an increasingly discomforting place to educate and grow professionally. If these crucial retention issues are not addressed, not only is our university at risk of losing valuable courses that diversify our curriculum, but also the wealth of knowledge that these professors offer to students as mentors and advisors.
Hence, the Pan African Alliance has issued a state of emergency in regards to the faculty departures. We have vigorously pressured the administration to repair these three problems that prevent faculty of color from staying, and also to aggressively recruit and hire more faculty of color. A deadline of January 2001 has in fact been promised by the administration to take steps to accomplish these goals. We also hope to raise awareness throughout the academic department chairs and the faculty under them, so that they too support us in retaining faculty of color. You can help us too by demanding of your academic departments more diversity in the faculty and, in turn, a more diverse curriculum.
On Curricular Transformation
In researching other universities' Spanish curricula, we have found that Spanish departments all over the country have been enlarging their Latin American faculties in order to meet student enrollments and to register the importance of Latin America to our economy and culture. In an external evaluation of our romance language department carried out by three tenured professors from Harvard, Princeton, and Cornell University, it was noted "that Tufts' Latin American curriculum hangs too precariously on overburdened shoulders and we hope that the administration will be well disposed towards a discipline whose soaring enrollments have created a desperate situation locally."
Finally, the administration along with the romance language department has begun addressing the priorities established by this external review in carrying out two faculty searches that will directly benefit the 1,150 students taking Spanish and Latin American courses. One search is for the tenured track appointment of a Latin American specializing in Mexican/Mexican-American literature to ensure the preservation of the third most popular cluster of the international relations major - Latin America. The second search is for a language coordinator to remedy the great demand for Spanish language courses. We applaud this incredible assessment of demand by our administration and the romance language department. However, several curricular holes in this popular area of study still need to be addressed, and we intend to do so in other disciplines and departments.
Furthermore, several members of both the department and the student body have expressed a strong interest in re-implementing Portuguese studies at Tufts. As the External Review stated: "A romance department is lame when it ignores such an important world language that spreads across Europe, Africa, and the Americas and includes a neighbor as ponderous as Brazil, all the more so in a state like Massachusetts which can boast of the largest Portuguese-speaking ethnic cluster in the country." As Portuguese is the eighth most spoken language in the world, Portuguese studies is becoming increasingly vital especially as Portugal joins the European Union and as Brazil emerges as the uncontested leader of South America.
For this reason, we believe that it would be in the best interest of the University to implement a one semester Portuguese course designed for Spanish speakers, with a follow-up class offering higher-level material. Spanish and Portuguese have a common structure, making it easy for those already fluent in Spanish to gain another language. In order to implement this program we suggest that the University hire two professors who speak both Portuguese and Spanish and who could be used to teach both languages. In hiring bilingual professors, Tufts would be able to increase the Spanish-speaking faculty of the romance languages department and also foster a Portuguese program in an embryonic stage. In fact, both the administration and the romance language department uphold the re-introduction of two beginner Portuguese courses. We need your support and involvement, however, to prove to both administrators and faculty the importance of re-implementing Portuguese program.
How to Help
If you are taken by these realities, please reach out to your professors and administrators immediately. It is essential that students voice their concerns about this radical loss of faculty and about these widening curricular gaps. Thank you and help us save our curriculum.
Mernaysa Rivera is a junior majoring in political science.
The Culture Ethnicity & Community Affairs Committee to the TCU Senate, the Pan African Alliance, Gerald McDermott, and Nigel Bruce contributed to this viewpoint.
