Harvard will lose at least one professor from its renowned Afro-American studies department next fall after tensions between the department's leading professors and president Lawrence H. Summers boiled over the last month.
Professor K. Anthony Appiah submitted his letter of resignation on Friday, and will teach at Princeton beginning in the fall. Appiah was one of three professors in the department thought to be considering a move; Cornell West, considered one of the leading Afro-American scholars in the nation, and department chair Henry Louis Gates, Jr., have also been in the media spotlight.
Conflict arose last summer when West was approached by Summers, though the issue did not receive media attention until West spoke out last month. Summers allegedly chastised the popular professor for encouraging grade inflation and for not fulfilling his obligations of scholarship as Harvard's Fletcher University Professor. On medical leave for the past year, West's activities included recording a rap album and working on Al Sharpton's presidential exploratory committee.
A New York resident, Appiah said his desire to resign was partially based on the long commute he has made since he began working in Cambridge seven years ago. "I have no dissatisfaction with Larry Summers or anyone in the department at Harvard," Appiah told the New York Times on Friday. "I'm leaving because of the personal and intellectual opportunities at Princeton."
But Appiah's resignation has again ignited suspicion that others in the department, notably West and Gates, will soon follow. Both professors, who are angered at what they say is Summers' lack of support for affirmative action, have reportedly been offered positions at Princeton.
Since a January meeting with West, Summers is trying to make amends with the distraught faculty. In a statement in Harvard's Jan. 2 Gazette, Summers said he was proud of the Afro-American studies department and implored the professors to stay at Harvard. But several days later, in a National Public Radio interview, West continued to speak out against Summers.
Tufts Provost Sol Gittleman said it is typical for professors to seek opportunities at other universities. "[There is] not much institutional loyalty [anymore]," he said.
Gittleman said Summer's behavior stems from his background as a professor. While some support Summers' straightforward manner of questioning faculty and their academic work, it is not considered standard procedure in academia.
"Summers thought he was faculty, not the president," Gittleman said. "He spoke more like a colleague."
Tensions of this sort are no stranger to Tufts. In 1998, students marched on Ballou Hall in response to the resignation of several African-American faculty and administrators, including Todd McFadden, former director of the then-African American Center. The crowd presented University administrators with a number of demands, including increased diversity among students and faculty, reinstatement of a funding cut for the African American Center, and a written plan for implementation of the Task Force on Race's recommendations.
The number of minority faculty members at Tufts has long been the subject of debate. According to a publication released Friday by the Arts, Sciences, & Engineering Office of Diversity Education and Development, the numbers of minority full-time, tenured and tenure-track faculty have slowly been increasing. Since the 1998-99 academic year, the number of Asian or Pacific Islander professors has increased from 22 to 25; Black (non-Hispanic) professors have increased from 16 to 20; and Hispanic professors have increased from 12 to 15. The number of women professors has risen slightly, from 105 to 108.
Since 1995, out of 83 new full-time faculty members, 14 have been Asian or Pacific Islander; 18 have been Black (non-Hispanic), and 7 have been Hispanic. Forty-four have been White (non-Hispanic), making up 53 percent of new hires. The number of women hires, 45, composed 54.2 percent of the total.
In the same time span, 78 professors have left Tufts: 11.5 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander; 12.8 percent were Black, 5.1 percent were Hispanic, and 70.5 percent were White (non-Hispanic). Women made up 46.2 percent of those who left the University.
According to the publication, this "includes faculty who have left Tufts for any reason - retirement, death, resignation, non-renewal of contract, and denial of tenure."
"It is not realistic to hold onto all faculty," said Director of Arts, Sciences, & Engineering Office of Diversity Education and Development Margery W. Davies. "People leave for a lot of different reasons... It may be true some are not happy at Tufts. They might have their eyes open" to go elsewhere, she said.
While Ballou stated its support for increasing faculty diversity, Gittleman says these decisions ultimately must be based on how Arts & Sciences administrators prioritize in the face of oft-tight budgets. While affirmative action is not used in hiring faculty, Gittleman says that progress has been made. "Searches have been terrific in terms of minority recruitment," he said. "Recruiting over the last five to ten years has been a very good and successful effort."
