Word: afros
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...Afro-American Studies Visiting Committee met twice, sparking controversy for its recommendation to change the status of Afro-American Studies. This prompted Ewart Guinier, the department’s first chair, to argue that then-Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Henry Rosovsky was trying to weaken the department by refusing tenure to Isaac and by insisting that only joint appointees (that is, professors who were not solely tied to the Afro-American Studies department) receive tenure...
...Isaac’s tenure denial eventually sparked protests among the black community at Harvard, who argued that the University was not firmly committed to black studies. In 1979, the Committee to Strengthen Afro-American Studies held a protest in the yard with over 500 participants...
...April of 1982, Harvard alumni got involved with the cause as well. The Alumni Committee to Support Afro-American Studies was formed, with support by the Black Students Association. The group sponsored rallies throughout the spring and used Isaac’s case as a cause celebre, arguing that Isaac should be reinstated at the University due to his stellar teaching record, the popularity of his classes, and his commitment to studying African history and culture. The group argued that the tenure denial was a political act, meant to force the department away from its “African roots...
...time the class of 1982 was set to graduate, the status of Afro-American studies was as precarious as ever, with no members of the Class of 1985 opting to concentrate in the department...
...eighties, it seemed the Department of Afro-American Studies would continue to exist as a separate field of concentration at Harvard. However, as Isaac notes, by the time the survival of the department was assured, it “had already cut out all of the Africa courses—no Swahili, no African religions...