The Faculty Restructures Afro Studies

While most whites present wondered what was going on, the Faculty voted Tuesday to restructure the Afro-American Studies Department.

H. Stuart Hughes, Gurney Professor of History, carried the ball for the Faculty Council and pushed through a resolution which calls for the dean of the Faculty to appoint inter departmental search committees to seek out additional tenured members for the Department, and for the executive committee to consist of all full-time teaching members of the Department.

The motion also stipulates that the DuBois Afro-American Research Institute, long a center of controversy, be established on a Faculty-wide and University-wide basis.

The resolution says that students may serve on Departmental committees, but cannot vote on teaching appointments and the awarding of degrees.

There was little opposition to this motion, with the only objection coming from Ewart Guinier '33, the chairman of the Department. Even Kevin Mercadel '74, formerly a strong supporter of Gunier, gave his tentative endorsement of the motion, though it cuts the power of students in the Department.

The Faculty narrowly defeated a motion by Martin Kilson, professor of Government, that would have required students to pursue joint concentrations between Afro. American Studies and another established discipline.

During the debate on the Kilson amendment, the ignorance of the Faculty on issue surrounding Afro. American Studies came out. Many white faculty members said openly that they did not understand the issues involved, despite the attention the controversy has received over the past year and a half.

Suprisingly, President Bok intervened in the discussion, asking two questions which some faculty members said afterward had prejudiced the discussion.