Wilson Decires Faculty Homogeneity

William Julius Wilson--a member of Harvard's "dream team" of preeminent black scholars--told students at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) yesterday that the University should do more to fix the "embarrassing" paucity of black intellectuals on the school's faculty.

In his keynote address at the KSG Black Student Caucus' First Annual Torch Ceremony, the Geyser University professor acknowledged the challenge of attracting prominent black faculty members but said he was committed to working personally with KSG administrators to help attract more such candidates to Harvard.

The evening ceremony--which drew about 60 people to the KSG's Littauer penthouse--addressed the topic of "obtaining more tenured black faculty members."

Wilson admitted that when he accepted a KSG professorship in 1996, it was only after a courtship that lasted 21 years and included four formal offers of employment--one of which was made personally by then-president Derek C. Bok.

But he said a key factor in his decision to accept the position--and one that continues to influence black and minority candidates--is the presence of other such faculty members at the school.

"When [Dubois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis] "Skip" Gates approached me in 1995 about once again joining Harvard, this time I listened because with the new additions to the faculty, this would be an outstanding environment for an African-American scholar..." Wilson said.

The already low numbers of black, tenured faculty members at KSG--compounded by the recent death of Public Service Professor of Jurisprudence A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.--has left the school facing an upward challenge as it tries to attract a more diverse teaching staff.

But even with the University's distinguished pool of black scholars as a resource to help woo prospective professors, Wilson suggested that a huge demand for a tight supply of top black intellectuals only adds to the problem.

"Let's not kid ourselves," he said. "It's not easy to recruit the very best African-American scholars--even at a place like Harvard."

Responding to Wilson's concerns, Academic Dean for the Teaching Programs Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard said KSG administrators are concerned about the problem and committed to improving it.

" I assure you, no one in the school is either happy about or complacent about the low number of minority faculty and especially black faculty at this school," Leonard said.

As a result, he said administrators have worked to increase the number of minority appointees, in addition to looking for new ways to attract black faculty members. These techniques, he said, included looking for potential faculty members from law, business and education schools and instructing search committee members to "identify and pursue African-American candidates."

Still, Wilson said a good deal of Harvard's past and future successes in attracting prominent black faculty members come as a result of 'raiding' other schools--a prospect that he said that is unpleasant but inevitable.

Wilson himself was part of such a "raid" when he came to Harvard. During that same time, Gates also successfully lured Professor of Philosophy K. Anthony Appiah, Fletcher University Professor Cornel West '74, Professor of Sociology and of Afro-American Studies Lawrence D. Bobo, and visiting lecturer on Afro-American Studies Jamaica Kincaid to the University.

"A number of us feel guilty because there's such a concentration of African-American faculty here [at Harvard]," he said. "The only way we're going to deal with the problem is to enlarge the pool."