The California State University at Long Beach (CSULB), is planning to eliminate the Department of Africana Studies and instead converting it into a 'program,' citing insufficient number of tenured faculty members.
This move will lead to a decline in class offerings, cut degree opportunities and decrease diversity on the university campus.
The decision to eliminate the department follows an eight year ordeal of administration's refusal to hire any new faculty members for the Department of Africana Studies to either replace retiring faculty or to bring the ratio of student and teacher population to an equal level.
Earlier, the university officials ignored the department's repeated requests to maintain the faculty positions resulting in downfall of 10 tenure/tenure track faculty to three with two more faculty members set to retire in the coming years. As a result, it threatened the Departmental status.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of the Department of Africana Studies said , "It is the height of injustice to refuse to hire...and then penalize the Department for the university's failure to hire. It is also a reflection of the level of support for diversity, although it is stated as a central part of the university's mission."
In the past, the university campus has developed new programs and facilities that have increased its student population considerably with 80,000 applications this year, considered to be the highest percentage among other CSU campus. However, President King Alexander is not initiating any effort to reinstate the department.
Therefore, the department feels that they have been solely targeted as no other ethnic/cultural departments at the University have been affected.
Apart from the Department of Africana Studies, other ethnic/cultural departments at the University include American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicano & Latino Studies, Italian Studies, Latin American Studies, Medieval & Renaissance Studies and Russian & East European Studies.
The CSULB website states that
- the Department of Africana Studies is designed to provide students with a rich intellectual experience through the critical and systematic study of African peoples, Continental and Diasporan, in their current and historical dimensions.
- The Discipline of Africana Studies focuses on critical study from an Afrocentric or African-centered perspective, while retaining a respect for and openness to the multicultural character and instructive value of the total human experience.
- Thus, Africana Studies majors have been successful in a variety of fields, including education, law, politics, urban planning, business, government, journalism, psychology, social work, criminal justice, acting, creative writing, and Foreign Service."
If the president moves ahead with the elimination, African departments across the country might face a similar fate.
