Some black professors cite tough racial climate

Despite the University's prominent attempts to recruit and retain black faculty members, some who have recently left Duke attribute their departure in part to racial tension.

Administrators have long said that the hiring of black professors is a priority, but they cite several challenges to that goal, including competition with other universities and the failure of many professors to gain tenure. Although administrators also acknowledge problems with racial climate, some faculty members say the University has overlooked the difficulties of everyday discrimination and the unique demands made of minorities.

Monica Green, associate professor of history, said a lack of research support and a poor racial climate have convinced her to leave the University.

"I think most of it is extremely subtle, and it's not articulated. It adds up and creates a climate where one feels valued or one doesn't feel valued," said Green, who is black. "With Duke making exceptional claims that it's interested in minority retention, I and others have been shocked at how little they have done."

For the next year, Green is on leave researching at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She said she will likely resign from her Duke position soon and next year move to Arizona State University.

She and other black professors emphasized the added work others expect of them. More than other faculty members, they are expected to serve on University and department committees, mentor students and be a face for the institution, Green said.

"It's just a fairly constant stream of students--asking for sympathy, any kind of guidance, a friendly face, a shoulder to cry on--students who, like us, feel their academic potential is not being supported or given guidance," she said.

Former assistant professor of religion William Hart echoed that sentiment. He came to Duke in 1994 and gained tenure this spring. Just weeks later, however, he resigned from his position and accepted a post at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Pamela Jackson, former assistant professor of sociology, praised Duke for its diverse student body, research resources, supportive administration and "very comfortable, very welcoming" atmosphere. She was denied tenure last year, and is now at Indiana University at Bloomington.

"On the one hand, Duke has a very good program, I think, in terms of recruiting minority faculty, especially junior faculty. But they're at least experiencing a situation similar to other universities--what's often called the Orevolving-door syndrome,'" she said.

The University has historically voiced a commitment to hiring and retaining black professors. In 1988, administrators created the Black Faculty Initiative, which called on each hiring unit to recruit at least one black faculty member and the University to double its black faculty by 1993.

But Duke did not meet that goal and in 1993 set a new one of doubling the number of black faculty University-wide within the next decade. As of this spring, Duke had raised the number of regular-rank black professors from 44 to 79.

Provost Peter Lange reiterated the administration's commitment to faculty diversity, but he acknowledged that racial climate can be an obstacle to retention.

"The faculty is a pretty diverse group of people with diverse attitudes to life," Lange said. "Inevitably, you'll find unfortunate attitudes, as you do in the general population, although here they may be more intellectualized."

Together with senior academic deans and department chairs, Lange uses resources to try to retain faculty members who receive offers from other universities. He said he plans to increase the use of exit surveys for departing scholars to get a clearer picture of their complaints. Maintaining a welcoming racial climate, however, poses a different type of challenge, he said.

"A welcoming place means pre-eminently to support their work and to ensure that they have a community of scholars they can interact with easily and that will support them," Lange said. "That is an important level that the senior administration can play a role in, but ultimately that depends on what they find on the ground, either in their departments or in other units."

Lange and several other senior-level administrators, including President Nan Keohane, personally attempted to persuade Hart to stay.

"I was extremely disappointed when he left. I consider him a friend and I consider him a scholar of exceptional merit," said Karla Holloway, dean of the humanities and social sciences.

Lange and others said they did not know Green intended to leave, and Holloway, who is black, said Green's possible departure does not signal a general trend. Every individual has a different experience, Holloway said, describing her own as "very welcoming."

Hart did not complain about an unwelcoming racial climate during his tenure case, said Bruce Lawrence, chair of the religion department. Lawrence emphasized the complexity of the tenure process, adding that the department supported Hart's "brilliant" research on Asian religions.

"We have people who are Asian, South-Asian, African-American, but there aren't racial minorities in the religion department. There are religion scholars," said Lawrence, who is white.

"I am very sad that he left, but I can not say and I will not say that his departure was motivated by either a racialized climate or by a particular view of racial minorities in the department.... I think the burden of being both a junior faculty member and an advocate for a subfield of religion made his last year extremely difficult," Lawrence said.

Other department chairs offered mixed approaches to racial climate. Like Lawrence, English chair Maureen Quilligan said she simply tries to treat every faculty member equally. She added that racial and ethnic diversity are still important for both climate and intellectual engagement.

Some, such as history chair John Thompson, said their hands are tied by their lack of direct access to resources and by inherent difficulties in seeing others' viewpoints.

"You do your best to try to persuade [professors who are considering leaving] of their importance to the department, but of course, as a department chair, often the best you can do is make recommendations to the deans and the provost," Thompson said.

Colleagues' thoughts

Dissatisfaction with the faculty's racial climate is not limited to departed professors; some current faculty members describe similar experiences.

"You have many people who are very welcoming and recognize the importance of having a diverse student body and faculty, and you have those who see minorities as intruders," said Professor of Political Science Paula McClain, a highly-touted black hire from last year. "In general, you have some faculty who think that scholars of color, by definition, are not qualified to serve in the faculty."

And Hart is not the only religion faculty member who has openly criticized the University's racial atmosphere. Melvin Peters, associate professor of religion, expressed frustration with race at the University in the January 1995 faculty newsletter, claiming that most people at Duke misunderstand the meaning of diversity and end up marginalizing minorities.

Although Peters, who is black, declined an interview, he said the Hart situation only confirmed his feelings.

Hart agreed with Green and others that overt incidents of racial discrimination are rare, but that subtle, everyday actions created a racially charged atmosphere. Hart named three colleagues in particular who he said helped create an unwelcoming atmosphere in the religion department: Professors of Religion Kalman Bland, Elizabeth Clark and E. P. Sanders, all of whom are white.

Clark declined to comment, but Bland and Sanders said they were cordial to Hart and that any criticism of him was not based on race.

"Speaking from within the department of religion, I have no doubt in my mind that his work was taken seriously," Bland said. "I think that it was a supportive environment, with positive and enthusiastic support."

Sanders said Hart may have attributed criticism to race when the intentions of his colleagues were far different. "I took his work very seriously and I commented on it very seriously. It had nothing to do with race," Sanders said. "If you imagine that everything has to do with your race or gender, then you may attribute everything to your race or gender."

That colleagues present such differing analyses of racial atmosphere may be at the root of the problem, Hart said, adding that some system is needed for professors to have their complaints heard. "One never got the sense that there were any mechanisms to avail oneself of concerns about one's department," Hart said. "You would think there would be some sort of infrastructure like this if Duke was serious about retaining minority faculty members."

Past and present:

black faculty recruitment and retention

1966

Samuel DuBois Cook becomes the first black faculty member at Duke.

1969

After student protests on the lack of support for black studies, the Undergraduate Faculty Council of the Arts and Sciences creates the Black Studies Program as a collection of courses.

1975

Following a series of events, including the resignation of the Black Studies Program's first director, students again protest for more faculty diversity and support for the program.

1988

The Academic Council approves the Black Faculty Initiative, calling for a University-wide doubling of regular-rank black faculty and for each of the 56 hiring units to add at least one black faculty member. A deadline of fall 1993 is set.

1991

An ad hoc committee recommends hiring more professors in African and Afro-American Studies and revitalizing the program, which the committee saw as under-supported.

1993

The Academic Council revises the Black Faculty Initiative after little progress has been made. The new goal becomes doubling black faculty over the next decade.

1998

Following 1997 student protests, tenure lines are approved for AAAS-now called African and African-American Studies-effectively elevating the program to departmental level.

2001

Eight years after revising the Black Faculty Initiative, the University has increased regular-rank black faculty by about 80 percent from 44 to 79 members.