The Black Affairs Studies Program at SIUC has MAJOR written all over it.
The University's black student population is about 12 percent, and Southern Illinois has always had a rich tradition of black history. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement swept through SIUC in the form of black students protesting unfair treatment by administrators and fighting for the restaurants and Varsity movie theater to be desegregated. Even Chancellor Walter Wendler noted that a proposed BAS major should be a part of the Southern at 150 future planning, notwithstanding its notable absence as an agenda item at the Jan. 18 strategy meeting.
State universities such as Eastern Illinois University and Chicago State University offer Black American Studies as a major. A BAS major at SIUC would be an excellent addition to the University's core curriculum. Classes taught in Black American and African history and African-American literature offer students - of all races - a wonderful perspective on black culture. The program would undoubtedly attract more minority professors, which hopefully could work as a catalyst for recruiting more minority and women professors on campus across the board, given that the lack of diversity among SIUC faculty continues to be a source of concern.
A BAS major - on this campus - seems like a no brainer. But creating any new major will take some time. A proposal detailing the nature of the major must be submitted to the department, in this case the College of Liberal Arts. A COLA subcommittee examines the proposal and makes a recommendation to the department council for a vote. If approved, the Faculty Senate's Undergraduate Education Policy committee considers it. From there, the entire senate votes on the major. It then goes to the provost, the SIU president, the Board of Trustees and finally to the Illinois Board of Higher Education for approval.
The entire process could take two to three years or maybe longer. That time frame may or may not include changes made to the SIU catalog, course offerings and overall core curriculum. In addition, the University and the state is in no financial shape to tackle such an ambitious move right now. Bottom line - a BAS major will not happen overnight. Still, that should not scare people away from the idea of exploring it in the future. There's another point to consider regarding a BAS major.
If there are concerns about what kind of financial impact a new major will have on the University, then the process should entail looking at existing majors that are not pulling their weight. Does it make any sense to have a potentially prosperous major on the sidelines while less successful majors are still in the game? Not really. The University would also have to hire more tenured faculty. BAS Director Joseph Brown is the only tenured professor in the program.
There has been a lot of talk about properly representing the people of this region with respect to having prayers at graduation. The University should strongly consider a BAS major in the not too distant future to better represent its black students and the entire region.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
