 "Photo: Charlie DeBoyace")
 "Photo: Charlie DeBoyace")
 "Photo: Charlie DeBoyace")
The Nyumburu Cultural Center’s multipurpose room pulsed with anger last night as hundreds of students and faculty members vented their frustrations about the removal of Assistant Provost of Equity and Diversity Cordell Black from his longtime position.
“If someone has given to this university their blood, sweat and tears as he has, they should be able to walk out the door on their own terms and not because of back-door dealings that some folks did in terms of plotting and removing him from his position,” Relations Director for the Nyumburu Cultural Center Solomon Comissiong said. “We need to mobilize and organize around one single thing and that is reinstating Dr. Black ... by any means necessary.”
Last Thursday, Black was called into a meeting with Provost Nariman Farvardin, where he was informed that as a result of budget cuts he would be replaced at the end of this fiscal year — June 30, 2010. The Office of the Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity, which Black oversees, houses the Nyumburu Cultural Center, the Office of LBGT Equity and the Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education. Farvardin said these departments will not be cut or altered in any way.
“I have three units that report to me and [Farvardin] says, ‘Nyumburu, I can’t touch that because that’s student fees and not state money, and LGBT Office of Equity, that’s much too political for me to touch, and OMSE because that’s crucial to our drive to [increase] the retainment of black and Latino males,’” Black said of his conversation with the provost last week.
But for many, these concessions are not enough. The announcement, coming a week after a diversity town hall where officials asserted their commitment to diversity, came as a shock.
Student activists are planning a march from Nyumburu to the Main Administration Building at noon today to show their contempt with the administration for its decision and to push for Black’s reinstatement.
“I honestly think the university is going on a drastic, drastic decline,” senior communication major Justin Dailey said. “I definitely think this needs to be addressed beyond College Park because this is an issue that a lot of people are invested in.”
Farvardin, who did not attend last night’s rally, said Black would be replaced by a part-time faculty member who will oversee the various diversity departments, while Black maintains a teaching role at the university. The provost said the position will be reinstated as a full-time job when the university’s budget stabilizes.
Though Black will no long serve in an administrative position — a job he has held for 18 years — he is a tenured faculty member, and therefore cannot be fired. Farvardin said Black has the option to remain a professor of 17th century French literature, if he so chooses.
Despite accusations from students who claimed the administration was using a tightening budget as an excuse to cut from diversity programs, the provost insisted the decision to remove Black’s position was strictly budgetary.
“We have to deal with our $40 million budget drop,” Farvadin said. “Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of decisions like that to make. It’s very painful. ...But when you’re in these positions you have to make difficult decisions.”
Others, including Black, said the move was personal.
“It’s fundamentally disingenuous because it appears that his aim was to move me out of the office and to bring somebody else in because at no time did he say, ‘I’d like to bring you back in when things improve,’” Black said. “I would’ve appreciated honesty and not the duplicity of the whole situation.”
Last night, more than 300 people packed the cultural center, filling the multipurpose room to capacity and flooding the adjacent lobby. After two hours, during which attendees drafted a document many called “our diversity plan,” they left, ready to fight.
No matter the outcome of today’s protest, Black said he’s not sure if he has a reason to stay.
“I’m not one to bite my tongue and if I think something’s wrong I will say so as forcefully and as coherently as I can, irrespective of who’s in the room,” Black said. “And so, that’s what I’ve done for 18 years and I have no regrets.”
hampton at umdbk dot com
and for your information i have been around university systems my entire life. i KNOW that there are always budget problems--our $40 MILLION DOLLAR deficit is just slightly larger than the usual problem. stop crying about one persons job--who by the way he still HAS a job. if you all want him to have his job back so badly maybe you all will be willing to raise YOUR tuition and fees all everything in order to pay his 2nd salary.and to "I hate whites" how can you call someone racist when you have posted under that name? and how do you even know that "black homer" is white? looks like you are the racist to me.
this guy STILL HAS A JOB. what about all of the other people on campus who are being laid off and have NOTHING left. honestly, the only reason this is getting attention is because he is a minority. there are plenty of white people being laid off and no one is protesting them being laid off. this guy may have been here for 18 years, but there are people who have been in their positions for MUCH longer who have been laid off.
stop whinig about conspiracy. the university did not plot for the country to have an economic meltdown, so that the university would have a budget crisis, so that they could get rid of dr. black. seriously? listen to yourselves. he is probably getting paid a ridiculous amount of money. someone new/younger could come in and receive a salary that is a fraction of dr. blacks, and they may have a plethora of new ideas for the diversity/cultural center. "To the person who wrote this maybe you should read the press release from the students who are protesting....this is not about one man's job! One of the demands is that there is a freeze on layoffs and firings until students and staff have a seat at the discusion table to talk about these issues! Since when is experience and expertise not valued! You support getting rid of people with an exceptional knowledge base for a newer model? who probably learned what they know from reading the books or research of the person that they are replacing? If you believe this is all because of budget cuts you are naive! the budget has been an issue for years! way before you were even a student at UMD
this guy STILL HAS A JOB. what about all of the other people on campus who are being laid off and have NOTHING left. honestly, the only reason this is getting attention is because he is a minority. there are plenty of white people being laid off and no one is protesting them being laid off. this guy may have been here for 18 years, but there are people who have been in their positions for MUCH longer who have been laid off.
stop whinig about conspiracy. the university did not plot for the country to have an economic meltdown, so that the university would have a budget crisis, so that they could get rid of dr. black. seriously? listen to yourselves. he is probably getting paid a ridiculous amount of money. someone new/younger could come in and receive a salary that is a fraction of dr. blacks, and they may have a plethora of new ideas for the diversity/cultural center.
Where was student outrage then?????
Dr Black's pride is hurt, that's all. He is a tenured faculty member and so will have a job for life.
So you needed help to graduate. That's nice. I'm not multi-racial so what benefits are there for me, a white male? None. Well I guess I could become president
Log in to be able to post comments.