Members of the Tufts community on Monday afternoon gathered in honor of Black Solidarity Day, calling for the creation of an Africana Studies department at the university as well as other academic programs that would better represent minority groups.
Students and administrators joined together on the lower patio of the Mayer Campus Center to commemorate Black Solidarity Day, an annual national day of celebration and discussion of ways to better unify the African American community.
The theme of this year's event was Africana Studies, focusing on the need for Tufts to create a specific academic department in the field, according to Pan-African Alliance (PAA) Vice President Chartise Clark, a senior. PAA members at the rally, she said, advocated for the university to implement a more "representative" curriculum for minority groups present on campus, including Latino, Native American, Queer and Asian communities.
"Solidarity is not just about solidarity between black people, but between many different groups," Clark said in an interview with the Daily. "It's important for promoting unity and working toward a common goal." Clark is also a Tufts Community Union (TCU) senator.
Attendance during parts of the rally nearly doubled the size of the crowd at last year's rally, according to Clark.
Black Solidarity Day has been celebrated on the Monday preceding Election Day since 1969, a time when the black community was trying to augment its national influence. In peaceful protest of social, political and economic injustices in the United States, members of the African-American community on this day refrain from making purchases and abstain from attending class or work in a symbolic display of the economic influence of African Americans.
TCU Senator Yulia Korovikov, who attended the event, said she is one of many Tufts students who support institutionalizing a more representative curriculum at Tufts.
"There are students who come to Tufts and don't get to learn what they want to learn," Korovikov, a sophomore, said. "They should be able to delve into their passions, whatever they may be."
Clark authored a letter addressed to University President Lawrence Bacow, which she said described a history of student demand for an Africana Studies department. The PAA created a committee in 1971 that pushed for the formation of such a department, but the measure never gained traction with administrators over its documented history, she said.
She specifically described in the letter the work done by Tufts' Task Force on Race, a group of administrators charged in 1996 with studying and addressing race issues on campus. In the body's 1997 final report, they collected dissatisfied student opinions on the university's academic offerings and made formal suggestions for the university to institutionalize more representative curricula.
Clark said the university has yet to respond to these protracted efforts.
"Tufts has not enacted changes. The suggestions have not been fulfilled 13 years later," Clark said. "We respectfully requested that President Bacow make a statement on the institution of an Africana Studies department at Tufts before the end of this year."
Following the rally, members of the PAA delivered the letter to Bacow.
Clark added that students in the PAA also spoke to University Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha after the event to express their disappointment that the administration had not issued an e-mail informing the student body about the Black Solidarity Day rally beforehand, similar to the e-mail the Office of the President had sent prior to the Coming Out Day rally several weeks ago.
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said the administration was interested in further discussing the PAA's request for an expanded representative curriculum. Bharucha told the PAA members that Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney wanted to meet with them to discuss the issue, according to Reitman.
Director of the Africana Center Katrina Moore said that offering a degree in Africana Studies would enhance Tufts' academic offerings and make them more in line with those of other colleges and universities.
"It's a step in the right direction," Moore said. "It's something our peer institutions have. Smaller schools have a black studies program. Bigger institutions have departments from all of the major diasporas."
While the purposes of Black Solidarity Day have changed since 1969, Clark believes the day may have an even greater significance today.
"Black Solidarity Day is really important given the climate we have now and just as important as in 1969," Clark said. "Perhaps it's even a little more important because people don't think that there is racism or discrimination anymore."
The rally discussed the need for more diversity of opinions and ideas, according to junior Matt Schuman, a TCU senator who attended the event.
"Intellectual diversity is just as important," Schuman said. "I think that Tufts needs to work on its institutional memory regarding some of the things they promise."
Office of Campus Life Director Joe Golia was pleased that students supported their concerns with valid arguments.
"Students themselves did a very nice job expressing their goals without just saying, ‘We want this,'" Golia said. "They had a very thorough presentation that provided a historical context. They definitely did their research."
The event included several student speakers and group performances, such as the step team ENVY, according to Schuman. Assistant Professor of Music Stephan Pennington delivered a speech about the increasingly hidden existence of racism today, which often causes people to dismiss racism, Clark said.
Moore viewed the rally as a successful means of calling the Tufts community's attention to the evolving issues of diversity.
"I thought that it was very uplifting and energizing," Moore said. "I think that the issues that the students were talking about need to be elevated on campus, and we all need to work together to face these issues head on and come up with solidarity across communities on the Tufts campus."
Reitman attended the rally and similarly said he was very impressed with the presentations.
"The poetry, the step team, the talks by students and by Professor Pennington were all very impressive and articulately made a good argument in part for the Africana Studies major," Reitman said.
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Kathryn Olson and Matt Repka contributed reporting to this article.
