celeste fowles

The DuBois Reading Room upstairs in CAAS offers a quiet study space unknown to many students.

The Center was first formed as the Afro-American Institute at a faculty meeting on Apr. 8, 1969. Its formation was a direct response to the Feb. 21 takeover of Fisk Hall by several black students.

1969 was the graduation year for the Vanguard Class, a group of fourteen men of color who comprised the first prominent group of minority students to enter the University. One member of the Vanguard Class, Ed Sanders ’69, became the co-director of the Institute with faculty member Samuel Allen in September of1969.

The Institute was housed at the John Wesley House, which was renamed The Malcom X House, where it remains today.

"Originally the Afro-American Institute was created to develop programming relevant to and supportive of Wesleyan’s Black community," said Professor of African American Studies Anne duCille, who is the chair of the program. "Our effort now is to serve the University more broadly.
We also teach the larger population."

duCille took over the position of Chair for the Center of African-American Studies when she returned to Wesleyan in July 1999 after a four-year absence. She had served as an interim chair once before in 1993-94 and had taught at the University between 1990 and 1995.

"The Center is the cultural and intellectual arm that balances with the more academic program of African-American studies," duCille said. 

The Center offers activities including readings, lectures, exhibitions, film series, workshops, concerts and conferences. The Center is also home to the DuBois Library, which includes the major academic, literary and cultural journals in the field, as well as more than 1300 volumes relating to the African American experience.

duCille acknowledged that the Program has suffered from faculty losses.

"My objective [for the immediate future] is to appoint new staff and bring stability to the program. I would also like to reach out to other programs that do work relevant to African-American studies," duCille said.

duCille said she is trying to move the Center in different directions. She is currently planning revisions to the curriculum and the major. Furthermore, she is trying to transform the usefulness of the Center and to get more people to use its resources.

"I would like to see the center become a research institute for the study of race, diversity, and public policy," duCille said. "This is particularly important at this time given the assault on affirmative action and other social programs [both in higher education and the nation in general]."

Recently, the Center applied for the Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellowship Program. duCille said the fellowship would allow the Center to bring two scholars a year to the campus for a period of three years.

Every fall the Center helps organize a lecture series that brings scholars to Wesleyan. The Fall ’99 theme was Race Matters and the Millenium. This spring the faculty will begin planning next fall lecture series.

duCille said she would like to see more student involvement in the process. She said the Center is rethinking the structure of the lecture series.

"We want to think of other ways of bringing scholars to the campus with a greater impact on both students and faculty," duCille said. "This may involve inviting fewer lecturers and having them stay for longer periods of time."

One senior African-American studies major, Christopher Harris, praised the staff of the Center.

"The staff is very cordial," he said. "I always feel welcome." However, Harris said his involvement with Center has been pretty minimal. He participated in two poetry readings organized by the Center, however when it comes to research he uses Olin Library.

Harris said he believes the improvements duCille outlined would be beneficial for the Center.

"I feel the Center could be more integrated with the activities of black students on campus," he said. "It should be a space where students and faculty can come together more."

duCille said she is currently devoted to planning for the future with her five-year initiative plan.

"I am anxious to reach out to the Wesleyan community," she said. "I am hoping for more student involvement with the Center."