"Another university that was recruiting Dr. Kershaw provided him with a package, and Virginia Tech countered with their own package that the Provost and Department Chair had been working on," Plaza said. "However, Dr. Kershaw accepted the package with another university with the condition that he will stay on to strengthen the Africana Studies program."
Kershaw did stay on, however, until a new department head was named for the next academic year. Professor Onwubiko Agozino has been named the director of Africana Studies and comes to Tech with degrees from institutions all over the world. He currently hails from the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago where he served as the deputy dean for graduate studies and research. He also holds degrees from the University of Calabar in Nigeria, and the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh, both of which are in the UK.
Along with this new appointment, Wornie Reed has been named the new director of the Center for Race and Social Policy. He is currently the director of the Africana Studies program at the University of Tennessee.
They will both begin their tenure at Tech in the fall of 2009 and will be full time professors in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
Plaza said there was an outcry from the students in the program who were worried about the fate of the department without Kershaw.
"Students were afraid that, without him, the program would disappear," Plaza said.
Instead, Plaza said there would be a focus on strengthening the program over the next couple of years.
"We're looking to offer a Ph.D. in the program and strengthening it to make it a full-fledged department," Plaza said.
This news brought about an even greater need to focus on the cluster hires for the department.
"We are moving ahead with the recruitment of faculty in Africana Studies," McNamee said. "But we have a diverse pool of candidates and will not know who will actually be hired until recruitment takes place."
"It is unfortunate that he's leaving, but we will be gaining two senior faculty and additional junior faculty, along with the Ph.D. granting program. Which I think is a good thing, but it is very sad that he is leaving, there's just no way around that," said Seniors.
"We will miss Terry very much. He has been a great part of campus, but he will help us to move onto even better things," McNamee said.
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Why is race still such a big issue in 2009? The initiatives presented in this article will only serve to waste university funding in a politically correct outreach effort. Why can't we just post a position, let potential faculty candidates apply, and select from the best candidate applicant regardless of their race. Who cares if professors are black, white, asian, or hispanic. So long as they communicate the material in a way that is understandable it makes no difference to me. I have had great professors here of just about every race and I have had some terrible professors here of just about every race. What matters to me is the content of their character, not the color of their skin. I think a famous minister had a similar sentiment.
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The same way court promise to let you be judged by a jury of your PEERS. Lets be honest here. i agree with WHERE youre coming from but not with WHAT you say. Are you telling me that you wouldnt FOR A SINGLE SECOND think anything at all if u went to court and every single person on the jury was black or asian or native american? Would you be ok with it if someone just randomly told you that they were qualified jurors? Would you just take their word for it? They literally hold your life in their hands, and its fine? OR... would you feel a tad better if at least half of them were from where your from, sort of identify with you in SOME way and maybe even look a little like you??? Im seriously just curious... also curious as to why people consistently want to be heard on here but can never put their names behind their statements. Something shady about that.
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i am so tired of this diversity debate. If you have the qualifications to get into VT then you get in, often easier when a minority. It is absolutely BS that this issue keeps coming up and that we talk about lowering standards and setting quotas. If you qualify to come here then you're in, if not then go someplace else! No subpar candidate should get in over another person because of their race.
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These diversity taskforces are such a waste of time and resources its ridiculous. VT is in Blacksburg, VA. It is not located near any major city and in southwest va. The surrounding population is mostly if not all white. This would only be a problem if it was found that "minorities" with the same qualifications were being rejected to let in non "minorities." This is not the case, so there is not a problem. The self-righteous douches that run most universties hold te belief of making the world a better place if only there was more diversity. Blacksburg is in the middle of nowhere, there is no need for any more old wooden ships, there is no where to harbour them. This is not to say there should be no wooden ships, but the reason VT doesn't attract more wooden ships is its location.
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Diversity is such total crap. Who exactly says we even have a problem with the racial makeup of faculty? And what's the desired endstate? 50% minority profs? 75%? 100%?
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