Outraged Africana Associates Face Budget Hikes

No, this isn’t a joke.

Discerning readers may have seen coverage of the Africana Center’s outrage at proposed budget cuts increases in yesterday’s issue of The Cornell Daily Stun. However, also yesterday, the slightly less sarcastic publication The Cornell Chronicle released an e-newsletter version of its own article about actual increases to Africana’s budget following its move to the College of Arts & Sciences.

As it turns out, over the next 5 years, the Africana Center’s budget will be increased by over half– from $2.3 million to $3.5 million. The money is slated to be used for the development of a Ph.D. program, faculty recruitment, and research.

It’s also worth noting that, despite rampant accusations of Cornell administration trying to steamroll over the Africana Center’s authority, this recent budget adjustment is the product of collaboration among Provost Kent Fuchs, the Dean of Arts & Sciences, and the Director of the Africana Center.

Further, Fuchs told the Chronicle that the new funding would help “position the center for success,” and that “There’s a very strong commitment on the part of the university to ensuring that the Africana Center becomes a more vibrant part of our academic and scholarly community.”

These are hardly the words or actions of a man bent on eliminating blacks from Cornell’s campus, as so many have claimed in recent months.

So perhaps the move to Arts & Sciences wasn’t so bad for Africana– that is, as long as its students can bring themselves to study in a building that might house pictures of people with skin colors different from their own.