Afro-American Studies Major Begun at Yale

Yale's Faculty yesterday approved a broad new program in Afro-American studies which will allow undergraduates to major in black culture.

By getting the jump on Harvard in creating an Afro-American major Yale may gain an advantage in recruiting black students, David K. Smith, Harvard Director of Admissions, said yesterday. "Blacks admitted to both schools may pick Yale on the basis of this decision," he added.

Nine-Month Study

Yales New Afro-American curriculum was drawn up by a special committee of professors and black students after a nine-month study. President Kingman Brewster Jr. appointed the committee last winter in response to demands of the Black Student Alliance, an organization which includes almost all of Yale's black undergraduates.

Afro-American studies will not be set up as a separate department at Yale. Courses toward a black major will be included in such departments as scoiology, history and political science, creating a field of concentration analogous to history and literature or social studies at Harvard.