Kilson Praises Decision to Restructure Afro, Says Reorganization Will Be Another Battle

Martin L. Kilson professor of Government last night professor of Government last night praises the Faculty's decision to reorganize the Afro American Studies Department. "I think it [Afro] now has the basic characteristics to allow for a good Department." he told a group of 40 students at the Currier House Ad Hoc Table.

The Faculty passed a Faculty Council resolution to restructure the Afro Department at its regular meeting Tuesday.

Kilson said he was especially pleased by an agreement made among the Faculty to give future professors in the Department joint chairs, and added that he would willingly teach Afro courses.

"I was even willing to administer the damn hing but I didn't want to get into the politics of it. The real battle will be the fundamental reorganization" he said.

Kilson criticized Ewart Guinier '33. chairman of the Department for what he called "a virtual dictatorship."

"Guinier is doing very well for a man out of his element. I feel great empathy for him." Kilson said. "It's like taking a fish out of the water and putting him on Mt. Everest. He belongs at Harvard about as much as I belong on the moon."

He explained that his motion to require joint concentrations followed the recommendations of the Rosovsky compile which formulated Department in 1969. He said that he had not expected to win the motion and was surprised by the close vote. The Faculty narrowly defeated the resolution at Tuesday's meeting by a vote of 69 to 66.

Several students at the discussion expressed concern that Afro-American Studies concentrators would have been forced into a joint concentration had the resolution passed. Kilson answered that a straight major in Afro-American Studies resulted in dilettantism.

"Sustained disciplines enable you to take what you want from the educational process," he explained.