Southern Resigns as Head Of Afro-American Studies

Eileen Southern, professor of Music and Afro-American Studies, will no longer chair the department of Afro-American Studies.

Southern said yesterday she resigned her position partly because she did not understand how she could work as department chairman with a proposed executive committee that would govern the department.

Southern said this week she wrote to Dean Rosovsky in June after returning from a semester sabbatical, telling him she could not accept reappointment as chairman. Her three-year term expired in January.

"I was not involved in the many decisions that took place during my absence and I did not have a clear understanding of the proposed structures for governing the department," Southern said. "If anyone had sat me down and explained what was going on, I might have had a better attitude," she added. Southern added, however, that she is not criticizing Rosovsky.

Controversy

While Southern was away this spring, controversy broke out about the status of the Afro-American Studies Department. Students held demonstrations throughout the semester protesting the possible demotion of the department to an interdisciplinary committee, which then would not be able to tenure professors.

After Rosovsky met with dissatisfied junior faculty members of the department last semester, the Faculty Council considered a proposal to govern the department through an executive committee of professors. Rosovsky is expected to announce the appointment of such a committee this fall.

"I told the dean that I did not understand how it could work having both a committee and a chairman. I didn't see how I could work under these conditions," Southern added.

Rosovsky is out of town and could not be reached for comment yesterday. Phyllis Keller, associate dean for academic planning, declined to comment on Southern's resignation yesterday.

Friction

One undergradute concentrator, however, said Southern's resignation may also have stemmed from friction between Southern and department members, especially some junior faculty.

The concentrator, who wished to remain unidentified, added that these faculty members doubt Southern's commitment to Afro-Am. Southern has tenure in both the Music and Afro-Am. Departments.

Southern said, "I am reluctant to make any move that would hurt the department."

Gilbert Moore, lecturer on Afro-American Studies, and Tahi L. Mottl, assistant professor of Afro-American Studies, refused to comment yesterday. Harrington Benjamin and Selwyn R. Cudjoe, assistant professors of Afro-American Studies, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Southern said yesterday she is "bewildered" about the recent controversy surrounding the department. "I hope the department remains a department," she said, adding, "I thought we were doing beautifully, and all of a sudden I returned to find this furor."

Students calling for the strengthening of the department held several demonstrations last spring, including a day's boycott of classes. These students charged Harvard administrators with failing to search aggressively for tenured professors and working to undermine the department. Afro-Am has one and one half tenured professors--Southern and a semiretired professor.

Southern said she believes that "students have been manipulated by some department faculty" to believe the department is weak.

One concentrator who graduated last spring said this month, "There is evidence of a very high turnover and very little consistency within the department. No secretary knows whether a course will be taught from year to year, which leads to student insecurity."

Exodus

The student said the departure of three junior faculty this year aggravated student concern about the stability of the department.

Southern's resignation follows the departure of three junior faculty members in Afro-Am-Mottl, who did not receive tenure; Moore; and Rampersad, visiting professor of Afro-American Studies. Moore and Rampersad had one-year appointments.

Southern said the department does not have a turnover problem. "Each person who is leaving who had a five-year appointment has stayed five years. Harvard only allows you to stay five years. It's not fair to say there's a high turnover. That reflects on me as chairman," she added.

Southern said that junior faculty she brought into the department still have two years before their appointment expires. "Before I became chairman, there was a higher turnover," she added.

Tenure

Southern also disagreed with student charges that Harvard has failed to recruit tenured professors. While she was chairman, Harvard offered five professors tenure, Southern said.

Southern said these professors refused tenure for a number of reasons, including the department's lack of a graduate program, the problems of finding jobs for wives in Cambridge, and Harvard's inability to better some of their current salaries.

Southern added she hopes the controversy will ease this fall: "Students don't like to be involved with confusion and chaos. I want them to know I'm a tenured person and will be here," she said