Afro-Am Scholar Brings New View

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III says his clearest memory of Cornel West '74 is of the future scholar greeting the dean at the door of Epps' Leverett House residence.

While the undergraduate West was polite, Epps remembers him "rushing past me at the same time, to search through my library for a book that would illuminate what he was thinking about."

The book was by German sociologist Max Weber; West, the man whom DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis Gates Jr. Calls "the Preeminent Afro-American scholar of our generation," was even then no intellectual slouch.

"He was possessed with a thirst for knowledge and had the same intensity in his conversations even then as you find on the lecture podium now," Epps says.

West will bring that formidable intellect back to Harvard in 1995 when he leaves Princeton and joins the faculties of the Afro-American Studies Department and the Divinity School.

But he will also bring something else, students say: a broad-minded attitude and applied approach to scholarship that is now lacking in the Afro-American Studies department.

"Cornel West's activism is important because I had one professor who told me that there is a distinction between activism and intellectual pursuits, and that they are mutually exclusive," says Afro-American Studies concentrator Charlene Morisseau '95.

West, who writes and lectures widely on current issues of public policy, is not simply an Ivory Tower academic, professors and students say.

Alvin L. Bragg '95, the president of the Black Students Association, calls him an "intellectual giant." But West "balances this by taking a practical approach to solving the ills of the black community rather than taking a lofty, high-faluting, Ivory Tower approach," Bragg says.

Professors agree that West succeeds in balancing a commitment to society serious scholarship.

"Cornel West combines the two dimensions of scholarship: pure scholarship and scholarship that is applied to real issue," says Cowles Professor of Sociology Orlando Patterson.

West will not bring just his "real issues" approach to scholarship to Harvard, students say. In a department many see as ideologically closed and limited, West will provide a welcome open-mindedness, students say.

"I think that the Afro-Am. department definitely has an ideological slant," says Monica A. Coleman '95. "Harvarditself has an ideological slant, and it's to theright."

"Corneal West will bring some diversity ofthought," Coleman adds. "He'll be a new additionto their ranks of cultural criticism, a differentviewpoint."

Gates says the ideological unity some see inhis department is nonexistent.

"We maintain no obligation to any particularphilosophy," he says. "This is a department that'svery open to anyone's ideas and there is no linewe've established for professors to toe in theclassroom."

While the himself has taken "visible publicstands against the excesses of the Afrocentricmovement," Gates says he "doesn't expect everyonein the department to agree with him."

West will fit in well with the department'soutlook, Gates says. West's own doctrine includesa central call for "cultural synthesis" in hisrecent book Race Matters. People of allraces can find commonality, west writes.

"To establish a new framework, we need to beginwith a frank acknowledgement of the basichumanness and Americanness of each of us" because"If we go down, we go down together," he writes inRace Matters.

The Harvard department is seen by many ashostile to Afrocentrism, a form of study thatemphasizes the central importance of Africa inworld history. Afrocentrism has been accused ofdistorting historical truth in its effort to focustoo exclusively on African contributions tosociety.

But many students have called for anacknowledgement that Afrocentrism can be alegitimate form of study--one which they say isignored in Harvard's department.

Afro-American Studies concentrator Zaheer R.Ali '94 says West's open mind may allow him to seemore value in the discipline of Afrocentrism thando many of West's future colleagues.

"I think that comes from his approach of tryingto find insight wherever it may be, while I thinkthat many of his colleagues try to outrightdismiss Afrocentricity," Ali says.

West finds insight in places many traditionalscholars fail to look, students say.

For instance, popular culture and music.

"When he was speaking he wasn't just speakingin a completely academic tone," says Afro-AmericanStudies concentrator Ann L. Chang '96, who hasheard West speak. "He would refer to black cultureand he was able to incorporate so many things intowhat he was saying that he was able to get manymore people interested in [his message]."

But where some see broad-mindedness, criticssee a celebrity's shallow appeal to the masses andperhaps a dearth of serious scholarly thought.

West is a regular on talk-show and lecturecircuits and can usually be contacted only througha press agent.

Two years ago, political scientist Adolph Reedwas quoted by the writer Robert Boynton as saying:"Cornel's work tends to be about a thousand mileswide and two inches deep."

Professional philosophers are sharply dividedin their estimate of West's intellectual purity.His message is much too accessible to nonacademicconstituencies, they say.

"West's fellow philosophers usually regardhim... as someone who has wandered so far out ofhis academic discipline that he no longer counts amember of it," says Richard Rorty, a formerphilosophy professor at Princeton.

West himself makes no apologies for appealingto people beyond the walls of Ivy League Schools.

In fact, he told the New Yorker that onereason he will come to Harvard in that the scopeof the University's African-American academiccommunity would allow him broader influence.

"Princeton and Harvard are both fine places,but Harvard is a larger context in which I canhave a broader intellectual impact," he told theNew Yorker.

And west's future replacement as director ofPrinceton's Afro-American Studies program says hiscelebrity was perhaps more important there thanhis structural contributions to the department.

"The contribution that Cornel made to ourprogram were mainly a matter of his nationalvisibility and his presence as a moral andintellectual force," says Princeton professorArnold Rampersad. "He wasn't institutionally asmuch of a presence."

But even if West was not the bureaucraticdriving force of the Princeton department, he wasits leading light. And former colleagues andstudents are disappointed about his decision toleave.

After West announced his decision to acceptHarvard's tenure offer, The Daily Princetonian, adaily student newspaper, printed a cartoonreferring to him as the "Newly-purchased Dr.Cornel West."

The cartoon drew fire and letters of protestfrom other members of the campus community for itsperceived racial insensitivity and stereotyping.

Princeton faculty members are even lessoverjoyed to lose one of the College's most renownprofessors.

"Given his position and the interest inAfrican-American Studies on Campus, there was asense of great disappointment here that he didn'tfeel more allegiance to this program," saysPrinceton Vice-Provost Ruth Simmons, who asassociate dean of the faculty initially lured Westto the New Jersey campus.

But Gates says that even Harvard can't buyscholars--especially those of west's caliber.

"Cornel West's acceptance of our tenure offerreflects the renewed commitment of theadministration to this field of study," Gatessays.

It is the recently established excellence ofHarvard's Afro-American Studies department, itschair, that draws top scholars such as West to theUniversity--not financial incentives.

"Now everyone we ask says yes," Gates says. "Inthe space of a few years we have made ourselvesprobably the best Afro-Am Department in theWorld."

But some students in the department say thereis more to being the "best" than simply boastingbig-name faculty members. Ali questions whatdifference one professor can make.

"Harvard has a reputation for being so greatthat it attracts greatness--but that doesn't stopit from possessing mediocrity as well," Ali says.

"It makes us the pre-eminent department interms of name," Ali says. "And I have to say 'Interms on name' because a lot of things aboutHarvard's pre-eminence are linked to its name."

But what a name this is, says one of West'sformer professor at Harvard, soon to be hiscolleague. "Cornel's a superstar," says HoughtonProfessor of Divinity and Contemporary ChangePreston N. Williams. "I will exist in thereflected glow of Cornel. And I'm happy withthat."Courtesy The Daily PrincetonianThis cartoon of CORNEL WEST'74 appeared inThe Daily Princetonian.

"Corneal West will bring some diversity ofthought," Coleman adds. "He'll be a new additionto their ranks of cultural criticism, a differentviewpoint."

Gates says the ideological unity some see inhis department is nonexistent.

"We maintain no obligation to any particularphilosophy," he says. "This is a department that'svery open to anyone's ideas and there is no linewe've established for professors to toe in theclassroom."

While the himself has taken "visible publicstands against the excesses of the Afrocentricmovement," Gates says he "doesn't expect everyonein the department to agree with him."

West will fit in well with the department'soutlook, Gates says. West's own doctrine includesa central call for "cultural synthesis" in hisrecent book Race Matters. People of allraces can find commonality, west writes.

"To establish a new framework, we need to beginwith a frank acknowledgement of the basichumanness and Americanness of each of us" because"If we go down, we go down together," he writes inRace Matters.

The Harvard department is seen by many ashostile to Afrocentrism, a form of study thatemphasizes the central importance of Africa inworld history. Afrocentrism has been accused ofdistorting historical truth in its effort to focustoo exclusively on African contributions tosociety.

But many students have called for anacknowledgement that Afrocentrism can be alegitimate form of study--one which they say isignored in Harvard's department.

Afro-American Studies concentrator Zaheer R.Ali '94 says West's open mind may allow him to seemore value in the discipline of Afrocentrism thando many of West's future colleagues.

"I think that comes from his approach of tryingto find insight wherever it may be, while I thinkthat many of his colleagues try to outrightdismiss Afrocentricity," Ali says.

West finds insight in places many traditionalscholars fail to look, students say.

For instance, popular culture and music.

"When he was speaking he wasn't just speakingin a completely academic tone," says Afro-AmericanStudies concentrator Ann L. Chang '96, who hasheard West speak. "He would refer to black cultureand he was able to incorporate so many things intowhat he was saying that he was able to get manymore people interested in [his message]."

But where some see broad-mindedness, criticssee a celebrity's shallow appeal to the masses andperhaps a dearth of serious scholarly thought.

West is a regular on talk-show and lecturecircuits and can usually be contacted only througha press agent.

Two years ago, political scientist Adolph Reedwas quoted by the writer Robert Boynton as saying:"Cornel's work tends to be about a thousand mileswide and two inches deep."

Professional philosophers are sharply dividedin their estimate of West's intellectual purity.His message is much too accessible to nonacademicconstituencies, they say.

"West's fellow philosophers usually regardhim... as someone who has wandered so far out ofhis academic discipline that he no longer counts amember of it," says Richard Rorty, a formerphilosophy professor at Princeton.

West himself makes no apologies for appealingto people beyond the walls of Ivy League Schools.

In fact, he told the New Yorker that onereason he will come to Harvard in that the scopeof the University's African-American academiccommunity would allow him broader influence.

"Princeton and Harvard are both fine places,but Harvard is a larger context in which I canhave a broader intellectual impact," he told theNew Yorker.

And west's future replacement as director ofPrinceton's Afro-American Studies program says hiscelebrity was perhaps more important there thanhis structural contributions to the department.

"The contribution that Cornel made to ourprogram were mainly a matter of his nationalvisibility and his presence as a moral andintellectual force," says Princeton professorArnold Rampersad. "He wasn't institutionally asmuch of a presence."

But even if West was not the bureaucraticdriving force of the Princeton department, he wasits leading light. And former colleagues andstudents are disappointed about his decision toleave.

After West announced his decision to acceptHarvard's tenure offer, The Daily Princetonian, adaily student newspaper, printed a cartoonreferring to him as the "Newly-purchased Dr.Cornel West."

The cartoon drew fire and letters of protestfrom other members of the campus community for itsperceived racial insensitivity and stereotyping.

Princeton faculty members are even lessoverjoyed to lose one of the College's most renownprofessors.

"Given his position and the interest inAfrican-American Studies on Campus, there was asense of great disappointment here that he didn'tfeel more allegiance to this program," saysPrinceton Vice-Provost Ruth Simmons, who asassociate dean of the faculty initially lured Westto the New Jersey campus.

But Gates says that even Harvard can't buyscholars--especially those of west's caliber.

"Cornel West's acceptance of our tenure offerreflects the renewed commitment of theadministration to this field of study," Gatessays.

It is the recently established excellence ofHarvard's Afro-American Studies department, itschair, that draws top scholars such as West to theUniversity--not financial incentives.

"Now everyone we ask says yes," Gates says. "Inthe space of a few years we have made ourselvesprobably the best Afro-Am Department in theWorld."

But some students in the department say thereis more to being the "best" than simply boastingbig-name faculty members. Ali questions whatdifference one professor can make.

"Harvard has a reputation for being so greatthat it attracts greatness--but that doesn't stopit from possessing mediocrity as well," Ali says.

"It makes us the pre-eminent department interms of name," Ali says. "And I have to say 'Interms on name' because a lot of things aboutHarvard's pre-eminence are linked to its name."

But what a name this is, says one of West'sformer professor at Harvard, soon to be hiscolleague. "Cornel's a superstar," says HoughtonProfessor of Divinity and Contemporary ChangePreston N. Williams. "I will exist in thereflected glow of Cornel. And I'm happy withthat."Courtesy The Daily PrincetonianThis cartoon of CORNEL WEST'74 appeared inThe Daily Princetonian.