Negro Digest - Freedom Archives
Negro Digest - Freedom Archives
Negro Digest - Freedom Archives
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Since sufficient teachers cannot<br />
be secured from new graduates not<br />
already committed to particular institutions,<br />
it will be necessary to<br />
raid the faculties of established institutions<br />
. As anyone knows who<br />
has tried it, money does not always<br />
prove sufficiently strong to pry a<br />
teacher from an institution and a<br />
community where he has planted<br />
roots for himself and his family .<br />
In time, a new institution with<br />
sufficient money and satisfactory<br />
fringe benefits-such as geographic<br />
location, adequate library, limited<br />
teaching load, and cultural activities-can<br />
build as satisfactory<br />
a faculty as did Duke and Chicago,<br />
to name only two institutions<br />
which competed successfully with<br />
well-established institutions . But<br />
time is required. A decade may not<br />
be an unreasonable minimum .<br />
Meanwhile, it may be necessary<br />
to develop the program at an institution<br />
already established, for one<br />
may strengthen a competent faculty<br />
more quickly than create a new<br />
one . Naturally, the institution must<br />
be selected carefully, and means<br />
must be devised to exclude from<br />
the program---o r at least minimize<br />
the influence of-tenured faculty<br />
members who, apathetic, incompetent,<br />
or hostile, cannot contribute<br />
wholesomely .<br />
NEGRO DIGEST March 1968<br />
ADMINISTRATION<br />
<strong>Negro</strong> administrators have been<br />
criticized for incompetence, autocratic<br />
behavior, and egocentricity .<br />
Although the charges are often<br />
justifiable, competent administrators<br />
can be secured from among<br />
those already in higher education .<br />
Like teachers, however, administrators<br />
may be unwilling to abandon<br />
established posts to gamble<br />
with uncertainty . I cannot easily<br />
condemn a man-black or whitewho<br />
hesitates, and finally refuses,<br />
to dedicate himself to a cause<br />
which may require his sacrificing<br />
everything which he has spent a<br />
lifetime building . Perhaps, therefore,<br />
the proposed program should<br />
be placed under the jurisdiction of<br />
a president who has demonstrated<br />
excellence at an institution already<br />
established .<br />
Before rejecting this suggestion,<br />
let us examine the major objections-that<br />
is, the criticisms traditionally<br />
hurled at <strong>Negro</strong> administrators<br />
. Autocrats have governed<br />
and do govern some <strong>Negro</strong> colleges<br />
. But the <strong>Negro</strong> race owns no<br />
monopoly on tyrannical presidents .<br />
Autocratic administration may develop<br />
wherever a weak, insecure<br />
faculty surrenders its rights .<br />
There is little need to fear that<br />
autocratic practices will govern the<br />
ideal black university. First, the<br />
president will already have demonstrated<br />
excellence . Competent administrators<br />
recognize that educational<br />
programs work best when<br />
the faculty assists in determining<br />
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