Statement on African American Studies

The Ohio University chapter of AAUP hereby calls on Ohio University to invest resources in sustaining the Department of African-American Studies. The university community has often pointed to the department's long history as evidence of the strength of its commitment to diversity, even while funding and support for faculty in the department has been inadequate. As a consequence, a majority of the faculty will be departing at the end of this semester. At this time it appears that Gary Holcomb will be the only member of the AAS faculty on campus next academic year. Situations such as this are not merely an issue of the organizational structure: they reflect a deterioration of conditions more broadly for Black faculty, students, and staff at Ohio University. An investment in African-American studies, in its department faculty as well as in related curricular offerings across the university, is critical. It is a necessary step for transforming not only the structure, but also the culture of Ohio University so that diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging become demonstrably true priorities for the administration and the university as a whole.