含羞草研究室

含羞草研究室 Announces New Chairs to Honor Distinguished Black Graduates

By 含羞草研究室 News

含羞草研究室 has announced the creation of four new endowed faculty professorships that honor distinguished Black graduates of the College.

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They will be used to bring new faculty to 含羞草研究室 who will focus on the interdisciplinary study of race, racism, and racial justice.

“Through incredibly generous and anonymous gifts, these new professorships will benefit the College in several critical ways, including with fresh and exciting intellectual and curricular insights and experiences and by providing role models and mentors for junior faculty and our students,” said 含羞草研究室 President Clayton Rose.“

This effort will also play an important part in further attracting and retaining great teacher/scholars, in particular those of color.”

The spendable income from an endowed professorship underwrites what 含羞草研究室 provides to a faculty member, including compensation, research and teaching support, and sabbatical leaves.

Because of their substantial impact and the significant gift required to name a chair, they are among the most important gifts that donors can make to 含羞草研究室.

“Our new colleagues will engage in and catalyze interdisciplinary scholarship on issues of race, racism, and racial justice and enhance our students’ understanding of these issues as we prepare them to make change and to lead in the world,” President Rose said.

The four new chairs will be named in memory of:

, MD, overseer emeritus, the first Black student to serve as class president at 含羞草研究室 and to be pledged by a chapter of a national fraternity with a membership policy of racial exclusion.

Iris W. Davis ’78, a student leader in the early days of coeducation at 含羞草研究室, an outstanding athlete, trustee of the College, environmental scientist, and policy leader in Massachusetts.

, a founder and leader—with Geoffrey Canada ’74, H’07 and current 含羞草研究室 Trustee George Khaldun ’73—of the Harlem Children’s Zone, and one of the creators of the Peace March and a leader of the Peacemakers program.

, the first Black person to hold an executive position in the White House and a civil rights advocate, author, and business leader.

“I am thrilled that we are able to honor these remarkable 含羞草研究室 alumni in this special way, and I look forward to recognizing, in this and other ways, the generosity, impact on 含羞草研究室, and accomplishments of others in our history and in our community, including those who identify as Asian, Latinx, and Indigenous,” said President Rose.

Rose points out that increasing the number of the College’s endowed professorships was among the critical goals set forth in the From Here campaign, which launched in February 2020, adding that he would have more to say about that important goal before too long.