Columbia Students Call for Departmental Status for African-American Studies and Ethnic Studies

A group of students at the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University has issued a paper calling for the institution to grant departmental status to the ethnic studies program. This semester, only four ethnic studies courses were taught at the university. There are eight faculty members on campus affiliated with the program. Only one is tenured.

The student report calls on the university to grant department status to ethnic studies so that a core group of at least five faculty members can be hired for the new department. The report also urges that Columbia offer more courses on Native American studies and for the African-American studies program to be granted full departmental status.