Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

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