Cornell Students Stand in Solidarity with the Campaign to Save Africana!

This statement appeared in the Cornell Daily Sun on April 29, 2011.  The Daily Sun refused to include credentials/affiliations with the signatures, but we have included them here to demonstrate the range of support that cuts across Cornell's degree programs, departments, and student organizations.

Statement of Solidarity with Save Africana Center (SAC) Campaign and ASRC Students, Staff, and Faculty

To Cornell University President Skorton and Provost Fuchs:

In response to the recent announcement that the administration plans to increase the funding support for the Africana Center, we the undersigned stand in solidarity with the statements and actions of the Save Africana Center Campaign and the Africana Center students faculty and staff as expressed in the public letters which were published in The Cornell Daily Sun on the 5 of April, 2011. Additionally, we declare our continued support for the call to suspend the decision to move Africana into the jurisdiction of Arts & Sciences so that the next step can be made collaboratively amongst those who are directly impacted by and invested in this decision.

Although we appreciate that increased funding has material value and may constitute a gesture of support, the offer of additional financial resources does not address the reasoning behind the nation-wide public condemnation of the administration’s decision. In many respects this surge in funding serves to simply obscure rather than confront the issue at hand. The fundamental issues of the center’s autonomy in regards to budgeting, hiring of faculty and maintaining a unique pedagogy remain unaddressed. The statements from Africana members and SAC have consistently spoken to the ways in which Africana stands to be undermined by being moved into Arts & Sciences. Providing more resources without addressing this concern constitutes continued misunderstanding of the issue.

In a time when Cornell is under financial duress, it is more critical than ever to do the best job possible to use our resources in effective and pragmatic ways. This means drawing on the incredible resources available to us as a community, including a shared commitment to continuing support for the Africana Center. With the social capital built by SAC through connecting a highly powerful network of alumni, Black and Africana studies scholars from across the country, and the energy and commitment on campus from students, staff, and faculty- we stand poised to make a move that will allow the Africana Center to remain a preeminent source of scholarship and expand the horizons of Africana studies for generations to come. We want a reporting structure that works; one in which self determination and collective responsibility is maximized, for all involved. We want to rebuild the sense of community that has been lost as a result of these decisions.

All of this will only be possible through the suspension of the decision to move Africana and a commitment to come to the table with authentically open dialogue, humility and respect. There is far too much at stake to proceed in any other way.

signed,

John Adam Armstrong

Grad, Education
Adult & Extension Education

Cornell Education Matters

Cymone D. Bedford

Grad, Regional Planning

President, Planning Students for Diversity

Rachael Blumenthal

Industrial & Labor Relations ‘12

Vice President, Cornell Students Against Sweatshops

Cornell Organization for Labor Action

Facilitator, Consent Education

Alex Bores

Industrial & Labor Relations ‘13

Vice President for Community Outreach, Half In Ten Cornell

Cornell Students Against Sweatshops

Hannah Chatterjee

History ‘13

Watermargin Education Program, co-chair

Jason Corwin
Grad, Natural Resources/ American Indian Program

Jesse Delia
Grad, Natural Resources

Cornell Education Matters

Victoria Demchak
Grad, Regional Planning

Omar Figueredo
Grad, Romance Studies

Sarah Ghermay

Industrial & Labor Relations ‘11

Co-chair, Black Students United

Megan Gregory
Grad, Horticulture
Cornell Education Matters

Cassy Griff
Latino Studies Program/Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies ‘11

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

Cassandravictoria Innocent

Grad, Genetics-Biophysics

Julie Jacoby

Grad, History

Lawrence Lan

Asian American Studies ‘11

Co-president, Asian Pacific Americans for Action

Aaron Law

Grad, History

Irene Li

College Scholar Program/Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies ‘12

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

Allison E Lupico
Grad, Industrial & Labor Relations

Kevin McGinnis

Government/German ‘13

President of United for Peace and Justice in Palestine

Treasurer of Intellectual Diversity Association

Ashley E. McGovern
J.D. '13, Cornell Law School
B.A. '08, Government/Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
President, Lambda LGBTQ Law Students Association
President, National Lawyers Guild

Zach Murray

Africana Studies/City & Regional Planning ‘13

Co-chair, Black Students United

Dean Darwin Oliver

Sociology/Law & Society ‘12

Ujamaa Residential Advisor

Men of Color Council

Chosen Generation Gospel Choir

Perla Parra
CIPA Fellow

Senior Managing Editor, public policy journal The Current

President, Cornell Women in Public Policy

Chair, Latino Graduate Student Coalition
Cornell Education Matters

Scott Perez
Grad, American Indian Program/Natural Resources

Lauren Tsuji

Architecture, Art & Planning '11

Co-President, Asian Pacific Americans for Action

Rosalind Usher

Sociology/Inequality Studies/Africana Studies ‘11

Resident Advisor, Ujamaa Residential College

Cornell Tradition Fellow
Senior Week Co-Chair, Class of ‘11 Council
Public Relations Chair, CU-Tonight Funding Commission
Publicity Chair, Les Femmes de Substance
Co-Editor-in-Chief, IMARA Magazine  

Kimberly Vallejo
Cornell Institute for Public Affairs Fellow
Cornell Education Matters

Felema B. Yemane

Architecture/Africana Studies/Dance ‘14

Campus Liaison, Black Students United

Chair, Black History Month for Cornell (2011)

Ivy League Council, Liaison VP of Programs

Cornell Tradition Fellow

Director of Programming and Outreach, American Institute of Architecture Students

*Note - These signatures are in no way exhaustive of the ever increasing support for the Save Africana Campaign.  For a more comprehensive list of support please see the signature section of our petition.