Eileen Southern, professor of Music and Afro-American Studies, will no longer chair the department of Afro-American Studies.
Southern said yesterday she resigned her position partly because she did not understand how she could work as department chairman with a proposed executive committee that would govern the department.
Southern said this week she wrote to Dean Rosovsky in June after returning from a semester sabbatical, telling him she could not accept reappointment as chairman. Her three-year term expired in January.
"I was not involved in the many decisions that took place during my absence and I did not have a clear understanding of the proposed structures for governing the department," Southern said. "If anyone had sat me down and explained what was going on, I might have had a better attitude," she added. Southern added, however, that she is not criticizing Rosovsky.
Controversy
While Southern was away this spring, controversy broke out about the status of the Afro-American Studies Department. Students held demonstrations throughout the semester protesting the possible demotion of the department to an interdisciplinary committee, which then would not be able to tenure professors.
After Rosovsky met with dissatisfied junior faculty members of the department last semester, the Faculty Council considered a proposal to govern the department through an executive committee of professors. Rosovsky is expected to announce the appointment of such a committee this fall.
"I told the dean that I did not understand how it could work having both a committee and a chairman. I didn't see how I could work under these conditions," Southern added.
Rosovsky is out of town and could not be reached for comment yesterday. Phyllis Keller, associate dean for academic planning, declined to comment on Southern's resignation yesterday.
Friction
One undergradute concentrator, however, said Southern's resignation may also have stemmed from friction between Southern and department members, especially some junior faculty.
The concentrator, who wished to remain unidentified, added that these faculty members doubt Southern's commitment to Afro-Am. Southern has tenure in both the Music and Afro-Am. Departments.
Southern said, "I am reluctant to make any move that would hurt the department."
Gilbert Moore, lecturer on Afro-American Studies, and Tahi L. Mottl, assistant professor of Afro-American Studies, refused to comment yesterday. Harrington Benjamin and Selwyn R. Cudjoe, assistant professors of Afro-American Studies, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Southern said yesterday she is "bewildered" about the recent controversy surrounding the department. "I hope the department remains a department," she said, adding, "I thought we were doing beautifully, and all of a sudden I returned to find this furor."
