West himself makes no apologies for appealingto people beyond the walls of Ivy League Schools.
In fact, he told the New Yorker that onereason he will come to Harvard in that the scopeof the University's African-American academiccommunity would allow him broader influence.
"Princeton and Harvard are both fine places,but Harvard is a larger context in which I canhave a broader intellectual impact," he told theNew Yorker.
And west's future replacement as director ofPrinceton's Afro-American Studies program says hiscelebrity was perhaps more important there thanhis structural contributions to the department.
"The contribution that Cornel made to ourprogram were mainly a matter of his nationalvisibility and his presence as a moral andintellectual force," says Princeton professorArnold Rampersad. "He wasn't institutionally asmuch of a presence."
But even if West was not the bureaucraticdriving force of the Princeton department, he wasits leading light. And former colleagues andstudents are disappointed about his decision toleave.
After West announced his decision to acceptHarvard's tenure offer, The Daily Princetonian, adaily student newspaper, printed a cartoonreferring to him as the "Newly-purchased Dr.Cornel West."
The cartoon drew fire and letters of protestfrom other members of the campus community for itsperceived racial insensitivity and stereotyping.
Princeton faculty members are even lessoverjoyed to lose one of the College's most renownprofessors.
"Given his position and the interest inAfrican-American Studies on Campus, there was asense of great disappointment here that he didn'tfeel more allegiance to this program," saysPrinceton Vice-Provost Ruth Simmons, who asassociate dean of the faculty initially lured Westto the New Jersey campus.
But Gates says that even Harvard can't buyscholars--especially those of west's caliber.
"Cornel West's acceptance of our tenure offerreflects the renewed commitment of theadministration to this field of study," Gatessays.
It is the recently established excellence ofHarvard's Afro-American Studies department, itschair, that draws top scholars such as West to theUniversity--not financial incentives.
"Now everyone we ask says yes," Gates says. "Inthe space of a few years we have made ourselvesprobably the best Afro-Am Department in theWorld."
But some students in the department say thereis more to being the "best" than simply boastingbig-name faculty members. Ali questions whatdifference one professor can make.
"Harvard has a reputation for being so greatthat it attracts greatness--but that doesn't stopit from possessing mediocrity as well," Ali says.
"It makes us the pre-eminent department interms of name," Ali says. "And I have to say 'Interms on name' because a lot of things aboutHarvard's pre-eminence are linked to its name."
But what a name this is, says one of West'sformer professor at Harvard, soon to be hiscolleague. "Cornel's a superstar," says HoughtonProfessor of Divinity and Contemporary ChangePreston N. Williams. "I will exist in thereflected glow of Cornel. And I'm happy withthat."