Recently, Carby has taught courses ranging from black women's fiction to an examination of the social construction of race.

She has not confined her activism to African-American studies. In 1996, she was one of the principal co-signers of a letter to Levin urging the university to rethink its labor policies. She has also spearheaded a debate over tenure reform for Yale professors.

As the chair of the program in African American studies, Carby faces the challenge of recruiting a top-notch faculty at a time when other colleges are making top-dollar offers to hire talented Afro-Am professors. According to Kutzinki, this task has been made difficult by the program's status at Yale.

Kutzinski said that although she respects Gates and Harvard's program, she believes Yale devotes more attention to its undergraduates.

"We have difficulties with some of the students who come from Harvard's program," she said.

She cites examples of Harvard students who have had trouble with the academic rigor of Yale's graduate program.

But Gates defended the program he has helped to build at Harvard.