By far the least interesting aspect of the Great Cornel West Debate is the racial angle, i.e., "what if a high-ranking white Harvard professor were dressed down for too many extracurricular activities and too many 'A' students?". A far more interesting question is, "what if a high-ranking professor--of any race--at Harvard Medical School were out recording music and running political campaigns instead of producing research, and handing out A's to students as if they were candy?" Does anybody doubt that, far from merely complaining (and then backing off), university president Lawrence Summers (and the whole Med School faculty) would have done everything in their power to purge the faculty of such an irresponsible incompetent?

--Dan Simon

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Wouldn't African-American students be better served by having strong leaders in the fields of History, Sociology, Law, Economics, etc.? Rounding up the black professors into an Afro-American Studies department marginalizes and contains their effect. And there's every danger that some black youths would confine themselves to these studies on the basis of solidarity, becoming isolated and irrelevant.

Of course, it may be a bit much to say that black professors are being rounded up into such a department, but it unquestionably siphons off talented professors from having a wider audience. And if it's partially made up of professors who wouldn't make much of a contribution elsewhere, and who are immune from criticism from the rest of academe, what does that do to the credibility of the strong professors?

I'm just not sure that a large Afro-American Studies department is "a model to follow," nor particularly helpful to African Americans' lot in this country.

--Urquhart

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