Relationship between education, race highlighted in West saga

Cornel West GS '80's departure from Harvard University and his appointment at Princeton last month reflect new dynamics in the relationship between race and higher education, according to social scientists and professors who have followed the West story in recent months.

Personal disagreements between West and Harvard president Lawrence Summers, arising from Summers' questioning West's recent scholarship, have been widely cited as a major factor driving West to leave.

But David Carrasco, a Harvard Latin-American studies professor and close friend of West, said differing views on the goals of education led to West's departure as much as Summers' questioning of his academic contributions.

"West embraces a love of knowledge and education," he said. "But he also insists that it have a social purpose . . . as a means for the enlargement of democracy."

Carrasco contrasted West's approach with that of Summers, citing his inaugural address. In it Summers said practical uses of education "must never obscure" the search for truth "as an end in itself."

Provost Amy Gutmann said the University hopes to educate students with a sense of social purpose.

"Learning for its own sake and for the sake of social justice are both eminently worthy pursuits," she said. "[Princeton] aims to educate leaders with a sense of social responsibility based on the broadest level of learning at the university level."

John McWorther, a linguistics professor who specializes in race at the University of California Berkeley, said West believes he is "exempt" from fulfilling the normal scholarly expectations of a top professor.

"West has not written a serious peer-reviewed academic work for almost ten years," he said. "This is something he might be able to defend, especially given the fact that he is now currently [at] work on three."

However, West did not point out his current scholarship when Summers questioned his contributions, instead saying he had to leave to "preserve his dignity," McWorther said.

The sequence of events leading up to West's appointment also highlights the issue of prestige in higher education, McWorther said.

"The power that West is exerting shows that the minute he's displeased, he will leave the school to great publicity despite the black implications," he said.

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But Gutmann said the University has the "same high expectations for all professors," noting that West went through a peer-review process that concluded he should receive a full tenured professorship.

Much of the need to preserve one's dignity has to do with the position of being a minority professor, said professor Cynthia Garcia Coll, chair of Brown University's education department.

Minority professors "are brought in sometimes because there is some talk among higher institutions that we need to do diversity," Garcia Coll said. "Most academics at the level of the professor are into notions of power and reputation," she said.

Because of the relatively small number of African-American scholars available to teach, she said "a culture of competition" has begun to emerge.

"When you get to be at the level of professor West, you sort of feel like a commodity," she said.

The University released the news of West's appointment a day early after weeks of declining to discuss whether West would be appointed. But the personalities involved dispute why West's decision got out before the University was prepared.

"No public good is served by leaking a faculty appointment ahead of time to the press," Gutmann said.

A New York Times reporter called the University, however, on April 12 and said the paper had confirmed West's decision and would run a story before the news was officially released, University spokeswoman Marilyn Marks GS '86 said.

The University had planned to release the news April 13 after the trustees approved the appointment, but it wanted its perspective represented in the article and declared its intent to appoint West, Marks said.

The Times identified Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has been serving as West's spokesman, as the source of the news.

"Professor Ogletree had left a voice mail message for a New York Times reporter at about 12:30 a.m. today confirming the professor's intentions," stated the April 12 article.

But Ogletree denied revealing the news in an e-mail.

"I did not announce that Cornel West was going to Harvard. I simply confirmed that he had made a decision, but did not reveal what his decision would be," he said. "Princeton simply jumped the gun."

"Your institution is playing games," he said.

Pam Belluck '85, a Times reporter, said she received the voice mail that revealed the news.

"It absolutely was Ogletree, and he placed the call around midnight on [April 12], according to the time stamp on my voice mail," she said. "And it was quite explicit that West was going to Princeton."