Eleven students were enrolled in the Black studies program in the fall semester. Most of them were Black.
Robinson says he would like the university to eventually offer Black studies as a major, to hire three to four professors for the program, to designate office space for it, and to attract students of all races and ethnic backgrounds to the study.
The University of Central Arkansas in Conway offers a major in Black studies, as do a few universities in the Southeastern Conference, including Louisiana State University, Vanderbilt and the universities of Mississippi and South Carolina.
The Fulbright College has five other programs that focus on geographic areas or peoples: Asian studies, European studies, Middle East and Islamic studies, Latin American studies and Russian studies.
The university initiated the Black studies program in 1969. Nudie Williams, a history professor, led the program for several years. When Williams died in July 2003, only a couple of students were in the program, Robinson says. The director's position was vacant for a year after Williams' death. Last summer, Robinson was asked to invigorate the program.
Fulbright College Dean Don Bobbitt acknowledges Robinson's concerns.
“We were able to supply resources to get this off the ground. We hardly have started,'' he says. “The program will grow if it develops a successful track record.''
— Associated Press
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