Georgetown has a reputation as an African-American-friendly school. Surveys in Black Enterprise, movies such as Boyz N’ the Hood and Georgetown’s stories basketball program have created the popular image of an institution that is open and welcoming to black students.
The image is a little more myth than reality, but now Georgetown is trying to live up to that image. Students and faculty have proposed the creation of an African-American studies minor.
That African-American studies is a valid subject for academic discourse is clear. Georgetown lags behind its peer institutions in the Conference on Financing Higher Education, who overwhelmingly have African-American studies departments. Our school is among the minority of schools in the Top 25 in the U.S. News and World Report rankings who don’t have a similar program.
But more important than how we compare to other universities is how well the University is serving its own student body.
Without an African-American studies department, Georgetown has a weaker curriculum. It is also does a disservice to black students, who constitute just under six percent population. Certainly not all black students will pursue a minor in African-American studies, but the presence of such a department has been mentioned again and again as a way to help foster a more positive atmosphere for black students on campus.
The proposal would make African-American studies an interdisciplinary minor in the College, which would draw from classes in the English and History departments, and probably from government and sociology. We strongly endorse the creation of this program. And departments which haven’t, such as English, should do the same.
The University should work hard to justify its reputation as a black-friendly school. Approving an African-American studies department is a step in the right direction.
