• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

ON BU’s DISGRACEFUL HANDLING OF THE SAIDA GRUNDY SITUATION

Written by EMILY HOPKINS Posted May 18, 2015 Filed Under: COLUMNS, Free Radical, NEWS+OPINIONS

Molly Savard @melisesavard

Image via Molly Savard

 

Last week, Boston University President Robert Brown wrote a letter in regard to the recent controversy around tweets by incoming professor Saida Grundy, a black woman, feminist and sociologist set to start teaching African American studies in July. Brown said he supported Grundy’s right to free speech, but added that her comments could be classified as racist.

 

As of the end of April, the BU African Presidential Center was set to close in June for lack of funding. Also, the school’s undergraduate student body is only about 5 percent black. In 2012, BU reported having “an extremely low percentage of African American/Black faculty” compared to other comparable institutions; approximately 2 percent of 2,000 full-timers self-identified as Black or African American.

 

My alma mater also sent out another kind of letter this past week: solicitations for donations. One version of the letter said that gifts help make the university more valuable, which in turn makes me more valuable as a graduate. Meanwhile, the other letter claimed, “Boston University has a rich history of supporting women.” But my friend, who received the latter version, and I know better; we both attended BU through its 2012 sexual assault controversies, and as students fought for the right to have adequate resources for those who need them.

 

BU still struggles with how it deals with sexual assault, but it’s no surprise that they claim otherwise. Just consider their record on diversity, and how administrators nonetheless claim pride in the school’s relationship with Martin Luther King, Jr., who earned his doctorate of philosophy at BU’s Division of Religious and Theological Studies. It makes you wonder: Assuming no one makes the huge mistake of firing Grundy, after she leaves her mark on BU, will her legacy be used as another selling point? Or will we forget about Brown’s letter altogether?

Author profile
EMILY HOPKINS
Related posts
  • EMILY HOPKINS
    https://digboston.com/author/emily-hopkins/
    A DEPARTURE: AFTER FOUR YEARS OF BLISTERING COLUMNS, A FREE RADICAL CHANGE
  • EMILY HOPKINS
    https://digboston.com/author/emily-hopkins/
    PAST INCARCERATION: REMEMBERING CHARLESTOWN'S FORGOTTEN PRISON
  • EMILY HOPKINS
    https://digboston.com/author/emily-hopkins/
    WHY BOTHER? ON RENEWING URBAN RENEWAL IN BOSTON.
  • EMILY HOPKINS
    https://digboston.com/author/emily-hopkins/
    THE THIN BLUE PAYWALL

Filed Under: COLUMNS, Free Radical, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: boston university, BU, controversy, Saida Grundy, Twitter, white college students

WHAT’S NEW

Trump-Loving Mass Republican Party Freaks Out Over Mar-a-Lago Raid

Trump-Loving Mass Republican Party Freaks Out Over Mar-a-Lago Raid

Governor’s Council Weighs Controversial Parole Board Renomination

Governor’s Council Weighs Controversial Parole Board Renomination

Bay State Gas Providers Pay Up

Bay State Gas Providers Pay Up

State Wire: Mass Needs to Reform Youth Restitution Policies

State Wire: Mass Needs to Reform Youth Restitution Policies

“Pie” by Eric Ferdinand is licensed under CC-BY 2.0

Share and Share Alike: Major Funders Need to Give Equally to All Nonprofit News Outlets

The T Will Stay Broken Because Poor and Working People Are Seen As Expendable 

The T Will Stay Broken Because Poor and Working People Are Seen As Expendable 

Primary Sidebar

Advertisement

FEATURED EVENT

Advertisement

Most Popular

  • The T Will Stay Broken Because Poor and Working People Are Seen As Expendable 
  • Inside the Bay State’s Legendary (and Only) One-Man Brewery
  • Meet the Phantom Behind Greater Boston’s Awesome Food Feed Everybody Gotta Eat
  • Worcester’s Wasteful, Never-Ending War on Police Transparency
  • The “Biggest Masshole In Massachusetts” Is Running For Secretary Of State

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): [email protected]