The Cavalier daily :: Thursday, March 26, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

Receiving and adopting a report by its
Committee on Academic Legislation,
which created a new Interdepartmental
Major in Afro-American Studies, the
College Faculty yesterday officially approved
the creation of an Afro-American
Studies Program.

After the adoption of the report,
passed unanimously and without discussion,
the Faculty spent the major portion
of their regular monthly meeting discussing
the various sections of the report of
the Committee on By-Laws.

This report established an official set
of by-laws for the Faculty, stating the
purpose and rules of the body. It was
debated in sections and changes were
made, but a final vote on the entire
report was deferred until the next
meeting.

The Academic Legislation report has a
far-reaching effect on the College student
body. The Afro-American Studies proposal
was only one small section of this
report, which annually lists and proposes all
changes in courses, catalogue descriptions, and
degree requirements.

The entire report lists numerous curriculum
changes in the departments of History, Physics,
Romance Languages, and Drama. But it is the
black history proposal that has drawn the most
controversy and will have the greatest effect on
the College.

Curriculum Changes

The-proposal, which will go into effect the
school year of 1970-1971, creates the administration
of the study program and outlines the
requirements, prerequisites, and tentative
courses of the new major.

The report states that "the program will be
administered by a committee of the faculty
drawn from the participating departments. The
members of the committee, including its
chairman, will be appointed by the Dean of the
Faculty."

Requirements

"This Committee on Afro-American
Studies," the statement continues, "will be
responsible for setting the requirements of the
Program, administering its operation, and
designating those approved College courses to
be included in it."

The report then outlined the prerequisites
for an Afro-American Studies major. "To be
admitted to the program, a student must meet
existing College requirements for declaring a
major," it said. In addition, he must pass, with
grades of "C" or better, Afro-American Studies
1, 2 — a new course designed for first- and
second-year men."

This introductory course, replacing the
present HIUS 82 course, will carry three credit
hours each semester. "The first semester...will
be devoted to a survey of the history and
literature of black Americans," the report
stated. "The second semester will treat the civil
rights movement, the rise of black power, and
other aspects of contemporary Afro-American
life."

The course will be open to all students for
credit either semester, but both semesters are
needed for the major's program. Those students
entering the program next year will be
permitted to have taken HIUS 82.

The requirements for the major's program is
36 semester hours. "Twelve hours of courses,
drawn from a list to be prepared by the
Committee, in the field of Afro-American
Studies," will also be required, according to the
report. At least three hours of course work
must be taken in each of three departments.

There will also be a new Afro-American
Studies 51-52 course required of fourth-year
majors. It will be a directed readings and
research course dealing with "selected problems
in Afro-American Studies and the writing of a
B.A. thesis." This course will not be offered
until 1971-72, because there will be no
fourth-year majors in the coming session.

The remaining 18 hours of work must come
in a single department, but they need not be in
the field of Afro-American Studies.

In addition to the two courses already
mentioned, the Program will include courses,
both new and already existing, in numerous
departments of the College.

Although the chairman of the new Program
has not been officially appointed, he is likely to
be a black professor specializing in Religion
who will teach at least the second semester of
the Afro-American Studies 1, 2 course. A black
English professor is also being considered for
appointment.

Besides approving tentatively the new
By-Laws, the Faculty also heard a report by
Irby Cauthen, Dean of the College, who
reported that two weeks in April will be
devoted to advising prospective majors in all
departments.