As a past chair of the Department of African American Studies, I write this letter in response to the article published on April 26, “Stephens steps down upon Ogles’ request.”
Once a person is appointed chair of a department, they have a clear responsibility to nurture, mentor, and provide supervision, leadership and vision to that department.
This role could actually be compared to that of a tree which provides shelter, a cool place to rest, relax, etc. Trees provide life through the oxygen they give off.
In the Bible, God used a tree to expose the knowledge of good versus evil. Therefore, it can be inferred that as a chairperson, one should provide guidance, life and knowledge to the department.
Throughout the three years that Ronald Stephens has been the chair of the African American Studies department, he has failed to demonstrate a clear vision rooted in nurturing, mentoring, guiding and providing empirical knowledge to the department and students alike. Stephens spent much of his time developing external relationships with the National Council for Black Studies and others for self-aggrandizement, rather than addressing the department’s internal challenges. Charity should begin at home and spread abroad. Had Stephens pruned his trees rather than allowing them to grow without proper care and guidance, there would not have been a need for Dean Ogles to ask for a letter of resignation.
The challenges that Stephens faced with some members within the African American Studies department supersede a mere conflict with one faculty member. Stephens’ inability to control his emotions, his inability to successfully teach more than a 100 level African American Studies class and his inability to mentor and nurture junior faculty are clear examples of his failed leadership as a chair. Had Ogles fully acknowledged the complaints being brought forth to him regarding Stephens’ irrational, aggressive and vulgar behavior, Stephens may have been able to benefit from professional anger management training. It may not have made him a more suitable chairperson, but it may have assisted him in becoming a better professor and colleague.
In closing, the chair of a department should be like the stalk of a tree, which breathes light into the department. However, under Stephens’ leadership, the department has been dark. I would like to reference former President John F. Kennedy’s famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” What has Stephens done for the department of African American studies, other than generate controversy and dysfunction?
Francine Childs is a professor emerita of African American Studies.
