Infighting, injustice at Chicago State
Clash between cultural icon, controversial president is tragic
BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times ColumnistIt is painful to watch two powerful black men fight publicly. In just about every instance, it is the community that loses.
This latest clash between Haki Madhubuti, a giant in the literary world, and Wayne Watson, the president of Chicago State University, is no different.
On Friday, during his remarks opening the 20th annual Gwendolyn Brooks Conference, Madhubuti will say farewell to Chicago State, an institution he has shared his international fame with for more than two decades.
"You don't want to leave a position after 26 years without honor. I'm being forced to leave. It is not right," he told me.
Citing legal concerns, Watson declined to discuss details of Madhubuti's departure. But Watson denied that Madhubuti was being forced out.
"Not true. That is his decision. I am only asking him to teach," Watson said.
Since Watson arrived, Madhubuti, who was the "University Distinguished Professor" and "Emeritus of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center," was busted down to professor of English, a change that will result in a nearly 50 percent reduction in salary.
At the same time, Madhubuti is being asked to teach four classes a semester.
In an article that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Watson boasted that he "cracked down on a star professor who had been allowed to teach just one course a year while drawing a full salary."
"What is Watson's goal other than cutting him down, other than humiliating him?" asked a CSU faculty member who fears retaliation. "Watson has been coming at Haki since October. He has messed with his money and his status."
Best-known for his fiery yet lyrical black protest poems, Madhubuti had managed to stay out of political brawls until now.
But on June 22, 2009, he was compelled to write an open letter to Chicago State in which he criticized the process by which Watson was selected.
'I can't work with him'His was hardly a revolutionary attack.
Thirteen members of the 15-member search committee had been so put off by the process, they resigned in protest.
"I knew something was going to happen if I wrote the letter, but I didn't know he would push me to seek an early retirement," Madhubuti said. "I can't work with him. I am not going to stand here and let him use this university like he used the City Colleges."
Watson, of course, can make a great argument for wanting Madhubuti to teach more classes.
On Wednesday, security guards were escorting off the campus the first wave of laid-off faculty and staff.
In times like these, it is easy to justify asking the remaining employees to carry a heavier load.
But let's get serious.
Haki Madhubuti isn't any old body. He is a cultural icon.
He is the founder of Third World Press, a black-owned publishing house that has published works by established black writers as well as up-and-coming authors since 1967.
Before Chicago education experts figured out charter schools, Madhubuti and his wife founded the Institute of Positive Education/New Concept School to turn the dream of black empowerment into a reality.
His expertise in the field of education led to the development of the Betty Shabazz International Charter School, Barbara A. Sizemore Middle School and the DuSable Leadership Academy.
Because of Madhubuti's vision, the legacy of renowned poet Gwendolyn Brooks -- the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize in poetry -- will forever be linked to this South Side university.
Every year, black writers and those who aspire to walk in their footsteps gather on the campus of Chicago State for the Gwendolyn Brooks Writers Conference to hone their craft.
This year, poet Nikki Giovanni is the featured artist, but under the circumstances, the conference will also be a celebration of Madhubuti's achievements.
Madhubuti certainly could have taught elsewhere.
The fact that he chose to stay at a university that struggles against great odds to engage low-income urban youth in higher education is a testament of his lifelong mission.
This unceremonious parting of the ways could prove to be a devastating loss to the university in the future.
Today, it just makes me sad.
No one can do as much harm to black people as other black people.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Infighting, injustice at Chicago State :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Mary Mitchell
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1 comment:
So you can count me as another who supports Dr. Watson on this one. This guy Haki has been pillaging CSU for years. Since he did not take a salary from 3rd World Press, you could say that CSU/the Taxpayers basically subsidized that business venture by providing him a one class load job, health insurance, office space and a platform to promote himself.
2008 information on Haki (Don Lee is his "slave" name) Madhubuti.
From: http://www.archive.org/details/StateUniversitiesOfIllinoisSalaries2008
Name: Lee, Don L
Title: Professor English
Start Date: 08/16/84
Salary: $110,928.00
Plus his spouse (Carol Lee) has a nice gig as a Professor at Northwestern University, so there will be no tag days for them.
He is 68 years old and can start enjoying his $90,000 plus per year pension and free lifetime health insurance.
At issue are the students of CSU and an administration, faculty and policies that prepare these students for professions and success in a growing global community. How many letters has this professor written, using his stature and name recognition in support of additional funding for CSU not associated with his department? How many elected officials has he lobbied on behalf of the university not associated with a program directly linked to him? The question is legitimate because Dr. Madhubuti wrote that his support extends beyond his department to the entire institution, its mission and all of its students.
There is no way anyone could accomplish so much beyond the university walls and have teaching be a priority. If being asked to earn his salary by taking on a full time teaching schedule after twenty-five years of the university supporting all of his outside endeavors is so distasteful that it warrants such indignation, then respectfully Dr. Madhubuti, just accept that your other initiatives have a greater priority and move on quietly. Don’t try to hurt the man who is trying to make the best use of university resources by paying professors a full time salary that actually teach full time.
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