AAADS faculty move to reinstate Stanfield

A majority of faculty members in the African American and African Diaspora Studies department have put their support behind a written complaint to have professor John Stanfield reinstated as chair of the department.\nThe complaint, sent to the Faculty Mediation Committee from professors Valerie Grim and Iris Rosa, states that before Stanfield's time as chair, the department was slowly falling into disarray, and Stanfield's year of administration breathed new life into the once-flagging department.\nThe document, obtained by the IDS, states that upon his arrival, Stanfield began to rework the deparment by hiring new professors, attracting new graduate students and pointing the department in the direction of African Diaspora studies.\n"With Professor Stanfield's removal as chair, the department is once again thrown into a state of crisis," the document states.\nStanfield, when contacted, would not comment on the latest complaint. He remains a tenured professor in the department.\nSenior Matt Booker, an undergraduate AAADS major, said the loss of Stanfield as chair was a major blow to the department.\n"One of the major downfalls is that undergraduates didn't get a chance to meet with him," he said. "He added to the department's reputation. Now we're not ashamed to be Afro majors."\nStanfield was removed from his chairmanship on Aug. 25 by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy. \nThe complaint filed by professors Grim and Rosa also alleges that the actions of professors John and Audrey McCluskey contributed to professor Stanfield's removal, as well as the departure of four other former AAADS professors to other IU departments. In the complaint, the Stanfield supporters ask for the McCluskeys' transfer to another University department.\nThe complaint also places some of the blame for Stanfield's removal on Subbaswamy, alleging that he has not been treating the department with the full respect given to other academic units, and that he does not take seriously the academic value of African American and African Diaspora Studies. The complaint claims Subbaswamy said in 2000 that AAADS would function better as a program than as a department.\nSubbaswamy could not be reached for comment, but Professor Audrey McCluskey said charges against her, her husband and Subbaswamy are unfounded.\n"It's just so absolutely ridiculous, it doesn't deserve comment," she said. "I think (Subbaswamy) did what he had to do and acted in a very deliberate way. I don't find any fault with him."\nMcCluskey said she was not aware that the latest filed complaint had been made public.\n"If it was shared with (the IDS), it was shared for a very political purpose," she said. "That seems to me to undercut the grievance."\nThe situation in the department has begun to have negative effects on the students there, and McCluskey said the interim dean, history professor Michael McGerr, is working to stabilize the environment for them.\n"He's doing all he can to hame sure the academic community knows that we still have a strong commitment to African American studies," she said. "These current circumstances don't change that."\nSenior AAADS major Aaron Hankins said the circumstances have already had a negative effect on the department.\n"A lot of undergraduates were considering the master's program here, but they're not sure if they'll keep considering this program now," he said. \nPrior to his removal, Stanfield had troubles within the department dealing with assigning professors' teaching loads, and discrepancies in departmental finances.\nAccording to a Chronicle of Higher Education article, Stanfield filed a grievance opposing his removal on Sept. 3, alleging breaches of University policy.\nStanfield also said in the Chronicle article that he belives senior professors John and Audrey McCluskey used their connections within the administration to facilitate his removal.\n-- Contact senior writer George Lyle IV at glyle@indiana.edu.