Donna R. Brodd, vice provost for academic affairs, remembers when the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia approved the African-American Studies degree program.
“I worked at SCHEV in 1997 when the council said no to a degree in the African-American studies program,” Brodd said. “I was absolutely delighted to have the program get approved, because I thought it should have been approved back in 1997. But I was delighted when it got approved in late 2002.”
That was in 1997. Now this student major serves 13 students. Since its inclusion in 2003 into the university degree curriculum, the number of majors has tripled. Eleven of those students are African-American while the other two represent other nationalities.
Alisha Ward, a junior double majoring in African-American Studies and mass communications, has witnessed the growth in the program since she first majored in African-American Studies.
“I’ve seen it grow mostly by participation. Last year was the first year of the program — they just got approval the year before that,” she said. “So this is our real first
year and I’ve seen more people saying I’m an African-American studies major or a minor. And I’m thinking about majoring and I just see that coming ahead.
“I think our creating a study group for African-American studies has helped to create an awareness to the program.”
Since 1970, African-American Studies has been a part of the university’s curriculum with Rutledge Dennis serving as its first director. In June 1986, W. Avon Drake, now an associate professor in the School of Government and Public Affairs, was appointed director.
“The two goals that I had when I came was to stabilize the program,” he said, “and to raise its visibility to help create additional courses, which I did.”
Since then, Drake has witnessed the evolution of the program through the years. He said the three most significant developments he’s seen since coming to VCU include: