Founder of Boston University's antiracist research group departs as center prepares to shut down
The founding director of an anti-racist research center at Boston University is moving to another university and the center he founded will be shutting down.
"Despite all the headwinds we faced as a new organization founded during the pandemic and the intense backlash over critical race theory, I am very proud of all we envisioned, all we created, all we learned, all we achieved—the community we built, the people we helped and inspired," Ibram X. Kendi, founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, said in a statement.
Kendi will be moving to Howard University, whose main campus is located in Washington, D.C. It is classified as an HBCU or Historically Black College or University, and named by Forbes as the top HBCU in the nation.
In his statement, Kendi continued: "To all the faculty, staff, administrators, students, supporters, and Boston community members, I feel honored to have been able to do this work with you over the last five years. I am departing for an opportunity I could not pass up, but what connected us at CAR remains, especially during this precarious time. Our commitment to building an equitable and just society."
The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research is reportedly closing when its contract expires on June 30. The center's 12 staff members will be paid through June 30.
In a Thursday press release, Boston University said Kendi's "arrival at BU followed a string of killings of Black men and women in the United States, most notably the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. The explosion of activism and interest on the subject led to several strong years of fundraising and research."
The university further noted how the Center created a "COVID Racial Data Tracker, supporting multiple research and policy teams, producing research-based amicus briefs, developing an Antiracist Tech Initiative, assisting faculty to develop antiracist courses, initiating a Racial Data Lab, convening experts, producing policy reports and public comments, fostering networking among affiliated faculty, launching a national book festival, and building 'The Emancipator,' an award-winning digital platform."
A Thursday article in the Washington Post says that Kendi will "start a new institute focusing on the global African diaspora at Howard, the prominent historically Black institution in the nation's capital."
Fox News Digital reached out to Boston University for more details on Kendi's plans at Howard University and for further information on the closing of the Center for Antiracist Research, but did not immediately receive a response.
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