A snow storm did not deter the students and others who gathered outside the Phillis Wheatley Building for the noontime protest. Named after a slave who became the first Black poet published in the United States, the location was symbolically appropriate for a protest that defended courses on the role and contributions of Black men and women in U.S. history.

Students held signs that read, "Ignorance Kills--Black History Now," "Keep it Real--Keep Black Studies," and "Black History is American History."

The cuts are part of a broader attack on state funding for social programs put forward by Massachusetts governor Jane Swift with the full backing of her successor, Governor-elect Mitt Romney. With the threatened decline in the state education budget, austerity measures proposed by school administrators include the elimination of a tenured full-time position in the Africana Studies Department. The move will end introductory Black studies classes and simultaneously remove the option for students to major in Black History.

Aminah Pilgrim, a Cape Verde-born professor whose position in the Africana Studies Department will be eliminated by the cuts, explained at the rally, "I’m not here for myself. I am here for those who are not here. For those who have died to make our history. Their story needs to be told."

Later that day around 100 students and staff attended a campus-wide meeting to discuss the budget cuts and to defend the "Urban Mission"--a school statement of principle that says the university should support "diversity" and "nontraditional students." Among the participants were top school officials who had agreed to attend and hear the grievances. The UMB Budget Cuts Coalition sponsored the gathering, along with the Africana Studies Department, Black Student Center, Women’s Center, and Queer Student Union

Professor Robert Johnson, chair of the Africana Studies Department, said that a school administrator had told him the position in the Africana Studies Department would be funded for one more year. "This is a victory," Johnson said, "but we have to keep on fighting." Other speakers expressed opposition to raises in student fees, tuition costs, and parking fees.

The day before the various unions representing teaching staff and workers on the campus held an "all-union" meeting to discuss "the contract crisis" and other questions. Last fall Governor Swift stepped in to veto funding for raises that had been negotiated in contracts with the unions in the Massachusetts university, citing the state’s "budget crisis."

University of Massachusetts president William Bulger’s refusal to condemn the governor’s action has prompted several "no confidence" votes at union meetings. Elizabeth Mock, president of the Faculty/Staff union, described such votes as an "important public expression."

Ted Leonard is a meatpacking worker in the Boston area. Maggie Trowe contributed to this article.  
 
 
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