Cornel West finding himself at home with Princeton after leaving Harvard in 2002.

Imaani El-Burki

Since leaving Harvard in April 2002, Cornel West, one of the nations leading African American scholars and author the of best selling book Race Matters, continues to hit America were it hurts. Dr. West’s academic and professional career begins as a magna cum laude student at Harvard. Today he is the Class of 1943 Professor of Religion at Harvard’s Ivy League competitor Princeton.

Through out his career, Dr. West has been a public intellectual. West still involved in a number of organizations working toward social change. As constant advocate of African American involvement in politics, West supported Al Sharpton’s presidential campaign. He became a spokesperson for Sharpton during his run for the White House.

He is a vice president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, formerly National Parenting Association. He has been a member of the organization since 1994 and board member since 1995. According to Peggy Schiller, the Center’s Director of Administration, West was the co-chair for the organization’s Task Force on Parenting Empowerment. According to Schiller the purpose of this committee was to find solutions to the challenges confronting parents in raising children. West is currently a co-chair for a new task force, Hidden Brain Drain Colin, that began in February of this year. It was established to examine the ways in which women and minorities have become unrealized assets in the American economy.

West is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). According to Lucas Shapiro, youth organizer for the group, West has been its member and honorary chair for a number of years. The DSA is an affiliate of Socialist International, the largest political organization in the world. Director of the DSA, Frank L Lewellyn, never at responded to my phone calls or emails concerning the exact date that West began working with this organization.

Through out his academic career, West has written eight books, and earned numerous awards and honorary degrees. Although I could not find information on each of them, one of the better known awards that West received is the American Book Award. The award is given by the Before Columbus Foundation annually as a means to showcase excellence and diversity within American writing. According to Gunder Spards, the Executive Director of the foundation, West won the award in 1993 for his book, Prophetic Though in Post Modern Times.

The Trek to Stardom

With the support of scholarship studies, Cornel West began at Harvard University in 1970. After only three years (West graduated on June 14, 1973) he received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures before going on to pursue a M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. West’s academic information is indeed a hot topic at the University’s Register’s Office. West’s popularity allowed Kara Taylor, a staff assistant in the office to locate his file for me within a matter of seconds. “I just looked at Dr. West’s information a couple of days ago.” says Taylor, “We are always receiving requests about him. He is one of our best known graduates”.

Dr. West went straight into graduate school at Princeton University. He earned his Master’s of Arts in 1975 and is doctorate in 1980. Verifying Dr. West’s attendance at Princeton proved to be a little more difficult. My first lead was a disappointment. I was told by John Gunshor of the Register’s Office at Princeton that West’s academic information was highly classified and he was not authorized to discuss it with me. When asked why, Gunshor’s response was that giving out such information is as he put it, “against university policy.” It seemed a little suspicious, what if I’d been an employer calling to verify a student’s attendance in order to give them a job. However when I said that I was writing a story on Professor West, red flags must have gone up around Princeton. Gusher recommended that I speak with someone in the Dean of Faculty’s Office.

When I reached the Office of the Dean of Faculty I was again met with the same hostility. The lady that answered the phone rushed me off with out giving her name. “You’ll need to speak with his assistant” she told me and quickly transferred me over to Maryann Rodriguez, Cornel West’s personal assistant. Although it was not the path that I originally planned to take I’m certainly glad that it was were I ended up. I was on my way to speaking with the one person who probably would be able to help me the most to verify Dr. West’s post-graduate record. Indeed my conversations and e-mails with Ms. Rodriguez proved to be just what I needed. She assisted me in dissecting West past achievements and the current state of his career.

While earning a Ph.D. in philosophy at Princeton, Dr. West began teaching at The Union Theological Seminary (UTS) in New York. The Union Theological Seminary is a graduate school specializing in religious education. Edie Hunter, Executive Assistant in the Dean’s Office gave me detailed information about West’s career at UTS. West taught as an assistant professor of Philosophy of Religion from 1977 until 1981. In 1981 he became the assistant professor endowed by the Marcellus Hartley Professorship of Philosophy and Religion. In 1987 he became a professor of Philosophy and Christian practice. Courses taught by West included, “Contemporary Marxist and Postmarxist Philosophy”, “Post Modernism” and “Black Theology and Marxist Thought” ( with Professor James Cone). West’s interest and specialty in Philosophy and Marxist theory is evident in his doctorate dissertation which was published in 1991 under the title, The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought.

Misinterpretations of West’s Career at Yale Divinity School on Africana.com

While at Union Theological Seminary, Dr. West received a tenure track at Yale Divinity School. Yale Divinity School is a professional school within Yale University that focuses on interpretation of the Bible and Christianity as well as ministerial training. According to Grace Pauls, executive assistant to the dean, Dr. West taught at Yale Divinity School from July1, 1984 until June 30, 1987. Dr. West was an associate professor with tenure in religion and philosophy. As verified by Ms. Pauls, Africana.com’s profile contradicts this information by indicating that Dr. West was a full professor while at Yale.

In 1988 West accepted a position at Princeton as a tenured professor within the religion department. In 1993, he joined Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. and other prominent academics in the field of African American studies at Harvard University. Dr. West held joint appointment in African American Studies and Religion at Harvard.

West becomes involved with the WEB Dubois Institute for African American Research

In between Dr. West’s time at Princeton from 1988 until 1993 and his return to the program right now, he sat on the faculty of Harvard University’s religion department. Additionally, according to Karen Daulton, Assistant Director of the WEB Dubois Research Institute and the African American Studies Program West also held professorship with the institute. Although West was not directly involved in any of the institute’s research initiatives he continuously provided insight through his scholar in African American Studies. Ms. Daulton also confirmed that Dr. West had been a professor in African American studies and religion for ten years.

While at Harvard University, West became the first incumbent of the Alphonse Fletcher Jr. Professor chair. Jill Roszhart, the special projects coordinator for the African American Studies and WEB Dubois Institute for African American Research, explained to me the details of such an honor. Part of the endowment from Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. established positions or “chairs” with in the department. In other words, money from Fletcher’s contribution to Harvard supported professorship that West received. He received the appointment on July 1, 1999.

An abundance of outdated information about Dr. West floats the World Wide Web

The African American literature book club’s author’s profile, www.authors.aablc.com continues to post a biography of Cornel West stating that he is the director of the African American studies program at Princeton. However the official website for Princeton University’s African American Studies Program lists Valerie Smith has the program’s director. I contacted Dr. Smith, a professor in the history department, and she verified that she is now the director of the program. Although West may have been the director at some point, I was never able to confirm this information.

People are willing to discuss West at his former home Harvard

Although Dr. West’s withdrawal from Harvard was surrounded by controversy, his former colleagues were very willing to assist me in my efforts to verify his accomplishments. Yet personnel and staff members at West’s current professional home were reluctant to confirm his professional achievements. In spite of the Princeton “road blocks”, it was relatively easy to get to those who had worked with Dr. West to confirm his success. This, in my opinion, testifies Cornel West’s status in the academy. He is a prolific scholar in social and philosophic analysis of class, race, justice, religion, and democracy. He is both an Ivy League professor and a grass roots organizer. West’s commitment to social and political equality is obvious in each of his published books. Although some of the information that is readily available about him in public documents is out of date, this is a testament to the continuous outstanding accomplishments of Cornel West.