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BU antiracism center lays off most of staff amid accusations of mismanagement

By adamg on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 11:40am

The Daily Free Press reports a crisis at the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.

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Comments

By MisterMagooForYou on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 11:59am.

Jeepers, $43,000,000 can buy one a lot of bangers and mash. Magoo luvs this meal and will have bangers and mash once a fortnight. Magoo.

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By Bob Leponge on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 12:36pm.

The Compliance Services Office received an anonymous complaint in 2021 about the Center from Saida Grundy, an associate professor of sociology at BU and former CAR employee.

Could someone help me understand what "anonymous" means in this context?

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By Tim Mc. on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 1:27pm.

but then she went in person to the Provost to discuss it more.

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By John Costello on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 12:52pm.

"A former CAR employee involved in research leadership, who also asked to remain anonymous, said the Center was not able to hire a qualified senior social scientist, and it seemed like Kendi was not “interested in bringing [one] on, or seemingly couldn’t,” they said."

When you star**ck, do not be surprised when you get left alone in the morning.

Hey BU - How about you let more African Americans in and leave the kids from Asia and the Gulf majoring in "Boston" for four years off to the side? That would be a good start.

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By Friartuck on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 12:59pm.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonU/comments/16lu5yk/what_is_going_on_with_...

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By Scratchie on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 4:15pm.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BostonU/comments/16lu5yk/comment/k154sni/

...beware of astro-turfing in the comments. Whenever Professor Kendi or anti-racism is mentioned, bad actors show up.

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By enigmue on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 4:33pm.

This reddit comment seems to sum it up the best, and we might need to bring up Hanlon's Razor again;

millvalleygirl
Jun 8, 2012
•
3 days ago

Keep in mind that the Center for Antiracist Research was designed for just that: Research. It's on the academic side of the University, not the administrative side -- its research is focused worldwide, without a specific charge to address anti-racism within the University. Kendi reports up to the Provost. BU also has an Associate Provost for Community & Inclusion (edited this to remove name), who oversees diversity initiatives within the University.

Also, I've been involved with anti-racist initiatives at a number of different organizations. It's always an uphill battle, and there's always somebody waiting to cast aspersions on you. And generally speaking, the larger and older the institution, the longer it takes to make any real change.

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By ScottB on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 10:05pm.

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Is that really where you want to go with this? The apparent failure of the Center for Antiracist Research wasn't because of grift, just incompetence? That's better???

The Free Press story doesn't even complain about the lack of an impact by the CAR on BU internally -- it highlights the fact that its key function -- Research -- hasn't produced much in the way of results after three years and $30 million in spending!

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By berkleealum on Fri, 09/22/2023 - 6:47am.

many are going to use this incident to confirm their priors re: Kendi and his work; chiefly the idea that anti-racism research is unnecessary.

it’s a reminder that we should not be so dense in this comment section.

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By StillFromDorchester on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 1:42pm.

I am amazed at how he has become the voice white people think they need to learn from on racial issues, he is a complete fraud in my opinion. The last person on earth id advise my children to listen to on what it means to be a minority in the United States, is him.

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By cybah on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 2:52pm.

even worse than Shaun King?

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By StillFromDorchester on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 4:54pm.

Mr. Kendi is cashing in on white guilt in my opinion. A true con man who has found a perfect schtick.

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By Hardy Har Har on Fri, 09/22/2023 - 6:51am.

Talcum X
Martin Luther Cream
Hueless P Newton
W.E.B. Defraud

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By StillFromDorchester on Fri, 09/22/2023 - 7:17am.

Quite the character.

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By Kathode on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 1:58pm.

what a fellowship model means? Do they hire research fellows annually and pay them less?
("the Center “evolves” toward a nine-month fellowship model")

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By Irma la Douce on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 3:03pm.

This is far more detailed and exhaustive than the Globe reports.

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By Sock_Puppet on Fri, 09/22/2023 - 10:01am.

that a man who got a job just because of his race is incompetent.

No, this is above and beyond incompetent. This is an academic Ponzi scheme falling apart.

“The pattern of amassing grants without any commitment to producing the research obligated to them continues to be standard operating procedure at CAR,” Grundy wrote to Morrison. “This is not a matter of slow launch. To the best of my knowledge, there is no good faith commitment to fulfilling funded research projects at CAR.”

And

Former staff members said the Center appeared to prioritize fundraising and revenue over research.

“If something was not sufficiently revenue-producing, then it wasn’t for CAR’s time,” Copeland said.

I figure it's only a matter of time before Kendi informs us that the fixation on completed research is ethnocentric.

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