Black Studies v Academic Affairs 1972
Despite the highly organized start to the Black Studies department, problems between the department and administration soon arose. Communication and good will quickly eroded between Milton White, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Dean of Academic Affairs.
One of the initial causes of contention was office space for the Department of Black Studies. At the beginning of the Fall 1971 semester, Black Studies shared offices with another department. White and his faculty thought that this would be a temporary measure until room was made. As the semester continued, White felt the delay for space, office supplies and secretarial staff time, and refusals to cross-list classes were deliberate tactics by Gaines to hinder the department. [1]
A second point of tension between White, Lane, and Gaines was White’s teaching responsibilities during that first semester. As stated in his contract, White was expected to teach and chair the department; this was normal practice for all department chairs and directors. However, the courses offered in the Fall semester were created by Wade, whose field was Communications. White, who was a political scientist, had not taken on any offered courses that were so far outside his area of expertise. This administrative oversight was brought to Dean Gaines’ attention when a student reporter from the Gateway phoned Gaines and asked him why an instructor was being paid a full salary if he wasn’t teaching. [2] Gaines arranged for a meeting between White and Lane to discuss the issue after this phone call. [3]
This overlooked detail was an example of the chaotic atmosphere on campus. No administrators had checked in on course offerings and if White had assigned himself any to teach. Given the semester had begun and all available courses had already been paired with their respective instructors, there were no classes for White to instruct. Orville Menard from the Political Science department, who had chaired the Black Studies Advisory Committee, offered to co-teach with White. After some resistance, White agreed to work with Menard.
The situation was worsened by budgetary cuts made across campus during the 1971-92 academic year. These cuts touched all departments, including Black Studies. White felt that, as a new department still trying to find its feet, it should have been exempt from cuts and that this was a breach of contract on the part of the university, further undermining their commitment to Black Studies. [4]
Curriculum proved to be the final straw for White, Lane, and Gaines as conflict over courses White submitted to the Review Committee became a catalyst for an explosive situtation. White had followed the normal procedure and submitted two courses, International Relations of Black America and the Politics of Black Liberation in America, to the university registrar and the Curriculum Review Committee. After they had been approved, the courses were sent to Lane and then Gaines for final approval.
In an unusual, though not unprecedented move, Gaines did not sign on to White’s courses and sent them back to the Review Committee for reevaluation. According to Gaines, the courses were possibly indoctrinating and required some restructuring. White saw this action as pedagogically overstepping the boundaries of the classroom and would threaten Black Studies' ability to create its own curriculum. [5]
After a meeting between Gaines, Lane, and White ended with allegations of racism, paternalism, and according to White, threats against his job security, communication broken down completely. White, who had communicated with UNO’s Chancellor Blackwell about the impending crisis, wrote to NU system President Varner in January 1972. [6] Varner responded sympathetically but referred all of White’s concerns back to Blackwell, offering that all the difficulties could be sorted out through in-person conversation. [7]
As this transpired, it became public knowledge that White's contract would not be renewed, and Gaines and Lane began searching for a replacement chairman of Black Studies. A tentative offer had been made to Dr. Hubert G. Locke, a highly respected scholar, and a proposal was drafted for submission to the Board of Regents. White, the Black Studies faculty, or any other campus group had been notified of the offer made to Locke. [8]
Gaines and Lane decided to retrack their offer to Locke and not bring their proposal to the Board of Regents as the tension on campus proved too strong. However, news of the plan and offer to Locke had been leaked, and students, faculty, and community members voiced their anger at what appeared to be a coup to remove White without consent or proper legal procedure. The student group BLAC began organizing a protest and Senator Ernie Chambers wrote to President Varner to voice his dissatisfaction. [9]
In light of these actions, White called for an investigation of Gaines. White and Black Studies faculty to filing formal complaints to the Board of Regents, citing that Gaines had violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States. Under the complaints, Dean Gaines had intimidated or caused duress that related to Department's ability to operate. The complaints also alleged that Gaines had violated of Section 2.B.1. and Section 2.C. of the Constitution for the College of Arts and Sciences, regarding procedure for non- reappointment of a chairman. White also alleged that Gaines had acted in a racist and paternalistic manner in his actions regarding the two courses rejected for inclusion in the spring 1972 course offering. [10]
Upon receiving the complaint from Black Studies, the Board of Regents decided to investigate the allegations against Gaines, as well as White’s leadership of Black Studies. Instead of mandating a committee, which faculty of Black Studies and the community had been promised, the Regents hired Dr. George Johnson as a one-man investigation committee. Dr. Johnson, a Black scholar, academic, and lawyer was a retired professor emeritus from Michigan State University where he taught in the field of education, concentrating on the legal aspects of education. During his career, he had been in private practice, Federal Government attorney, a member of the United States Civil Rights Commission, and as a result was on Mississippi Senator Eastland’s wanted list for his civil rights activism.
Despite these credentials Johnson was not popular with the Black Studies department or the community group the People’s Regent. White refused to speak with Johnson as he, like everyone else interviewed by Johnson, was not allowed a lawyer. It was Johnson’s decision to bar lawyers from the interviews because it was a fact-finding investigation and he was not making any recommendations to the Board of Regents. Dr. Johnson worked for 10 days and interviewed 42 people. His final report made no recommendations, as was the mandate of his work, but presented a timeline and the facts as he had gathered them. The Board of Regents found no substance in White’s claims of Gaines’ racism, paternalism, or intimidation of the department. As a result, White left UNO when his contracted ended in June 1972.