The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved a new doctoral program in Black studies at the University of Texas at Austin. The Ph.D. program in Black studies is the first in the state of Texas and the first such program in the southwestern United States.
Edmund T. Gordon, chair of the department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas, said, “This is a historic moment for The University of Texas at Austin and for the state of Texas. In 1952 the university awarded its first degree of any kind to an African American student. We are overjoyed that today, 60 years later, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved the creation of a new doctoral degree in Black Studies. We have come a long way and will continue to press forward.”
University of Texas President Bill Powers added, “Expertise in Black Studies at the doctoral level will inform our understanding of arts and culture, history, and even policy as it relates to this vital stream of world influence. It also will make Austin a center of intellectual activity in this field.”
Congratulations. This is an example of courage and persistence. It sends a loud message to other institutions of higher learning. Professor Gordon and his colleagues at Texas must be complimented for all of the tireless work and sticking to such an important struggle.