Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, has announced that Tracey Hucks will become provost at the highly rated liberal arts college on July 1. The college enrolls more than 2,800 undergraduate students. African Americans make up 4 percent of the student body, according to the latest U.S. Department of Education statistics.
In accepting the appointment, Dr. Hucks said, “I look forward, with great anticipation, to working with the entire Colgate community as we collectively seek to inspire future generations of young people to reflect Colgate’s mission statement, which emphasizes self-knowledge, purposeful engagement, and respect for the complexity of human understanding.”
Dr. Hucks has been serving as the James D. Vail III Professor at Davidson College in North Carolina. Earlier in her career, Professor Hucks spent more than 15 years on the faculty at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. A prolific scholar of American religious history and Africana studies, Professor Hucks is the author of Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism (University of New Mexico Press, 2012).
Professor Hucks holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in religious studies from Colgate University. She earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in religious studies at Harvard University.
Congratulations Dr. Hucks – as a fellow Colgate alum it is great to see someone so accomplished return to Colgate to continue the University’a important work. I wish you and President Casey good luck in this pivotal next chapter of Colgate’s history.
Davidson College has been so fortunate to have Dr. Hucks, a gifted scholar and compassionate person, in our community. I know Colgate will be enriched by her leadership.
Congratulations to Ms. Huck. I hope that she bucks the trend of overzealous, politically correct administrators that dominate so many college campuses. Colgate has thus far avoided nationally-publicized scandals that besmirched schools like Middlebury, Haverford, and so many others. But it feels almost inevitable that something similar will happen at Colgate, and Ms. Huck will play a key role in the school’s response. I hope she is compassionate and measured in her response to *all* stakeholders, not just those with favored status (i.e., not white males, and most definitely not a white male member of a fraternity, and absolutely not a conservative Republican).
“Tolerance for me, but not for thee.” Here’s hoping Ms. Huck promotes tolerance and respect for ALL!