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BU Center for Antiracist Research set to close as Ibram X. Kendi departs to Howard
The center’s staff will be employed by Boston University until the center's charter ends on June 30.
Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research is set to close in June as Ibram X. Kendi, an antiracist activist and scholar, departs for Howard University in Washington, D.C.
The center’s 12 current staff members will be employed by Boston University until the center’s charter expires and closes its doors on June 30, Boston University spokesperson Colin Riley told Boston.com.
“We thank Dr. Kendi and the Center’s staff and affiliated faculty for their contributions in advancing scholarship, teaching, and policymaking,” Riley said. “They will receive resources and support to help ease their transitions and to pursue new job opportunities.”
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CAR’s staff members were notified about the center’s closing on Jan. 30, according to a source familiar with the center. The university publicly announced Kendi’s departure the same day.
Amid racial tensions and a global pandemic, Boston University initially hired Kendi in 2020 from American University in Washington, D.C., where he founded the Antiracist Research and Policy Center.
Boston University’s center employed staff, students, and faculty to conduct antiracist research and reports. Kendi is known for authoring “How to Be an Antiracist,” “How to Raise an Antiracist,” and “Antiracist Baby.”
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The center also built The Emancipator — a digital magazine initially launched jointly with the Boston Globe but severed ties in 2023 — which aims to use journalism to “turn public opinion against racist policies and ideas.” The Emancipator will continue publication at Howard University.
Under scrutiny
Just three years after its founding, the center came under fire for its mismanagement of millions of dollars in funds and mass layoffs. In a statement, Kendi said removing some of the center’s staff members at the time was the “hardest decision” of his career.
Shortly after the 2023 layoffs were reported, Kendi responded to allegations from former staff members about a toxic workplace environment at the center.
“We worked hard to eliminate these situations and usher toxic people out of the Center,” Kendi wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press. “It isn’t surprising to me that some of them have been the loudest in their attacks on CAR after the layoffs.”
Kendi also commented on the impact of his celebrity on the center’s operations.
“I know that my achievements outside of CAR have brought needed attention to our work and allowed us to raise much-needed funding,” Kendi told the student newspaper. “But this idea of ‘celebrity’ brings a heightened level of scrutiny as well as unfair, unfounded attacks.”
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Following widespread scrutiny of the center, Boston University conducted an internal audit that “found no issues with how CAR’s finances were handled” and said it would operate with a staff half of its original size following the center’s restructuring.
“It will move away from staff and faculty executing CAR projects and programs and into a structure in which fellows will be in residence at BU for nine months conducting their own individual projects, while participating in public events and contributing to The Emancipator,” the university said in November 2023.
Kendi’s new Institute for Advanced Study
Kendi will serve as the director of the newly established Howard University Institute for Advanced Study, dedicated to “interdisciplinary study advancing research of importance to the global African Diaspora, including inquiry into race, technology, racism, climate change, and disparities,” Howard University announced on Thursday.
“The most critical thing is that it’s going to be an interdisciplinary center that will allow our scholars and our researchers from the humanities, the social sciences, the basic sciences, the health sciences, to be able to collaborate and partner in addressing these broader societal issues,” Howard University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Anthony Wutoh told Boston.com.
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The institute, the university said, will revolve around a program where a class of international fellows chosen each year will pursue projects “across disciplines and fields.” Wutoh said he anticipates that the center will run primarily through donor funds.
“I could not be prouder and more excited to join this illustrious and historic university,” Kendi said in the announcement. “I have had my eye on the Mecca my entire career, studying its history and witnessing what Howards means to the culture … This is the most fulfilling career choice I have ever made. I can’t wait to get started on our new institute.”
While Kendi was still working at American University, he and Wutoh had a number of conversations where Kendi expressed that he was considering moving to another institution.
However, Kendi ultimately chose to start CAR at Boston University. Kendi did not immediately respond for comment about his decision to leave Boston University and join Howard University’s faculty.
“While [Kendi] was at BU, there were a couple of projects that we were developing collaboratively with BU, and he was a part of some of those discussions and collaborations,” Wutoh said. “When he started becoming a little bit more thoughtful in terms of what his next steps were going to be, we started having some discussions over the last several months in terms of the possibility of him joining Howard’s faculty and serving as the executive director of this new center that we’re establishing.”
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The center, according to Wutoh, is projected to open sometime over the next six to 12 months.
“We’re obviously excited about having a scholar with the pedigree and with the expertise of Dr. Kendi joining the university and the additional opportunities that will provide to our students to really participate and engage in scholarship, and the opportunity as well, for various faculty from across the university to be able to partner with him in a variety of ways,” Wutoh said. “This is exciting for us.”
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