‘Low-performing’ Black studies program discontinued at Kennesaw State

Kennesaw State University is deactivating its Black studies program and two other majors, claiming they did not have enough students enrolled.

While current students will be allowed to complete their degrees and the courses will still be offered, the decision is a blow to faculty who disagree with the university’s claim that the majors were “low-producing.” And the Georgia NAACP said the possible deactivation “raises urgent concerns about the institution’s commitment to equity, academic integrity, and inclusive education.”

Calling it a regressive and damaging decision, the civil rights organization said the removal of the Black studies program at KSU, where more than 28% of its roughly 48,000 students are Black, “erases essential history, silences marginalized voices, and contradicts the stated values of public higher education in Georgia.”

The Black studies, philosophy and technical communication programs “have all consistently fallen short in enrollment and degree output over at least the past 10 years,” the university said in a statement. According to KSU, the majors were not meeting the “established thresholds” of the University System of Georgia, which oversees the state’s public universities. The most recent data on KSU’s website, from fall 2023, shows the three majors were the lowest enrolled in its Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

KSU’s decision comes as the White House has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs at colleges nationwide. The fallout is being felt at KSU, where student programs, centers and initiatives at the school will be “replaced by a new framework of support hubs,” according to a recent email sent to students from Eric Arneson, vice president for student affairs. While the email doesn’t specify which programs, a resolution passed by the university’s Faculty Senate says the school “allowed political interference and violated academic freedom rights” regarding DEI-related programs.

The school did not provide specifics on how it made its determination. But in an email to faculty, Catherine Kaukinen, dean of the college that houses the programs, said the majors recently underwent a three-year program improvement process designed to increase degree productivity. “Unfortunately, these efforts did not produce the target outcomes, and these programs have remained below the USG threshold for degree productivity since their inception,” Kaukinen wrote.

It’s not clear all faculty understood they were under the gun. But according to Amy Donahue, associate professor of philosophy, the philosophy program has seen a significant increase in students. Donahue said it had just four majors in 2020. It now has 61.

The contract set the goal at an average of 10 graduates per year for each program. Donahue said the philosophy program would meet that mark if the university included this year’s and next year’s graduates, but instead, its time is being cut short. “We’ve resuscitated these programs from basically embers, and they are looking to deactivate them right before we meet the thresholds,” said Donahue.

Black studies faculty argue the university kept their average low using a count that “intentionally excludes double majors.”

According to a letter from the Black studies faculty addressed to President Kathy Schwaig and Provost Ivan Pulinkala, the major was reported to only have four students as of this spring. “When students pursuing a double major are included, enrollment rises to 39,” reads the letter. “We do not understand the exclusion of double majors, given that the double-major pathway was an explicit enrollment expansion strategy endorsed and facilitated by university leadership.”

Kaukinen’s email said deactivation of low award programs ensures that KSU is “using its limited resources to serve degree programs that students wish to pursue.”

Faculty members say KSU circumvented its own rules to eliminate the majors.