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The Kennedy-King College Experiment in Chicago 1969-2007: How African Americans Reshaped the Curriculum and Purpose of Higher Education
| Author: | Cruthird, Robert | |
| Year: | 2012 | |
| Pages: | 680 | |
| ISBN: | 0-7734-2581-0 978-0-7734-2581-1 | |
| Price: | $359.95 | |
This social history narrates conditions that led to the founding of Kennedy-King College on the Southside of Chicago, Illinois, during the late 1960s. It connects the dots between birth of the college and the push for social justice led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). SCLC joined with other groups in 1966 and launched the “Chicago campaign” to tear down racial barriers. The main narrative tells how concerns with social justice and ethnic group efficacy gave birth to Kennedy-King College in the first place. As for political and cultural time of day, this was after the glory days of the civil rights movement. African Americans had pushed forcefully for social justice mainly with non-violent, direct action protest and had realized some gains. But calm change gave way to the black student movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Student activists used combative tactics to effect change at a number of college campuses in the city and nearby suburbs. With first-person accounts, the work reports details of the student led changeover from Wilson Junior College to Kennedy-King. Key persons who lived and made the college’s history during 1969-2007—presidents of the college, faculty, staff, and students—tell their own stories from memories of their experiences in their own terms. In the main, this work has great potential as a general reference in African American history and culture. It also has clear value as a teaching reference about what everyday people with shared needs did and can do. It makes clear in the end why so many viewed Kennedy-King College as a symbol of African American self-reliance.
Reviews
“… the entire City Colleges of Chicago went through a profound transformation during this period. African Americans went from virtual exclusion to now holding most positions from engineer to chancellor. In the end, this work makes clear the roles of the civil rights and black student movements in [that] change.” – Prof. Leonard Wash, Kennedy-King College
"The authors do a great job in outlining the politics involved in forming the college. This project weaves together an interesting social history narrative by employing extensive interviews with former stakeholders (students, faculty, and staff). This work is exceptionally strong in focusing on the challenges of leadership in advancing the goals of the college in spite of, and in many cases, in the face of significant racial and political tensions from inside and outside of the college."
Prof. Lionel Kimble,
Chicago State University
"The interviews are invaluable and documents the players who took part in this dramatic process... This book provides a unique perspective as to that African American experience that many communities went through with the advent of the Black Power movement."
Robert Miller, Curator, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature
"I believe that this is an extremely important historical document that the authors infuse with the historical backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. It also describes, clearly, the work and influence of the African American students who attended the school."
Prof. Terry Clark, Kennedy-King College; Distinguished Professor
"The authors do a great job in outlining the politics involved in forming the college. This project weaves together an interesting social history narrative by employing extensive interviews with former stakeholders (students, faculty, and staff). This work is exceptionally strong in focusing on the challenges of leadership in advancing the goals of the college in spite of, and in many cases, in the face of significant racial and political tensions from inside and outside of the college."
Prof. Lionel Kimble,
Chicago State University
"The interviews are invaluable and documents the players who took part in this dramatic process... This book provides a unique perspective as to that African American experience that many communities went through with the advent of the Black Power movement."
Robert Miller, Curator, the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature
"I believe that this is an extremely important historical document that the authors infuse with the historical backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. It also describes, clearly, the work and influence of the African American students who attended the school."
Prof. Terry Clark, Kennedy-King College; Distinguished Professor
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgment
Introduction
Methodology
Collection and Management of Conversations
Assumptions and Beliefs
Another Way of Thinking
Summary
Chapter 1: Connect the Dots
Historical Context and Social Forces
The Brown Decision
The Aftermath of Brown
African American Urbanization and Idle Federal Policy
Social Unrest in the City of Chicago
Affirmative Action and Minority Education
City Colleges of Chicago Politics: Sweet Home Chicago?
Basically an African American Institution
Political and Cultural Time of Day: A Summary Note
Chapter 2: Formative Years 1969-1976
Woodrow Wilson Junior College to Kennedy-King College
Maceo T. Bowie and Transition to a New College
Paradigm Shift
Chapter 3: Gilded-Age and Reconfiguration 1976-1986
Akin’s Meaning Environment and Worldview
Downturn in Student Enrollment
Political Conservatism and Mounting Tensions
Continuous Dismantling of Akin’s Administration
Administrative Reconfiguration
Chapter 4: Politics of Change 1987-1994
Chicago Politics and City Colleges
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
No-Confidence Vote Referendum
Attempt at Restoration
To Dare Mighty Things
Chapter 5: Dust of Changes Rising? 1994-1998
Career Watershed
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago
Wayne D. Watson and Kennedy-King College in Context
New Meaning Environment and World View
Never-ending Debate
A New College Campus
Changes Rising or Sameness setting?
Chapter 6: Climbing Down the Same Tree 1998-1999
About Gender Politics and “Womanism”
Becoming College President
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
The Short Term and Aftermath
Chapter 7: Not Enough Time 1999-2003
A Good Fit at a Good Time
Shared Governance
Informal Leadership and Formal Hierarchy
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
Was Wellington Wilson a Good Selection?
Chapter 8: Pray What Needs Praying and Say What Needs Saying 2003-2009
Having the Right Stuff
Door to Opportunity Thrown Open
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
New Kennedy-King College
Chapter 9: Pillars of the Academy/Community
Mr. Leonard Wash
Ms. Iver Watson
Mr. Welton Murphy
Dr. James E. Moore
Ms. Eloys L. Goon
Dr. Robert E. Grimes
Ms. Quintyra Puckett
Dr. Harold Pates
Mr. Wellington Wilson
Mr. Clyde K. El’Amin
Chapter 10: Education, Community Activism, and Social Relevance 2007 and Beyond
A New Kennedy-King College
New Kennedy-King College and the Question of Social Relevance
Educational Achievement and the Earning Gap
A Finale Note
Chapter Notes
References
Index
Acknowledgment
Introduction
Methodology
Collection and Management of Conversations
Assumptions and Beliefs
Another Way of Thinking
Summary
Chapter 1: Connect the Dots
Historical Context and Social Forces
The Brown Decision
The Aftermath of Brown
African American Urbanization and Idle Federal Policy
Social Unrest in the City of Chicago
Affirmative Action and Minority Education
City Colleges of Chicago Politics: Sweet Home Chicago?
Basically an African American Institution
Political and Cultural Time of Day: A Summary Note
Chapter 2: Formative Years 1969-1976
Woodrow Wilson Junior College to Kennedy-King College
Maceo T. Bowie and Transition to a New College
Paradigm Shift
Chapter 3: Gilded-Age and Reconfiguration 1976-1986
Akin’s Meaning Environment and Worldview
Downturn in Student Enrollment
Political Conservatism and Mounting Tensions
Continuous Dismantling of Akin’s Administration
Administrative Reconfiguration
Chapter 4: Politics of Change 1987-1994
Chicago Politics and City Colleges
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
No-Confidence Vote Referendum
Attempt at Restoration
To Dare Mighty Things
Chapter 5: Dust of Changes Rising? 1994-1998
Career Watershed
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago
Wayne D. Watson and Kennedy-King College in Context
New Meaning Environment and World View
Never-ending Debate
A New College Campus
Changes Rising or Sameness setting?
Chapter 6: Climbing Down the Same Tree 1998-1999
About Gender Politics and “Womanism”
Becoming College President
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
The Short Term and Aftermath
Chapter 7: Not Enough Time 1999-2003
A Good Fit at a Good Time
Shared Governance
Informal Leadership and Formal Hierarchy
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
Was Wellington Wilson a Good Selection?
Chapter 8: Pray What Needs Praying and Say What Needs Saying 2003-2009
Having the Right Stuff
Door to Opportunity Thrown Open
Formal Hierarchy and Informal Leadership
New Life Space or Meaning Environment
New Kennedy-King College
Chapter 9: Pillars of the Academy/Community
Mr. Leonard Wash
Ms. Iver Watson
Mr. Welton Murphy
Dr. James E. Moore
Ms. Eloys L. Goon
Dr. Robert E. Grimes
Ms. Quintyra Puckett
Dr. Harold Pates
Mr. Wellington Wilson
Mr. Clyde K. El’Amin
Chapter 10: Education, Community Activism, and Social Relevance 2007 and Beyond
A New Kennedy-King College
New Kennedy-King College and the Question of Social Relevance
Educational Achievement and the Earning Gap
A Finale Note
Chapter Notes
References
Index