After 196 years, college grants tenure to a Black professor

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

The oldest college in Louisiana is celebrating its first granting of tenure to a Black faculty member, and discussing why this racial milestone took nearly two centuries to accomplish. Centenary College of Louisiana associate professor Andia Augustin-Billy now has a lifetime appointment to teach French, literature, women’s studies and other topics at the small Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college in Shreveport. The school’s archivist says racism is why this took 196 years, “structural and institutional and systemic racism,” dating back to when slave owners founded the school. College President Christopher Holoman says Centenary is now committed to pursuing full inclusion. Its student body is 18 percent Black, but Augustin-Billy is one of just three Black faculty members.