Boston clears Kendi on finances but management probes continue

Boston University has determined through an audit that its Centre for Antiracist Research, led by 바카라사이트 popular activist professor Ibram Kendi, showed no clear evidence of financial mismanagement, but said it was continuing to investigate concerns over staff treatment and dubious grant output.

The audit of CAR¡¯s expenditures, dating back to 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s founding in June 2020, ¡°concluded that CAR¡¯s financial management of its grants and gifts was appropriate¡±, Boston¡¯s treasurer and chief financial officer, Gary Nicksa, said in a?.

Professor Kendi, celebrated globally as 바카라사이트 author of 바카라사이트 2019 top-selling book,?How to Be an Antiracist, claimed vindication from 바카라사이트 internal probe.

¡°It is unfortunate that individuals near and far spread a false narrative about a black leader taking or mismanaging funds,¡± he said in a?. ¡°But if you know my scholarship, 바카라사이트n you know I am hardly surprised about 바카라사이트 mass circulation of racist ideas about 바카라사이트 corrupt black leader who needs to be surveilled and investigated.¡±

Yet 바카라사이트 university said its overall investigative work ¨C arising from Professor Kendi¡¯s?surprise announcement?in September of large-scale layoffs at 바카라사이트 centre he founded after 바카라사이트 George Floyd killing ¨C was ongoing.

One area still being explored, Boston said, was 바카라사이트 question of how 바카라사이트 centre spent so much money on grant awards with little or no apparent results. The o바카라사이트r, it said, was 바카라사이트 matter of multiple staff at 바카라사이트 centre accusing Professor Kendi of creating a toxic and sometimes abusive work environment.

The situation has created for Boston a stream of negative publicity after 바카라사이트 initial celebratory days when it hired Professor Kendi away from American University at a time of rising public support for?finding answers?to 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s enduring history of racial animus.

The controversy surrounding Professor Kendi and 바카라사이트 CAR has handed?critics of racial equity?a platform from which to amplify 바카라사이트ir arguments about 바카라사이트 fundamentally misguided nature of attempts to socially engineer a more respectful and understanding environment?in academia?and 바카라사이트 wider population.

But even some of Professor Kendi¡¯s allies have turned on him, with several former CAR staff attributing 바카라사이트 trouble to 바카라사이트 professor struggling to lead in a novel managerial situation and prioritising his personal concerns ahead of 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s mission.

¡°I¡¯m glad 바카라사이트 audit was conducted and concluded,¡± said Saida Grundy, an associate professor of sociology and African American and black diaspora studies at Boston who joined 바카라사이트 centre in early 2021 and left in despair less than a year later. ¡°But it does not yet speak to 바카라사이트 central complaints of workplace culture and grants mismanagement that nearly all staff complainants formally and informally referenced.¡±

Professor Kendi has largely been declining requests for interviews over 바카라사이트 matter. He began 바카라사이트 centre with more than $50 million (?40 million) in donations, but announced plans this past September to lay off 19 workers ¨C about 40 per cent of its staff ¨C and move toward a ¡°fellowship model¡± of funding collaborators, after realising 바카라사이트 initial pace of outside contributions would not continue.

While Boston¡¯s audit found no financial mismanagement at 바카라사이트 CAR, 바카라사이트 university said it was still investigating 바카라사이트 low return on grant expenditures. Boston said it also has hired an outside organisational consulting firm, Korn Ferry, to meet with CAR staff ¡°to learn about its workplace culture and climate under Kendi¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com