Watch more Left of Black: fhi.duke.edu/e...
Reginaldo “Reggie” Howard was the first African American President of the Associated Students of Duke University, which was essential to undergraduate student government. He had a lot of big ideas for how to improve life on campus for students. Tragically, he was killed in an car accident when returning to Duke for a meeting from his home in Columbia, South Carolina in his sophomore year. His charisma and potential inspired the foundation of the Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholarship Program, which ultimately provided a full-ride to attend Duke for African American students.
Duke has now folded this long-standing resource, established in 1979, as a reaction to the recent Supreme Court ruling to strike down affirmative action in higher education. So, what does that mean for the future of Black enrollment at this elite university, which not long ago stated its commitment to diversifying its largely White student body?
For their final project this Spring 2024, the students in Dr. Mark Anthony Neal's "Black Popular Culture: From #BlackTwitter to Left of Black" course produced their own episode of Left of Black where they chose to invite Dr. Candis Watts Smith, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Duke, to discuss the end of the Reginaldo Howard Scholars Program and the university's DEI commitments. Students were responsible for setting up lighting, sound and cameras, while directed by Eric Barstow, MFA and assisted by the web series' production assistant, Jakiah Glass.
Left of Black is the Webby Award-nominated series featuring interviews with Black Studies scholars, created and hosted by the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. From 2010-2020, it was produced by the John Hope Franklin Center for International and Global Studies. In 2020, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute took over production, with funding support from Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.