Bowdoin College has announced the creation of four new endowed faculty professorships that honor distinguished Black graduates of the college.
They will be used to bring new faculty to Bowdoin who will focus on the interdisciplinary study of race, racism and racial justice.
“Through incredibly generous and anonymous gifts, these new professorships will benefit the College in several critical ways, including with fresh and exciting intellectual and curricular insights and experiences and by providing role models and mentors for junior faculty and our students,” Bowdoin College President Clayton Rose wrote in a news release. “This effort will also play an important part in further attracting and retaining great teacher/scholars, in particular those of color.”
The spendable income from an endowed professorship underwrites what Bowdoin provides to a faculty member, including compensation, research and teaching support and sabbatical leaves.
Because of their substantial impact and the significant gift required to name a chair, they are among the most important gifts that donors can make to Bowdoin, according to the college.
“Our new colleagues will engage in and catalyze interdisciplinary scholarship on issues of race, racism, and racial justice and enhance our students’ understanding of these issues as we prepare them to make change and to lead in the world,” Rose stated.
The four new chairs will be named in memory of:
Dr. Matthew D. Branche, a member of the Bowdoin College Class of 1949 and overseer emeritus, was the first Black student to serve as class president at Bowdoin and to be pledged by a chapter of a national fraternity with a membership policy of racial exclusion.
Iris W. Davis, a member of the Bowdoin College Class of 1978, was a student leader in the early days of coeducation at Bowdoin, an outstanding athlete, trustee of the college, environmental scientist, and policy leader in Massachusetts.
Rasuli Lewis, a member of the Bowdoin College Class of 1973 and a founder and leader — with Geoffrey Canada of the class of 1974 and current Bowdoin Trustee George Khaldun, class of 1973 — of the Harlem Children’s Zone, and one of the creators of the Peace March and a leader of the Peacemakers program.
E. Frederic Morrow, a member of Bowdoin College Class of 1930 and an honorary degree recipient in 1970, was the first Black person to hold an executive position in the White House and a civil rights advocate, author and business leader.
“I am thrilled that we are able to honor these remarkable Bowdoin alumni in this special way, and I look forward to recognizing, in this and other ways, the generosity, impact on Bowdoin, and accomplishments of others in our history and in our community, including those who identify as Asian, Latinx and Indigenous,” Rose said.
According to Rose, increasing the number of the college’s endowed professorships was among the critical goals set forth in the From Here campaign, which launched in February 2020.
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