UCLA's Center for African American Studies to Hold Open House and Reception to Welcome New Director and Honor Outgoing Director

UCLA’s Center for African American Studies will host an openhouse to welcome members of the campus and greater Los Angeles community to itsnew building and meet its new director, Darnell M. Hunt.

The open house and reception will be Tuesday, Oct. 9 from4:30 to 7 p.m. on the first floor of UCLA’s Haines Hall, 375 Portola Plaza.

Hunt is a product of UCLA’s sociology department, having received his Ph.D. in 1994. Due to his exceptional academic accomplishments, he was awarded early tenure at USC and served as chairman of its sociology department and director of its African American studies program. Specializing in media and communications studies, race relations and the sociology of culture, Hunt has become one of the most highly regarded young sociologists in the nation.

Hunt’s early career was as a journalist. He worked as amanagement associate for NBC and as a media analyst.

Richard Yarborough, the center’s interim director for five years, also will be honored.

“I’m truly excited about coming back to UCLA,” Hunt said. “We have several rather ambitious projects underway at CAAS, so it’s nice to know I’ll be able to count on the support of old friends and colleagues.”

Hunt said as one of the first research units devoted to African-American studies, the center has been a great contributor to the understanding and conditions that confront African Americans. “We are proud of this legacy, but much work remains to be done,” he said.

The current post–civil rights era calls into question many of the basic truths taken for granted when the center was created, Hunt said. One of the biggest challenges is to rearticulate the role of African-American studies in an increasingly diverse society. Hunt is looking at this challenge as an opportunity and plans future research reports and symposiums on subjects such as prime-time television representations of African Americans, tracing the economic effects of slavery and contemporary African-American poverty.

“I am tremendouslyexcited about Darnell Hunt’s return to the UCLA campus and his appointment as the new director of UCLA’s Center for African American Studies,” said Claudia Mitchell-Kernan,” vice chancellor of UCLA’s Graduate Division. “Professor Hunt received his Ph.D. from UCLA’s sociology department in 1994, and his exceptional academic accomplishments have already gained him the stature of one of the most prominent young sociologists in the country.”

She said Hunt brings specialties in media and communications studies, ethnic relations and the sociology of culture to the interdisciplinary programs in African-American studies, which will complement and enrich UCLA’s research and teaching programs in both African-American studies and sociology. “We are already seeing the results of his remarkable leadership style and prodigious energy, and all who have met him expect that this extraordinarily gifted young scholar will lead CAAS to new levels of excellence,” Mitchell-Kernan said.

She also praised Yarborough, who agreed to serve as interim director of the center for African American Studies five years ago, even though his intention was to serve for a year.

“I am particularly grateful for his willingness to extend his service and for the quality of his leadership during his tenure as interim director,”Mitchell-Kernan said. “He has worked effectively and tirelessly to expand the center’s programs during a lengthy search process and to his great credit has significantly strengthened community outreach and participation.”

Founded in 1969, CAAS is ranked among the nation’s top academic research centers in African-American studies. The center conducts and sponsors multi-disciplinary research on the African-American experience, coordinates the B.A. and M.A. degree programs in Afro-American Studies, facilitates scholarly activities for faculty and students, administers undergraduate scholarship programs for students majoring in Afro-American studies, and sponsors community service programming.

The center’s publishing unit, CAAS Publications, is the only African-American academic press on the West Coast and produces books, monographs and other publications on issues relevant to the history and culture of people of African descent. The center’s library and media center is expansive in its collection and is one of the most heavily used on the West Coast.