Facilitated by Charlene Carruthers (Founding Director, Black Youth Project 100). Panelists include Jafari Allen (Columbia University), Roderick Ferguson (Yale University), Jaden Janak (St. Olaf College), Barbara Ransby (University of Illinois Chicago), Ashanté Reese (University of Texas at Austin), and Ula Taylor (University of California, Berkeley).
On March 5, 2026, a cohort of colleagues at Columbia University led by Jafari Allen convened a national forum on Black studies in the wake of a series of Black and Africana studies departments and programs being cut, defunded, and consolidated across the country within the span of a few short weeks. This session, an extension of that critical March convening, provides a space for Black studies scholars to collectively strategize how to respond to the escalating attacks on the field and on scholars and students of color more broadly.
The panel discussion will be followed by lunch and an opportunity to gather with colleagues in smaller break-out sessions.