Students and local residents held a meeting to discuss their support for ousted African American studies professor Anthony Monteiro, as well as issues surrounding Temple’s relationship with the nearby community at the Church of the Advocate Tuesday night, March 19.
The meeting, which was conducted by members of the group Justice for Monteiro, lasted more than two hours and focused around a group of demands the students have made to the university during ongoing discussions.
Among the strongest of the demands are the reinstatement of Monteiro to the African American studies department with full tenure – a position he did not hold when his contract was not renewed this January – and the firing of Dean Teresa Soufas, who signed off on Monteiro’s removal.
Unlike previous meetings held by the group, Monteiro was not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting. Kashara White, a senior African American studies major led the discussion, which ranged from Temple’s impact on local housing developments to the ability of students to vote upon university matters.
In order to pressure the university into complying with the demands, the protesters discussed a number of demonstrations, including public protests during Experience Temple Days, when prospective students visit Main Campus, as well as sit-down demonstrations on Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
No agreement was reached for a specific type or date of demonstration, though a vote was held to create an “agitation committee” and discuss ideas at a later meeting.
During the meeting, Anthony Pressley, an African American studies student, further called for the group to demand the firing of African American studies Chairman Molefi Asante for his role in Monteiro’s dismissal.
Monteiro had been a public advocate for the promotion of Asante to department chair last spring, as well as a outspoken critic of Dean Soufas, who had placed Jayne Drake, a white woman, as interim chair of the department in 2012.
Many of Monteiro’s supporters also held public demonstrations in support of Asante last spring, but at Tuesday’s meeting the favor seemed to have swayed, with several voicing agreement with Pressley in their condemnation of Asante.
Ultimately, no vote was taken by the students whether or not to add Asante’s removal to their list of demands.
After concluding their meeting, the students agreed to a tentative plan to meet at the same time on March 25, though no location was set.
