The relationship between Wake Forest University and prominent Black political science professor Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, which appeared strained following remarks she made at a public Dr. Martin Luther King commemoration, appears to be deteriorating even as colleagues come to the academic’s defense.
In response to an inquiry by Diverse, a spokeswoman issued a single-sentence statement on behalf of Wake Forest in reference to Harris-Perry on Friday morning: “Her recent comments about the university are misleading and disappointing.”
The spokeswoman declined to comment further or to respond to what Harris-Perry described as an emailed invitation by Provost Dr. Rogan Kersh to eliminate the Anna Julia Cooper Center, which Harris-Perry founded at the school in 2014 and directs.
Harris-Perry, who also is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair and received a bachelor’s degree in English from Wake Forest in 1994, did not respond to interview requests from Diverse.
Her blow-up with Wake Forest ignited when, in a keynote address last Monday at the 39th annual MLK Noon Hour Commemoration at Union Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, Harris-Perry said the university has benefited from slavery and racist policies in North Carolina over the decades.
She also told the more than 500 guests at the event that Wake Forest causes food service workers and their families to struggle by firing the workers each summer and rehiring them when students return in the fall.
The university quickly disputed those comments and said its dining service provider employs on 10-month and 12-month terms based on student demand, according to a story published Thursday in the Winston-Salem Journal, a local newspaper.
