INDIA ABROAD April 14, 2017 14 U.S. AFFAIRS
INDIAABROAD.COM
By Aziz Haniffa
he selection of U.S. Sen.
Kamala Devi Harris as
the keynote speaker at
Howard University’s
149th commencement
on May 13 is both a
source of great pride and deep
concern for the Indian-American
faculty at America’s oldest his-
torically black university from
which she graduated in 1986.
Faculty members say that the
May 13 speech by Harris, who is
of both African American and
Indian-American heritage, is
being publicized in school press
releases, identifying her as second African-American woman
elected to the Senate. They say
they are troubled by the apparent
lack of acknowledgement of her
Indian-American background.
“It’s too bad, since Howard
has many Indian faculty on cam-
pus across all disciplines,” said
Indira S. Somani, a Fulbright-
Nehru Senior Research Scholar
and an assistant professor in the
Dept. of Media, Journalism and
Film in the Cathy Hughes School
of Communications. “Yes, I am
disappointed that the Howard
press release only recognized her
African American identity.” She
noted that the school is a histori-
Others felt it was not proper.
