Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research (CAR) has completed an internal audit with no financial issues detected. This follows a significant restructuring as the center shifts to a business model focused on fellowships and a digital publication, The Emancipator, according to a report by Boston University earlier today.
Questions regarding CAR's grant management arose swiftly after announcing the restructuring that will lead to 19 employees being laid off. These plans were intended to secure the center's long-term viability. The audit, which spanned the period between CAR's inception in June 2020 and September 2023, confirmed the correctness of its financial conduct regarding grants and gifts. In response to these findings, Ibram X. Kendi, CAR's founding director, reiterated that the restructuring was not instigated by financial mismanagement or instability, as detailed in the Boston University article.
Since the layoffs were announced, Boston University has conducted a comprehensive review of the center's operations, hiring external firms to help in understanding Kendi's management and the workplace culture at the CAR. Kendi is not only the center's founding director but also BU's Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and a Department of History professor. While some outcomes of the investigation have emerged, others are yet to be fully realized.
Despite raising more than $50 million, critics of the center questioned the completion status of research projects and the grant administration. The audit clarified that $30 million of CAR's funds are endowed, allowing an annual spend of $1.2 million, while the remaining $20 million is restricted, and can only be spent in certain specified ways. Though the center was initially successful in fundraising, decreased public interest in antiracism during the third year led to a decline in contributions, prompting Kendi to decide to restructure the center.
Boston University has enlisted globally recognized organizational consulting firm Korn Ferry to review CAR's operational environment and culture, while university officials and Kendi develop plans for a new business model that includes a fellowship program for antiracist thinkers and artists, along with The Emancipator. This digital publication is designed to pinpoint and explain potential solutions for structural racism.
