The Occasion of the Sixty-Eighth Annual Conference

A Message from the President

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the annual W. E. B. DuBois Luncheon of the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists. This is an opportunity for all of us to honor some of the very best and brightest. It is fitting that the Association has named this award and this luncheon for DuBois, because the legacy of the man compels us to reach even higher, to strive for knowledge, truth, and excellence in our every endeavor. We must not forget either the scientific or the historical significance of his scholarship. His work in the Atlanta sociological laboratory was lauded by a broad array of contemporaneous scholars in elite institutions as among the best and most scientifically rigorous work done concerning African-Americans. It is, therefore, all the more ironic that the mainstream institutions of that day, including the American Journal of Sociology, associated with a discipline dedicated to examining the human social condition, marginalized DuBois and his work in favor of clearly inferior work of the time that propagated racist stereotypes. In the face of this attempted racist silencing, DuBois persevered, producing as one part of his generative and prolific scholarship no less than 12 edited

volumes providing rigorous scientific inquiry into the unique condition of African-Americans at that point in history. His dedication to excellence has been vindicated; at this point in history, the work of DuBois towers above those who allowed the vicious racism of the time to preclude an honest recognition of his scholarly excellence and social relevance.

We too must persevere. As scholars dedicated to scientific inquiry, as social and political activists, as a people standing together in these particularly dark times in our social and national history, we must continue in the search for justice and excellence. So, let me welcome you to this luncheon where we will honor those who indeed persevere in the search for social justice and academic excellence, in the highest tradition of DuBois’ legacy.

Cynthia Hudley, Ph.D.

ASBS President, 2003-2004

Givertz Graduate School of Education

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Note:  When this speech was delivered,

Dr. Hudley was Professor of Education at the

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

For more on Hudley, visit:  http://education.ucsb.edu/people/hudley.html