‘U.S. Anti-Black Racism’ course paused by University Senate; committee to be created 

The University of Connecticut Senate paused a decision to require the U.S. Anti-Black Racism course and spoke on budgetary issues in a meeting at the Student Union on Monday.  

The first presentation was the report of the president given by interim provost, Pamir Alpay, who said the current government shutdown is contributing to the budget challenges. President Radenka Maric could not attend because she was dealing with pressing matters, according to Alpay.  

“The shutdown and continuous continuing resolutions make it very difficult to do research acquiring,” Alpay said.  

He added that since the shutdown, he hasn’t seen a single new award.  

“This is causing a lot of disruption to research staff, for grad students [and] our faculty. This is a significant concern that results in anxiety and apprehension as we deal with these,” Alpay said.  

Looking ahead, Alpay said he expects the federal government to grant less awards, which will lead to an increase in competition. Under priorities advanced by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Alpay said that research topics on AI, biotechnology, energy and national security are more likely to receive federal funds compared to “basic research.” 

“Do I have any good news? Not really,” Alpay said, responding to his own question as the audience chuckled.  

Alpay continued by saying that higher education is facing these challenges together. He encouraged the UConn community to understand what can be done about the uncertainty.  

UConn’s research and educational mission are avenues Alpay said could help push the school forward by expanding industrial partnerships. In-state companies involved in research for biotech, pharmaceutical, defense and insurance sectors give Connecticut a leg up for industrial expansion compared to other states, according to Alpay.  

Alpay finished the presentation by saying that in the short term, UConn will be OK despite budget pressures and federal shifts. He said that maintaining stability in the long term was another question.  

After Alpay’s report, the University Senate continued a discussion about the U.S. Anti-Black Racism (ABR) course after a motion to rescind ABR as a course requirement was amended at an Oct. 6 town meeting, according to town council minutes.  

The amendment changed the motion from rescinding the ABR course requirement, which was established in a 2023 Senate Resolution, to pausing the by-law change until reviewed by an implementation-and-study committee. An overview of the ABR course’s history was presented by a volunteer from the Senate Executive Committee, Michael Morrell.  

Morrell described some of the previous issues the ABR course had when restructuring for the common curriculum under the Africana Studies Institute. The challenges of adding ABR as a requirement included changing the duration of the course to 14 weeks instead of the proposed 7 weeks and adding a grading component.  

Sen. Alexis Boylan from the Art and Art History department said that these changes could conflict with budgetary issues the school was having.  

“I think we have to appreciate that part of the issue here is that what this became was a little bit of the conversation about a certain population of the professors doing a lot of work and not being paid for it,” Boylan said.  

President of the Undergraduate Student Government, Andy Zhang, raised additional concern over the ABR requirement. Zhang said that student perceptions of the course combined with federal scrutiny calls the feasibility of the requirement into question.  

“Students nowadays are having more and more of a difficult time having conversations and dialogue about controversial topics,” Zhang said. “And I think that’s something that we all agreed on was the fact that mandating some sort of ABR course would only add to that kind of attention, to add to that fire.” 

Zhang added that he is opposed to getting rid of the course and views the committee as a way to move forward with ABR feasibly. Sen. Douglas Kaufman disagreed on Zhang’s point and said that a common reaction to authoritarian forces is to appease the oppressor.  

“I would urge us to reject this amendment and understand the logistical challenge that we face,” Kaufman said. “Work to overcome them rather than using them as excuses to negate what has already happened.”  

The motion to delay the course passed in a 59-10 vote on Monday with two abstaining. Under the motion, the committee will issue a report with specific recommendations to the Senate Executive Committee by Feb. 12, 2026, according to the meeting agenda.