Régine Jean-Charles—who spent 13 years as a professor, mentor, and colleague at Boston College—accepted a position as a full professor at Northeastern University this summer.

Created in 1969 in response to advocacy by the Boston College Black Student Forum, the initial African and African Diaspora Studies program—then “Black Studies”—offered only three classes: African Art, The History and Psychological Development of the Black Family, and African Nationalism Since World War II.