Kimberly Angeles, Contributing Photographer

Yale College students could soon have the option to pursue a Black studies certificate, following a unanimous vote on Sunday by the Yale College Council Senate in favor of a proposal to create such a certificate program.

The certificate would offer a more flexible alternative for students who wish to explore Black studies without completing the major, which currently requires 12 credits, including a year-long history sequence, a junior seminar, a senior colloquium and senior essay.

Saybrook Senator Brendan Kaminski ’28, who co-sponsored the proposal, said at the senate meeting that the certificate would enable more students “interested in learning about Black studies” to engage with the department. He noted that students with “other academic commitments” might find completing a full Black Studies major “unfeasible,” which the certificate would address. 

The certificate, as proposed, calls for a five- to six-course certificate spanning history, literature, social science and electives in Black diasporic culture, arts or politics.

YCC Vice President Jalen Bradley ’27, who wrote the proposal, offered similar reasons for supporting the certificate. At the meeting, Bradley mentioned having a friend interested in majoring in both English and Black Studies who felt daunted by the requirements.

Bradley said that “it’s not really feasible to fulfill” the two majors simultaneously. 

The certificate would follow the model of existing certificate programs, such as education studies, Islamic studies, ethnography, medieval studies and the recently approved Native American and indigenous studies certificate. 

The proposal states that the existence of such other certificate programs offers “administrative models for implementing certificates that are interdisciplinary, span cultural studies and offer recognition for work done outside of a single major.”

Yale College Assistant Dean Timeica E. Bethel-Macaire ’11, who directs the Afro-American Cultural Center, signed on to the proposal as a co-sponsor.

“Offering a certificate in Black Studies would afford Yalies the opportunity to think critically about systems of power and their impact on Black people in the U.S. and beyond, developing more ethical leaders for generations to come, while still allowing them to major in other areas of study,” Bethel-Macaire wrote in a statement to the News. 

Bethel-Macaire noted that there is “already precedent” for a Black studies certificate and called creating one “a logical and responsible step.” 

The African American Studies Department was renamed to the Black Studies Department earlier this school year.