While the Africana Research Center has made progress since its inception in 2001, it is still a young organization seeking a full-time director for fall 2003.

Cary Fraser will end his two-year term as interim director at the end of the spring 2003 semester. Fraser said he is helping build the foundation for the center during his term as director.

"I've always seen myself as a person who puts necessary things in place," Fraser said.

Ray Lombra, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and a member of the board that will appoint a new director, said several dozen applications for the position have already been received.

"Our hope is that towards the spring we will have someone appointed who will arrive here next summer," said Lombra.

Lombra said the university always planned to hire an interim director from Penn State faculty before seeking a full-time director in a nationwide search.

"The idea was to start it with a faculty member here and then move to the next step," Lombra said. "It's not easy to recruit a prominent scholar into an entity that doesn't exist yet."

He said it is often difficult to recruit individuals already comfortable in their current positions, but the university is willing to be flexible for any personal amenities a candidate might need.

"It's not cheap to bring a first-rate person to a top university just like it's not cheap to find a top executive in corporate America," Lombra said.

The center was established as part of the "Plan to Enhance Diversity at Penn State" created by administrators and students during the sit-in at the HUB-Robeson Center in spring 2001. The Village, as the participants came to be known, met with administrators to express concerns about diversity and racism at Penn State.

The plan called for $900,000 in funding for the center over five years.

The center funded 15 research activities, conferences and performances last year. It also sponsored an undergraduate research symposium in March, showcasing papers and projects on topics related to African studies. An advisory board consisting of faculty and students reviews proposals for funding.

Fraser said the center has many purposes in the Penn State community.

"It should serve as a catalyst for changes in race relations at Penn State to make the campus seem to be a more inclusive place," Fraser said.

He added the center should provide a basic mechanism to improve the recruitment and retainment of faculty.

David Davis, Black Caucus president and member of the advisory board, said diversity is a constant project.

"Diversity should be something that you're working on, a mission," Davis said.

Fraser hopes the center becomes an important resource for decision makers in Pennsylvania.

"It should become a center for policy-relevant research for the commonwealth," said Fraser. "It would be good if the center can become a major source or magnet for training minority scholars in social sciences."