During his visit to Yale, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. '73 was honored at Calhoun College, where a section of the library was named after him, and was flanked by students interested in hearing about the noted alumnus' life and scholarship.

Scholar Gates recalls Yale days in campus talks

Harvard scholar and award-winning author Henry Louis Gates Jr. read from his 1994 memoir "Colored People" and reminisced about his days as a Yale undergraduate at a tea on Feb. 5 in Calhoun College. Gates' visit to Yale was part of a larger event that day in his honor, which included a dedication of a section of the Calhoun College library in his name and a dinner at which he was the keynote speaker. The events kicked off a celebration of Black History Month. Gates, a 1973 graduate of Yale College, resided in Calhoun College while on campus. Dr. William Sledge, the residential college's master, dedicated a part of the Woodbridge Reading Room in the Calhoun library in Gates' name before the master's tea. During his talk, Gates credited his former professor and mentor John Morton Blum, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History, with giving him confidence as a writer and journalist. Blum, he said, raised the profession of journalism in his esteem. "He told me there are different kinds of journalism," said Gates of the Yale historian, who was seated at his side. "He said, 'High-quality journalism at its best is just as splendid and just as refined as anything a scholar can do.'" Gates, who is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard and chair of its African-American department, is known equally as a scholar and a prolific writer. His books include "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man," "Loose Canons," "Figures in Black" and "The Signifying Monkey," for which he received an American Book Award. He is also a staff writer for The New Yorker and contributes regularly to such publications as Harper's magazine, The New York Review of Books, The Village Voice and The New York Times. He is the editor of the "Norton Anthology of African American Literature" and is collaborating with Encyclopedia Britannica on the interactive CD-ROM, Encarta Africana, and its companion volume, Encyclopedia Africana. He narrated the recent PBS documentary series "Wonders of the African World." It was Blum's encouragement, said Gates, which today allows him to write articles ranging from very scholarly works ("that only a hundred people read," said the Yale alumnus) to more popular pieces for weekly news magazines. Gates read two passages from "Colored People," which is about his experiences growing up in Piedmont, West Virginia, in the 50s and 60s. The first passage was a letter to his two daughters, who were both in attendance at the event. The letter serves as the preface to "Colored People." The second passage he read was a tribute to his mother, which Gates wrote after her death in 1987. Gates was also accompanied at the tea by his wife, his 86-year-old father and his Yale College roommate Will Shelton '71. "I loved my time at Yale; I loved my time at Calhoun," he said, beaming. Following his reading, Gates touched on a variety of subjects in response to questions from his audience, including his much-publicized position as an expert witness for the rap group 2 Live Crew. "I loathe their lyrics," said Gates, explaining that his defense of the group was essentially a defense of the First Amendment. He added that he would similarly defend "the Klan's right to march through New Haven." Gates also spoke of his support for Al Gore's presidential ambitions, acknowledging that he has had a longstanding friendship with the Vice President and his wife. He pointed out that his friend and Harvard colleague Cornel West supports Gore's rival, Bill Bradley, and indicated that West is Bradley's chief adviser on race relations. "What comes out of his [Bradley's] mouth on race is pure West," Gates commented. Gates was at his most passionate discussing the subject of affirmative action, of which he is an unabashed proponent. 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