Nnedi Okorafor Opens Up About Why She Left Chicago State University

Nnedi Okorafor left Chicago State University to take up a position at SUNNY, Buffalo. At the time of her departure, she indicated that her time at Chicago State University was not especially a happy one without going into the details of her experience.

On March 17, Okorafor opened about why she “fled that university” in a set of tweets. The tweets began as a reaction to the news that the 150 year old university might be closed down due to funding.

She said the university was not an enabling and supportive environment. She was even asked to slow down her writing so that she could have more time to put towards fulfilling unrealistic amounts of administrative responsibilities. The school, she concludes, was “a place of fear and anxiety…and…backstabbing.” She added that she still bears the scars of her experiences.

Good thing she escaped such an experience. SUNY, Buffalo seems to be a much more conducive environment for the sci/fantasy author. Her space-girl odyssey titled Binti is doing really well. She is currently editing a new novel.

Here are the tweets.

Written by a past student of mine-> “Chicago State University Closing is a Huge Loss for Minority Scholars” https://t.co/E3RoYWRJjg

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

I was a tenured professor at Chicago State. I fled that university for a reason.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

I’ll never forget the dean calling me into his office just after I’d won the World Fantasy Award. He said: “Nnedi, could you possibly…

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

…put your writing career on hold for a year or two so you can focus on administrative work?” I kid you not. Those exact words.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

Tufiakwa.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

Lovely gifted talented EPIC black faculty at that school…sh*tty administration. I had to get my backside out of there.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

The school was a place of fear and anxiety. Constant. And backstabbing like I’ve never seen (which is usually the result of fear&anxiety).

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

The school was a place of fear and anxiety. Constant. And backstabbing like I’ve never seen (which is usually the result of fear&anxiety).

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

To this day, I still suffer from those years of fear at CSU. When ppl are nice to my at UB, I still get nervous. :-/. Still trying to heal

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

I have more things I could say, but I won’t…for now. Even those things I’ve just said are things I’ve kept quiet for years.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

I will say that it’s a travesty that Illinois can’t find a way to keep the university open…

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

…and now a whole demographic of Illinois students will lose a necessary educational institution.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

A bit of trivia: Chicago State was the university Kanye West dropped out of, lol. His mother was head of the English dept for a while, too.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) March 17, 2016

 

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Image from Nnedi Okorafor’s Facebook Page.