BU finds Ibram X. Kendi's antiracist research center managed funds properly, despite turmoil

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Boston University said Tuesday that its initial inquiry into the antiracist research center run by best-selling author and academic Ibram X

Boston University said Tuesday that its initial inquiry into the antiracist research center run by best-selling author and academic Ibram X. Kendi found no issues with how it managed its finances. After the announcement, Kendi said he was eager to get back to work.

The university launched the inquiry into the financials of the BU Center for Antiracist Research, or CAR, in September, after acknowledging the organization was laying off about half of its staff and changing its operating model.

“Our auditors concluded that CAR’s financial management of its grants and gifts was appropriate," Gary Nicksa, BU’s chief financial officer and treasurer, said in a statement Tuesday.

The university hired Kendi in 2020 to found the center and join the faculty as a history professor after his 2019 memoir, “How to Be an Antiracist,” catapulted him to national prominence, which was only heightened after the murder of George Floyd by then-police officers in Minneapolis.

“Unfortunately, one of the most widely held racist ideas is the idea that Black people can’t manage money or Black people take money,” Kendi told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. “It was those two allegations that were expressed and connected to me that, of course, people didn’t necessarily need evidence to substantiate their belief that that happened because apparently my skin color was enough evidence.”

BU said Tuesday the center had laid off 19 staffers and reiterated that it will restructure its work to host scholars for nine-month fellowships, instead of conducting research through its own employees, and will also