From Louisiana Creole roots to Ivy League summits, the remarkable odyssey of a nonagenarian scholar, Dr. Tilden J LeMelle, whose intellect shines as brightly as his dedication to wisdom, knowledge, and upliftment.

Dr. Tilden LeMelle is a respected Ivy League scholar known for his International Relations and Black Studies expertise. He’s also a gifted polyglot. Coming from the accomplished LeMelle family of Louisiana Creoles, Dr. LeMelle has used his sharp intellect and dynamic energy to build an impressive career. He’s been a prominent figure in American academia, held top university leadership roles, and has served internationally in public positions.

Slight in stature, as many nonagenarians are, LeMelle may appear delicate, but his eyes twinkle with the spark of a perpetually active and sharp mind. He captivates with tales from a life rich in experiences and achievements, filled with passion for wisdom, knowledge, African American progress, and African liberation.

Elegantly groomed and still possessing the pencil-thin moustache which has adorned his top lip for many decades, LeMelle is graceful and poised — every inch the consummate public intellectual who has dedicated his whole professional career to higher education and its empowering and ennobling aims.

A black Catholic Creole brought up in the South in an era of blatant prejudice and egregious racial discrimination, LeMelle never let his colour, his culture or his religion get in the way of his desire to rise to the top and fulfil his remarkable intellectual potential.

Dr. Tilden J. LeMelle is deeply thoughtful but remains approachable, unlike some highly intelligent individuals who might come off as distant. He doesn’t flaunt his knowledge, yet he’s very articulate and often expresses strong opinions. Even at 94, LeMelle’s sharp mind radiates charisma and charm.

Upbringing

Born in 1929 in New Iberia, Louisiana, to parents Eloi LeMelle and Therese Francis LeMelle, the fifth of eight children (of whom four were boys and four girls), LeMelle, by his admission, enjoyed a comfortable upbringing, as his mother and father owned their own home with land. He states, conscious of his good fortune, “We had enough space for us to live and have a good life.”

The family of LeMelle’s father, Eloi, were originally cowboys from Opelousas, but his father had gotten into a fight with a white man and, as a result, had been forced to leave, so he came and settled in New Iberia for a fresh start.

LeMelle grew up in an accomplished academic and business family that could trace its Louisiana roots back to the 1770s. Moreover, his family were well known in their neighbourhood since his father could read and speak French very well, which served as both a badge of his intelligence and a marker of social cachet and distinction that reflected well on his children.

One pertinent recollection from his childhood that LeMelle proffers — an astute observation on the correlation between shade, religion and education, was something he was profoundly conscious of throughout his upbringing. “What was interesting is that black people — especially darker-skinned people — tended to be Protestants, whereas lighter-skinned black people tended to be Catholics.” He continues, acutely aware of the prevalence of the not-so-subtle pigmentocracy which existed in Louisiana at the time and how it was reflected in religious denominations and access to education. “During my educational journey, I began to understand the difference. Growing up, I remember very clearly that we were Catholics and that we were lighter-skinned. The darker-skinned black people were Protestants. So that also meant that most of the people we went to Catholic school with were light-skinned, and the darker-skinned ones went to the public schools.”

On his Creole Heritage and Identity

Reflecting on how his Creole upbringing shaped him, LeMelle states a matter of fact, “Being Creole meant that you were a bit lighter skinned than the others. Most of our friends were Catholic. They were Creole – at least where we were in New Iberia, right near the Gulf of Mexico.”

From an early age, LeMelle cultivated a strong sense of self and thus never felt inferior to those of other races. With laudable self-possession, he remembers, “Being Creole did not make me feel any different concerning white people.” He then proudly asserts that his Creole identity not only enlarged his vision of the world, opening up new intellectual vistas and exciting cultural horizons but also helped him connect with a broader cross-section of people, resulting in his feeling part of a global human family. He succinctly says, “Being Creole really began to make me more international.”

Significantly, his childhood in 1930s New Iberia was a polyglot, and he was used to hearing several languages spoken around him at home, which he duly picked up easily. As he elucidates, “I speak Creole fluently because I learned it at home. My daddy spoke Creole and pure French, so we just spoke French. My grandfather and my grandmother only spoke Creole.” With a somewhat mischievous grin and a delightful hint of linguistic superiority, he adds, “The white folks, they also spoke Creole, but they could not speak or read French.”

LeMelle continues with a discernible tone of pride in his voice, offering a telling insight into how those who spoke Creole and French were perceived at that time in rural Louisiana. “My mama spoke English and Creole, but not pure French. But my dad spoke French because he was smarter. The white Creole folks used to come to him when they needed to translate French because he was smart enough to do it.”

The Name Tilden

Growing up, LeMelle was puzzled by the fact that he was the only person in his family not to have a French-Christian name. As he relates it, “I always wondered why my dad had given me the name Tilden. So I asked my mother why I had my name when everybody else who was Creole had a French name.”
Continuing with clarity and a lucid understanding of the historical influences at the time, he said, and this helped me to understand a lot about my father. When he was young, the country was going through reconstruction. Papa admired General Samuel Tilden and his fight to enforce reconstruction efforts. That is why he named me Tilden. During reconstruction, there were changes in how freed slaves were treated and Blacks in general. It did not matter whether you were Creole or whether you were dark skinned, you were still a Black person. I was told by others that Papa said that the Black people were going to rise again. He believed this all of his life. He believed that we, Black people, could be recognised fully as American citizens after reconstruction.

Education

Parental expectations and the strong emphasis his family placed on education played a big part in LeMelle’s initial decision to embrace a life of learning. He recalls, “What made a difference was that we were expected to go to school, and so we all went to the Catholic school.”

LeMelle duly attended Saint Edward’s Catholic elementary and high school. At age 12 he attended St. Augustine Seminary in Bay St. Louis where he undoubtedly benefitted from a traditional, intellectually rigorous, canonical education.

Aptitude for Languages

Whilst LeMelle grew up speaking Creole, French and English at home, he had the seminary to thank for adding the various classical and romance languages, which he then added to his linguistic repertoire. At school, he truly discovered his prodigious gift for learning languages and his unslakable thirst for language acquisition — learning Greek, Latin and French, in which he would become fluent, and from that Romance base, Spanish, Portuguese and even Hebrew.

As he says, casually and with the conviction of one for whom learning languages comes as easily as riding a bicycle or picking up a knife and fork, “That is why we learnt Latin. And we had to speak real French. And, of course, if you learn Latin and French, you can easily do Spanish and even Portuguese. Yes, and Hebrew.” But, with a humble chuckle, LeMelle continues, his eyes sparkling, “But I would often tell people I could only translate it.”

LeMelle subsequently gained a Bachelor’s degree (1953) and a Master’s degree (1958) from Xavier University in New Orleans.

Initially nurturing a desire to answer the call to serve God, he admits that “my brother Wilbert and I both thought that at one time we would become Catholic priests.” But, whereas his brother Wilbert pursued a public and diplomatic trajectory, LeMelle decided to follow an academic path upon graduation.

Decision to Embark upon a Doctorate

In fact, LeMelle had dreamed of becoming the first black man on the U.S. Supreme Court, but he went off the idea of pursuing a legal career while serving as an Army intelligence officer in 1950s Washington. “I saw how poorly my lawyer buddies were doing in Civil Rights law,” he says. So he decided to embark on an academic career instead, gaining a Master’s Degree at Xavier University, which he began while already working as a Professor of English at Grambling University (Louisiana). LeMelle then got his Doctorate in International Relations from Denver University in Colorado (1965).

Burgeoning Academic Career

Unlike his younger brother Wilbert, who, after completing his doctorate, worked for the Ford Foundation in Africa for many years and who was then appointed U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and Seychelles by President Jimmy Carter in 1977, Tilden LeMelle chose to remain in the ivory towers of academia for the duration of his working life, preferring to effect change through his scholarly interventions and making full use of his rigorously analytical mind.

Following his Masters, LeMelle taught English at Grambling University (Louisiana) between 1957 -1963, then taught Political Science at both Northern Illinois University in Chicago (1965-1966) and Fordham University in New York (1966 – 1969). He was a Professor of International Relations at the University of Denver (1969-1971), before moving to Hunter College, (The City University of New York) in 1971 to be Chair of the recently established Black and Puerto Rican Studies department.

Chair of Black Studies at Hunter College

As Professor and Chair of Black and Puerto Rican Studies Department at Hunter College, LeMelle became a pioneer in the field, and, despite numerous logistical and ideological obstacles, managed to successfully incorporate the (then nascent) discipline into the canon of Higher Education subjects one can now study at university.

LeMelle had come to Hunter College primarily because of the influence of John Henrik Clarke, the renowned Afrocentrist and Africana scholar, who, as the founding chairman of the Black and Puerto Rican Studies department at Hunter from 1969, had personally come to Denver to recruit him to his department.

As LeMelle recalls, “He came to visit me in Denver. And I will always remember — he and his wife walked around the campus. He said, “Hey, Tilden, what are you doing at this country club? Come to the city and Hunter because we need your help. They are starting a new Black and Puerto Rican Studies department.”

LeMelle relished the prospect of teaching students whose knowledge of Black Studies and the Black diaspora was at best limited and sorely lacking, and, unlike many of his colleagues, he was excited by the challenge of instructing them and correcting their ignorance. As he recalls, “I thought, “Ha, I can have some fun with ‘em.” Reverting to a more serious tone, he adds, “I realised that these students needed more education around the issues of Black Studies” — a realisation which bolstered his desire to join the fledgling department. Evidently proud of his association with the great auto-didact and renowned scholar of Africana history, LeMelle says with deep personal satisfaction, “I worked with John Henrik Clarke for many years.”

From the outset, alongside Clarke, LeMelle helped champion scholarly research in the domains of African, African-American and Black diaspora history, languages, literature, philosophy and culture and gave the subject (bracketed at Hunter College with Puerto Rican Studies) an enviable and long-lasting air of intellectual credibility which it doubtless benefited from in its infancy as a discipline. As he recalls, LeMelle was instrumental in “helping the faculty to overcome the obstacles to set up the structure.”

It is no exaggeration to say that many great African-American scholars, polymaths and leading public intellectuals of today – titans like Henry Louis Gates, Cornell West, Michael Eric Dyson and Imani Perry doubtless all owe LeMelle a conscious and profound debt of gratitude.

Thanks to the department’s success at Hunter under his auspices, new Black Studies departments were subsequently created at universities across America and even further afield. The discipline — a somewhat contentious one frowned on by cultural conservatives and those for whom identity politics and augmented black self-esteem were anathemas, had, in large part due to LeMelle’s success, been officially ratified, imprinted with respectability and had thus achieved a hitherto unexpected kudos.

Africa Today Magazine

As someone deeply committed to the reality of African independence, both with a keen academic interest in the topic also as an African-American man with “skin in the game” due to his African heritage, it was perhaps natural that LeMelle would become heavily involved with the seminal magazine Africa Today – an offshoot of the American Committee on Africa (ACOA), which had been founded in 1953 by George Houser, the leading American Civil Rights activist and co-founder of the Congress For Racial Equality (who died in 2015 aged 99).

Based in New York, Africa Today magazine was wholly dedicated to supporting African liberation struggles and provided decades-long support for independence movements across the continent and aiding and abetting their fights against the twin bastions of colonialism and apartheid. LeMelle recalls, “We all worked together, but it all began with George Houser. That is why we all got involved with the Africa Today magazine.”

LeMelle’s passion for the magazine and what it stood for was infectious. He continues, “The whole magazine was always about African liberation. I was gathering articles from people worldwide who were supporting the African Liberation Movement, and they would author articles for the journal.” Hugely proud of his involvement over several decades, LeMelle recalls fondly, “Africa Today journal was published in the United States and in Africa, but I would mail it out to people anywhere in the world.”

As he continues, one can still detect the palpable excitement in his tone as he recalls the heady political and racial optimism of the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the winds of change swept over the African continent. He precisely states, “Africa was becoming liberated, and there were independence movements throughout the continent. There was Ethiopia and, of course, the northern part of Africa, which were already independent at that stage, but huge swathes of Southern and Central Africa had not yet been liberated.”

Overseeing Elections in Zimbabwe

Whilst still ensconced in his role at Hunter, as both a man of thought and a man of action, LeMelle had long wanted to venture outside the confines of academia and put his “boots on the ground”, so to speak. He sought a chance to put his copious International Relations, Political Science and Black Studies expertise into practice in real-life situations and more worldly arenas, and in Africa to boot, given his passion for the continent and his extensive knowledge of African liberation movements.

It was his long-standing friendship with and profound respect for George Houser which afforded LeMelle such an opportunity and ultimately took him to Zimbabwe in 1980 in an official capacity — to independently oversee the country’s first democratic election and to observe its transition from Prime Minister Ian Smith’s despotic, predominantly white Rhodesian regime to that of Robert Mugabe. In short, LeMelle witnessed the creation of the vaunted, new Zimbabwe.

The actual political situation in Rhodesia at the time was highly complicated, with many factions and few loyalties. LeMelle recalls how he was perceived as an American, “What was interesting was that the supporters of the British regime were concerned that the Americans were enemies. They felt that we were the enemy because we were American.” He says with candour, “Some Americans wanted to keep the Rhodesian government in place, and some wanted the changeover.”

In numerous interactions with the Rhodesian army, LeMelle and his party were thankfully unharmed, despite several of the local Africans they had been travelling with getting beaten up. Still visibly shaken after all these years, he remembers, “It was scary because they did not know I was an important man.” With a genuine sense of relief, he adds, “Anyhow, they did not touch us because someone must have told them.”

Recalling the plethora of physically dangerous aspects of that trip — travelling in military trucks and convoys, surrounded by armed guards, an omnipresent febrile, politically unstable atmosphere, frequenting military bases, with curfews and military aeroplanes and helicopters flying overhead, LeMelle had indeed ventured far from the hermetically sealed university campuses which he was accustomed to.

In fact, this world was far more like those described in the pages of a Graham Greene novel or a Frederick Forsyth thriller, with voluble, gun-toting mercenaries in bandanas clutching their AK-47s, than the sedate, cosy world of academia he inhabited back home.

One particularly hair-raising occasion occurred on that trip with George (Houser), the memory of which remains with him to this day. At a government checkpoint, LeMelle innocuously went into his jacket pocket to produce his passport I.D., but the local soldiers manning the post thought he was reaching for a gun and so nervously drew their own weapons. As LeMelle calmly explains, infinitely more relaxed now, no longer in imminent danger from unduly trigger-happy soldiers, “They thought I was going to grab a weapon. So, I stopped and let them know. No, I was not about to shoot anyone. I was just trying to tell them I was an American citizen.” He adds with a grin, distinctly aware of the advantages of nepotism and tangible family connections and clout in such a situation, “At that time, my brother was the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and Seychelles. So I said (to the soldier) that my brother is a U.S. Ambassador, so he better watch it and not shoot.”

It was against this somewhat challenging backdrop that LeMelle, as an official election observer, attempted to talk to as large a cross-section of the populace as possible and to engage them on their opinions about the election. As he recalls, “I was trying to speak to everyone — from ordinary folks to soldiers,” so he regularly had no choice but to frequent military bases and army camps in his role.

When situations got a little hairy, LeMelle was somewhat assuaged by the knowledge that if push came to shove, he could always call on his brother to intercede on his behalf. He explains, “I knew one thing — that my brother was in Washington, D.C., with the President of the United States of America. And I am his brother, so I could pull some strings.”

LeMelle did not find out the actual result of the election until he was on the plane flying back home to America. Zimbabwean independence was duly declared on April 20th 1980. The country formerly known as Rhodesia was now officially Zimbabwe, and LeMelle had been there to witness it. As he succinctly puts it, without irony, given what we know now, “When Mugabe was elected, the country was liberated.”

Whilst the last thirty years have admittedly not been kind to Zimbabwe, and while the country’s post-independence journey has been an arduous one, to say the least, not to mention Mugabe’s diplomatic reputation on the world stage now left in tatters, LeMelle looks back on that tempestuous period in Southern African political history with fond memories of meaningful change and the galvanising spirit of people dedicated to overthrowing the oppressive yoke of racist, colonial rule.

He is still forcibly struck by the Zimbabwean people’s ardent desire to cast their votes in that 1980 election and to let their voices finally be heard after so many decades of being effectively silenced by despotic white rule.

One vignette, in particular, has remained with him, which sums up the fervent will of a people to proudly exercise self-determination. Reminiscing in a calm voice, the powerful memory still vivid after more than forty years, he adds, “While people were going to vote, I’ll always remember a woman who could not move easily, but she was carrying both her husband and then father on her back, to go vote. Wow. I will always remember that strength and determination.” He adds, pensively and full of admiration, “This woman was literally carrying someone to vote. That’s how important having the vote and going to vote was to her .”

LeMelle adds that one of his students from Fordham University, Hage Gottfried Geingob, is now the third President of Namibia. This further exemplifies the importance that LeMelle’s teaching has had in Africa.

The Africa Fund

LeMelle played an active role on the Board of the American Committee on Africa and served on the Board of the Africa Fund for an extended period from 1972 to 2006. The Africa Fund was dedicated to aiding liberation efforts against colonial and apartheid regimes in various African nations, including Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The organization’s efforts included providing resources for educational and health initiatives led by African liberation groups. One of its significant contributions was to the Mozambique Institute, an educational institution established by FRELIMO in Tanzania. Furthermore, it assisted the South African Council of Churches in supporting political detainees and their relatives. Through its publishing arm, the Africa Fund disseminated various informational materials, from succinct fact sheets to a detailed guide of U.S. companies engaged in business within apartheid-stricken South Africa and Namibia under unlawful occupation. The Fund was also behind the sponsorship of “South Africa Now,” a weekly 30-minute television broadcast focused on news from the region, which ran from 1988 to 1991 and was produced by Global Vision.

In 1991, LeMelle presided as Chairman of the Africa Fund and commemorated its 25th anniversary.

President of Hunter College

Back in America at Hunter College in New York, after several years at CUNY, LeMelle became an administrator, eventually serving as acting Vice-Chancellor. While he was Provost, LeMelle started to help Hunter build other programmes, such as the Nursing and Social Services programmes. He recalls, “At that time, they did not have graduate education programs for Nursing and things like that. I was among the first people to start advanced practice Nursing in the city. I started doing all of that until I was the acting President.”

Dr. LeMelle duly became Provost / Vice President of Academic Affairs in 1986, then was appointed Acting President of Hunter in January 1987. He also served as Chairman / Director of the Department of Academic Skills / SEEK program.

Other Academic Posts

He was appointed Acting President of New York City Technical College in 1988 before moving to The City University of New York central office as Acting Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Special Programs.

Books Tilden LeMelle has Written

The author of several books and many scholarly articles throughout his long career, Dr. LeMelle has sought to share his insights and promulgate his contributions to the fields he has worked in wherever possible. In many respects, his life’s intellectual work has been primarily focused on the twin themes of race and education and African liberation politics. His first book — The Black College: A Strategy for Achieving Relevancy (1969), which he co-authored with his brother Wilbert, is still required reading for anyone interested in the topic. Similarly, Race Among Nations: A Conceptual Approach (1970) (co-authored) and Race in International Relations were both valiant attempts to bring his colossal erudition and awareness of both canons to subjects which animated the 1970s zeitgeist and which defined the American intellectual and cultural landscape of that era.

President of the University of the District of Columbia

In 1991, LeMelle moved from New York to Washington D.C, to become President of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). However, it swiftly became evident that the appointment was something of a poisoned chalice, as the university was ailing in many respects. He was seemingly destined to be the sacrificial lamb upon the altar, caught in the volatile vortex of D.C.’s inter-racial and intra-racial politics, much of it involving the colourful and ever vocal then Mayor of D.C., Marion Barry.

On becoming President of UDC, LeMelle inherited a chronically dysfunctional and under-funded university — a quarter of the students were on probation or suspension, 87 per cent of students entered needing remedial work in English and Maths and basic student activities (such as the yearbook and newspaper) were dormant.

However, despite such adverse conditions, LeMelle recalls having grand plans for the institution. “My agenda was to transform this institution into a real university with quality programs and staff. I knew I didn’t have the time to make it like The City University of New York, with its Nobel laureates and more Fortune 500 CEOs than Yale among its alumni. But if we could get this sucker turned around (like those big tankers in Jamaica Bay) somebody else could take it over and finish the job.”

Specifically, LeMelle’s dreams for the university involved geographical visibility: “I wanted UDC to have a real presence in midtown development.” He foresaw a UDC Performing Arts Center, a UDC Visual Arts Center, and an “apartment house institute” to train residents to manage and maintain their homes. He also wanted to build a UDC satellite campus in Southeast Washington and even proposed a UDC program in Egypt. As he continues, a hint of regret is discernible in his voice, manifestly at odds with the optimism with which he embarked upon his tenure, “The dream was the state university, UDC, participating in economic development,” he says.

During his five-year tenure, LeMelle managed to stabilize much of the administrative chaos, eliminating the faculty senate, turning five colleges into two and reducing 52 departments into 18. UDC also made tangible financial progress on his watch — research grants grew from $7 million a year to $24 million, something which he is very proud of.

However, despite the generous fiscal remuneration and incentives (free car and rent-free accommodation), he received for his leadership, it proved to be a tough gig, which was his last official academic post before retirement.

Keen to build a tradition of academic excellence for UDC, he felt sadly stymied at every turn. A staunch advocate of E. Franklin Frazier’s book Black Bourgeoisie, LeMelle still sees the problems he encountered at UDC through the intra-racial prism that Frazier first articulated. As he recalls, “It’s the mindset of the colonised. Many black people in this city (Washington) will point to race in terms of blacks and whites, but there are also deep class cleavages between blacks here, often along the colour line. Any marginalised people turn upon themselves; I’ve seen that in my academic work, which focuses on international relations, particularly among African nations. Those who have made it take pride in being like, or doing the will of, the suppressors. I call it the emanative relationship — people see themselves as the emanation or extension of the dominant group.”

In an eviscerating aside, LeMelle is unrepentant and still wholly convinced of the sanctity of his own actions at the time. “I never had a discussion of higher education in Washington. That city is about political control -not about what was best for the students. And in all of the contemporary times, in the entire world, there are only three places where people destroyed their own higher education in the struggle for control. In Liberia’s civil war, the University of Liberia was destroyed. In the political chaos of Uganda, Makerere University, a great institution, was ruined. And the District of Columbia. Three groups of colonised, formerly marginalised people.”

LeMelle admits phlegmatically and yet without bitterness, “Put it simply: My time there was up. Yes, my vision for UDC was different from other people’s, but I don’t consider my vision a mistake. What UDC needed was a board of education that was not under the control of the Mayor’s office and the City Council. There should have been separation of power between the city council and the board of education. I considered it fundamental for the city because public education in Washington DC was a very low priority for the politicians.”

LeMelle officially retired from UDC in 1997.

Retirement

After the acrimony of his departure from UDC, LeMelle moved back to his family home in New Rochelle, an affluent commuter suburb of New York, full of aesthetically pleasing homes and parks, determined to relish the slower pace of life after several hectic, high-pressured years at the helm of a beleaguered and stress-inducing metropolitan university.

In subsequent years of enjoying his retirement, he has endeavoured to keep mind and body active, namely through a combination of writing, working with his brother Wilbert (who, until he died in 2003, headed a foundation supporting the education of Africans, African-Americans and indigenous American-Indians) and helping to sustain the family’s sugar cane farm in Louisiana.

Moreover, LeMelle still speaks (at a conservative estimate) five languages fluently and attempts to practice each of them daily, keen for his linguistic prowess not to stagnate and atrophy due to neglect — itself the mark of a true, dyed-in-the-wool polyglot.

LeMelle also spends time as a doting father to his three daughters, Joyce, Stephanie and Therese, grandfather and great grandfather. He also continues to reflect on and mourn the love of his life, Margaret Guillion LeMelle, his loving wife of 64 years who passed away in 2023.

Margaret Guillion, LeMelle’s life partner, a Creole from New Orleans, LA. They met at Xavier University. They were a team in raising their children, advocating for social justice and in the liberation of Africa. Margaret Guillion, a professional artist and art educator, designed some of the covers for the Africa Today Journal, which LeMelle co-edited with George W. Shepard PhD. LeMelle attributes the success of many of his career decisions to the love and support that he shared with Margaret Guillion.

Reflections on Affirmative Action and Diversity in Higher Education

After a life operating in the highest echelons of tertiary education, LeMelle has undoubtedly earned the right to pronounce on educational issues of the day — which he does sagaciously and judiciously, meticulously choosing his words and drawing on his vast swathes of a world-class experience.

Unsurprisingly, he has long been an advocate for greater diversity in education. As he makes the case firmly and eloquently, he raises his finger deliberately to underscore what he is saying, “Education should be diverse, period. Diversity is important for education regardless. Diversity is important for learning for everyone, not just for minorities.”

He also had little time for those during the 1970s and 1980s who were not in favour of Affirmative Action, which he continues to see as a positive force for societal change and a practice which, although contentious in some quarters, has done much to ameliorate and essentially level the playing field of American society, which slavery and its post-emancipation concomitant evils of racial prejudice and Jim Crow-era segregation had done so much to decimate. As he states prudently and with exactitude, “Affirmative action supported integration. Affirmative Action allowed people of colour to get access to higher education. It also boosted diversity.”

When asked about the current calls by conservatives to abolish Affirmative Action (now heralded as unconstitutional and even racist), LeMelle is aware of the arguments but has little time for what he deems their specious reasoning. He politely and somewhat sardonically says, “Now, some places say it is time to end Affirmative Action. They want to stop it. Some places are developing it, but others are not.”

He may be advanced in years, but LeMelle’s moral compass is still fully functioning. With genuine compassion and discernible empathy for the less privileged, he then states soberingly, “Right now, just looking at where we are in New York, with all of these foreign graduates, asylum seekers and other people who are coming into the United States and into the school systems, they probably won’t be able to go on to higher education because they’re poor, because they’re minorities and because they’re not citizens, so they won’t have access to education.” With a spontaneous outpouring of kindness, he adds, “Well, remember, this is the U.S. That is the way of the land, and the public universities need these people.”

The Impact of Technology on Higher Education

Modern technological advancements and their impact upon education and learning — from the classroom to the lecture theatre – is another topic very much of our times — and one of great interest to LeMelle.

During his time at Hunter College in the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. LeMelle understood long before many of his peers the importance of having computers in the classroom and was instrumental in welcoming the advent of new technology, which would go on to have a hugely positive effect on learning and revolutionise approaches to pedagogy at the university level.

He explains, “I was charged as Provost to use desktop computers. I realised it was important. I remember the very first time how T.V.s started with just one dot. Then it moves around, and then finally, we got a whole image. And in fact, it has now reached a point where such technology is essential.”

When it comes to the internet, the most modern of all technological phenomenons, LeMelle then powerfully articulates what he sees as the positive correlation between lack of internet access and an inability to learn and compete. “If you do not have access to digital technology, if you do not have internet access or digital access, then you really are left behind these days.”

In some respects akin to a digital form of apartheid, he states unequivocally, conscious of the stark inequality of learning outcomes between the digitally connected and those who are not, “In rural areas or areas where they do not have access to the internet, students cannot learn in the same way that others with internet access can. So, not having internet access is essentially another form of discrimination. It is a systemic problem that limits students’ access to information.” “But then,” he adds with a note of sadness, laconically expressing one of the most significant downsides to the internet, “some people just use it for hate.” It should be noted that, even at 94 + years old, LeMelle still spends hours reading, learning and staying in touch with family and friends on the internet.

Conclusion

Dr. Tilden J. LeMelle has enjoyed an extraordinarily varied, accomplished and fulfilling career in academia, both as an internationally renowned scholar of Political Science and Black Studies and then as a leader of prestigious East Coast universities in New York and Washington, D.C. Embracing and excelling at the twin pillars of scholarship and leadership, LeMelle has undoubtedly left a very tangible mark on the terrain of American higher education and in the process made a stellar, if not unique, contribution to several academic fields.

His seriously impressive, not to mention humbling command of the full gamut of classical, biblical and modern European Romance languages has given him profound, rare and valuable insights into a plethora of literary and philosophical traditions across several epochs and continents. These have enriched his scholarly work on International Relations and Black Studies by considering his holistic approach, grounded in linguistic fluency and expertise in both Western and African canons.

Not only will Dr. Tilden LeMelle be long remembered in American educational history as a great Creole scholar, an academic and public intellectual whose magnum opus on Black colleges is still required reading today — and as a selfless pioneer of Black Studies who did much to establish the discipline whilst it was in its infancy, but also as someone who assiduously strove to accumulate, and then share and disseminate knowledge and wisdom — and with it, uplift and embolden future generations, both in America and, through his books and intrepid work on the ground in Africa, further afield.

The etymology of the word “education” — coming from the Latin educere (meaning “to lead out of the darkness”) is one which profoundly resonates with LeMelle, both as a Romance linguist but also as someone who has dedicated his entire professional career to leading others out of the intellectual, moral and emotional darkness of our times. This distinguished son of Louisiana has illuminated that path for many thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of young, curious minds and to this day, many former students across the nation will feel both privileged and honoured to have been taught by him.

Testimonials

I remember meeting Dr. LeMelle in the kitchen of his New Rochelle home in the spring of 1985. I had no idea at the time how large a role he would play in my future but I am so grateful to have a chance to thank him in print for the interest he took in the life of a young man without much except dreams of medical school. As the provost of Hunter College at the time, Dr. LeMelle occupied a professional space that was dazzling to me yet in our personal interactions, he was so gracious, so funny and welcoming. He connected me with resources that allowed me to further my academic interests and mentored me in making the right decisions for my career while I navigated a new world of wacademic medicine. Over the past 30 years, I have been blessed to accomplish a fair amount in my chosen field of medical genetics, but I have never forgotten the instrumental role Dr. LeMelle played when nothing was certain. I have always tried to live up to his example not just professionally but as a human. He is truly one of my heroes.

Dr. George Diaz, M.D, PhD Chief of Medical Genetics and Genomics.
Professor Genetics and Genomic Science, The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York

Uncle Til is not only a loving Uncle but he is also a brilliant scholar and courageous activist. Like my father, Uncle Til was in the engine room of both civil rights for people of color in the United States, but also the liberation struggle in Africa. He will never get the credit he deserves for the groundbreaking work at the American Committee on Africa, where he and a handful on others, including my father, with minimal resource, consistently and selflessly fought to end oppression in Africa and particularly in apartheid South Africa group. His work at the University of Denver, Fordham University, Hunter College, City University of New York and the University of the District of Columbia to elevate black intellectual thought and support and encourage Black scholars, in the face of enormous opposition provided an immeasurable contribution to the strengthening and protection of the Black community in the Unted States. As our careers paralleled in many ways, I had the privilege of conversation with a giant on a daily basis. Uncle Til’s effective and uncompromising leadership, his brilliant and critical analysis, his mind blowing and fascinating experiences and his loving guidance have made an enormous difference in my life and career. For whatever I have accomplished in my career, I always know I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Uncle Til.

Gerald LeMelle, Esquire, Partner at Dunlap & Litigation Lawyers
Nephew/Son of Wilbert LeMelle

I came to know Dr. Tilden LeMelle when I served as Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS, now the Josef Korbel School of International Studies) at the University of Denver. I had known of him before I became Dean because he and his brother were early students who had received PhDs from the School and had gone on to have very distinguished careers as policymakers, scholars and academic administrators. I came to know him personally and seek his excellent advice when I served as Dean and during later years when I established the International Career Advancement Program (ICAP) and the Global Access Pipeline (GAP). I turned to him for help because of his knowledge and considerable experience and because I was concerned at the absence of diversity at the senior levels of US leadership in international affairs in government, nonprofits, and the private sector. The two programs I established (ICAP and GAP) were intended to help address this deficit in our leadership. As a leader from the Black community, he was one of those who was able to break through the considerable obstacles to leadership positions in his own exceptional career. He was able to share with me and with early participants in ICAP some of the lessons he had learned from his own difficult path and experience. I am still indebted to him for his advice and friendship.

Dr. Edward Thomas Rowe, PhD, Former Dean of the Graduate School of International Studies, Denver University, Colorado

My best teacher in Higher education was Tilden LeMelle. I was a rookie President at Hunter College and he gently guided me. He also taught me that diversity was always a strength. I have never forgot his lessons.

Dr. Donna E. Shalala, PhD, former President of Hunter College, New York.
President New School, New York

I met Tilden LeMelle when he came to Hunter College to chair the newly formed Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies. I was the Assistant to the Dean of Humanities and Arts. Little did I know this was just the beginning of a wonderful professional relationship. Always with the college at heart, he was later chosen to serve as Provost and also Acting President. I was very fortunate to have served as his Executive Assistant. Tilden was someone to look up to. He was smart, kind, and patient. He was a breath of fresh air. He knew so very much and was always willing to share his knowledge. I was often amazed when I sat in on meetings where everyone disagreed about everything. Through his guidance and patience, he often brought everyone together with a solution in hand. He worked well with everyone and rarely lost his temper. I have such wonderful memories of working with him. I am so grateful to have worked with this extraordinary man.

Judith Bubnell Russell, Former Assistant to the Dean of Humanities and Arts,
Hunter College, New York

During most of my first decade as the director of research administration at Hunter College, I was privileged to report to Dr. Tilden J. LeMelle, Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Hunter College, during the 1980’s.
While providing guidance to the Hunter community, he was always open to discussion and to hearing different opinions. He helped to put Hunter into the national discussion of advancing natural and social science programs for a wider variety of undergraduate and graduate students. During his tenure as Provost, Hunter became a leading school in advancing the science careers of women and men. Hunter was a leader in National Institutes of Health programs as a Research Center in Minority Institutions, the Minority Biomedical Research Support Program, and the Minority Access to Research Careers Program. Grants to Hunter tripled during his years as Provost.
Tilden provided guidance to those of us who reported to him. With his vision for the future, he provided resources in all academic disciplines that enabled Hunter to plan for future programs. He used the developing computer technology, enhancing Hunter’s chances to recruit faculty members with greater credentials who were able to mentor and serve as role models for Hunter’s students.
Once Tilden moved on from Hunter to advance other colleges and universities, Tilden and his wife Margaret twice hosted my wife and me when we had reason to be in Washington. We were pleased to have had continued contact with the LeMelle family in the ensuing years.

Robert J. Buckley, PhD, Former Director, Research Administration,
Hunter College, New York

I have had the pleasure of knowing Tilden LeMelle for over fifty years and worked directly with him at Hunter College for many of those. Of course, there is so much to be said about him, but two things really stand out for me. Despite the many important administrative positions he held, including college presidencies, he was always a teacher first…..it was an important part of his DNA. Those of us who were his colleagues learned so much from him, whether it was how best to administer a college or the history of Africa, etc. He was always educating those around him and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. Secondly, he always encouraged academic excellence, not only for and from the students but from the faculty and the entire institution. I witnessed many difficult decisions he had to make, but he always did so with this as his objective.

Michael Escott, former Associate Dean of Student Affairs
Hunter College, New York

I know Dr. LeMelle as “Pops,” which is the name his daughters call him and what he told me to call him when he informed me that I was his fourth daughter. He has shown me more love through his words and actions than my biological father. Pops taught me how to be patient and lead with love. A strong, determined soldier whose weapon of choice is words. His words do not strike you down, but give you enough of a blow of discomfort that they make you pause, reflect and think critically.

Susan Hardison Chase, Esquire, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law,
University of Michigan Law School