Chair of Black Studies &Associate Professor of Media & Communication Arts (MCA)The City College of New York (CCNY)The City University of New York (CUNY)

The College Language Association (CLA) is the oldest and largest organization of Black languages and literatures professors in the United States. It was founded in 1937 at LeMoyne College, now LeMoyne-Owen College, in Memphis, Tennessee. According to the historical notes provided in the College Language Association archives housed at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, "In 1937, a LeMoyne College professor named Hugh M. Gloster, through correspondence with Gladstone Lewis Chandler, a colleague at Morehouse College, discussed" the need for stronger critical thinking and English language education for students at their respective colleges. Gloster therefore "engaged other English teachers at predominately private 'Negro' colleges and universities to form an association which would address the problem from its origins to its current state. In 1937, eight men and women met at LeMoyne and formed the Association of Teachers of English in Negro Colleges (ATENC)."According to the Archives, "In 1941, the Association broadened its objective to formally include the teaching of literature and foreign language, thus changing its name to the Association of Teachers of Languages in Negro Colleges (ATLNC). In 1949, the ATLNC officially became the College Language Association (CLA)."Dr. Jervette R. Ward will serve as the 42nd President of CLA from 2022-2024. For more information on the College Language Association, please visit www.clascholars.org.