Achieving tenure is a career milestone for faculty members. Dr. Andia Augustin-Billy reached this well-deserved goal along with promotion to associate professor in February 2021. Dr. Augustin-Billy’s successful application for tenure marked a long-overdue event for the institution as well. In Centenary’s 196-year history, Dr. Augustin-Billy is the first faculty member of color to be awarded tenure.
Dr. A-B, as she is known to her students, joined the Centenary faculty as Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies in 2015 after earning a Ph.D. in French language and literatures from Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to the courses she teaches during the fall and spring semesters, Dr. Augustin-Billy offers courses abroad. She co-teaches an immersive course during Centenary in Paris examining the experiences of Black Americans in Paris. She also teaches a May Module course in Haiti, where she was born to missionary parents. While teaching abroad, Dr. Augustin-Billy forges bonds with her students that continue to grow upon their return to campus.
Dr. Augustin-Billy also continues research in her areas of expertise which include analysis of race, class, and gender; travel and migration in French and Francophone African and Caribbean literatures; and Women, Gender and Sexuality studies. She received the prestigious Mellon Emerging Faculty Leaders Award in 2019 and was honored with the Harry Blake Education Award from Mt. Canaan Baptist church in Shreveport in 2018.
Regarding her place in Centenary history, Dr. Augustin-Billy observes, “The fact that a Black woman has earned tenure at Centenary in 2021, and that the decision was based on merit, and not upon color, is certainly a cause for celebration. While elated, I am painfully aware that it has taken us a long time to get there, and much remains to be done. This occasion should shed light on the urgency and necessity of having scholars and academics of color in U.S. colleges and universities to amplify and enrich students’ education, but most importantly, for the students to see the reflection of themselves in their professors.”
At their meeting on Tuesday, October 26, the Shreveport City Council issued a resolution recognizing Dr. Augustin-Billy as the first black faculty member to be awarded tenure at Centenary. On Thursday, November 4, the campus community invited the public to join them for a special convocation in the Hargrove Memorial Amphitheatre, “196 Years to Tenure: Dr. Andia Augustin-Billy.” The convocation featured reflection, art, and song in celebration of Dr. Andia Augustin-Billy and the historic significance of her tenure.