TRRC
Executive Secretary Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow last week resigned from his teaching
job at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Until his
resignation, Dr. Jallow was an assistant professor of African and World history
at La Salle. Prior to joining the La Salle faculty in 2015, Dr. Jallow taught
African history and was director of the African Studies Program at Creighton
University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Upon
his invitation to come home and serve as Executive Secretary of the TRRC back
in the fall of 2017, Dr. Jallow sought and was granted a two-year leave of
absence by La Salle University to enable him to take up the position. However,
in a recent communication, the University explained that it would not be able
to extend Dr. Jallow’s leave of absence beyond fall (September) 2020 when it
expires.
Part
of Dr. Jallow’s letter of resignation to La Salle University’s Dean of Arts and
Sciences reads: “As per the terms of my leave of absence, I was supposed to
return to La Salle University in fall 2020. However, due to the fact that my
work here requires at least an additional year of service to The Gambia’s
Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, I will not be in a position
to do so. For that reason, and because you have indicated in a recent email
that my leave will not be extended . . . please allow me to tender my
resignation from my teaching position at La Salle University’s Department of
History and the School of Arts and Sciences with immediate effect. . . . Please also allow me to extend my very
sincere gratitude to La Salle University and in particular my colleagues at the
Department of History for all the kind support they have rendered me during my
period at the University.”
Dr.
Jallow says while he will miss La Salle University, he has no regrets at all
over his resignation. “In the absence of an extension of my leave, there really
is no other option for me. I can’t leave the TRRC to resume my teaching at La
Salle at this point. I also perfectly understand that the university needs to
move on with hiring another full time African history professor. And so I am
happy to resign and concentrate on completing the national assignment entrusted
to me to the best of my ability. No regrets at all.”
