Morehouse College

Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States.

Morehouse has a 61-acre (250,000 m²) campus and an enrollment of approximately 3,000 students. The student-faculty ratio is 16:1 and 100% of the school's tenure-track faculty hold tertiary degrees. Along with Clark Atlanta University, Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse School of Medicine and nearby women's college Spelman College, Morehouse is part of the Atlanta University Center.

Morehouse is one of two black colleges in the country to produce Rhodes Scholars, and it is the alma mater of many African-American leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., theologian Howard Thurman, filmmaker Spike Lee, actor Samuel L. Jackson, Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, former Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, and former United States Surgeon General David Satcher, among others.

History

Establishment

On February 14, 1867, just two years after the American Civil War, the Augusta Institute was founded by William Jefferson White, an Atlanta Baptist minister and cabinetmaker, with the support of the Rev. Richard C. Coulter, a former slave from Atlanta, Georgia, and the Rev. Edmund Turney, organizer of the National Theological Institute for educating freedmen in Washington, D.C.^[2] The institution was founded to educate African American men in theology and education and was located in Springfield Baptist Church, the oldest independent black church in the United States. The school received sponsorship from the American Baptist Home Mission Society, an organization that helped establish several historically black colleges.^[2][8] The Institute's first president was Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Robert (father of Brigadier General Henry Martyn Robert, author of Robert's Rules of Order).

Early years

In 1879, the institute moved to its own location and changed its name to the Atlanta Baptist Seminary.^[2] It later acquired a 4-acre (1.6 ha) campus in downtown Atlanta. In 1885, Dr. Samuel T. Graves became the second president. That year the seminary moved to its present location, on land donated by prominent Baptist and industrialist, John D. Rockefeller. In 1890, Dr. George Sale became the seminary's third president, and in 1897 the school was renamed Atlanta Baptist College.^[2]

In 1906 Dr. John Hope became the first African-American president and led the institution's growth in enrollment and academic stature.^[2] He envisioned an academically rigorous college that would be the antithesis to Booker T. Washington's view of agricultural and trade-focused education for African-Americans. In 1913, the college was renamed Morehouse College, in honor of Dr. Henry L. Morehouse, corresponding secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission Society (whom had long organized Rockefeller and the Society's support for the College).^[2][8] Morehouse entered into a cooperative agreement with Clark College and Spelman College in 1929 and later expanded the association to form the Atlanta University Center.^[2]

Dr. Samuel H. Archer became the fifth president of the college in 1931 and selected the school colors (maroon and white) to reflect his own alma mater, Colgate University. Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays became president in 1940.^[2] Mays, who would be a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr., presided over the growth in international enrollment and reputation. During the 1960s, Morehouse students were actively involved in the civil rights movement in Atlanta.^[2] Mays’ speeches were instrumental in shaping the personal development of Morehouse students during his tenure.

In 1967, Dr. Hugh M. Gloster became the seventh president. The following year, the college's Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society was founded. In 1975, Dr. Gloster established the Morehouse School of Medicine, which became independent from Morehouse College in 1981. Gloster also established a dual-degree program in engineering with the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan and Boston University.^[9]

Modern history

Dr. Leroy Keith, Jr., was named president in 1987. In 1995, alumnus Dr. Walter E. Massey, became Morehouse's ninth president. His successor, Dr. Robert Michael Franklin is the tenth president of the college.

In 2006, Morehouse graduated 540 men, one of the largest classes in its history.^[10] On May 16, 2008, Joshua Packwood became the first white valedictorian to graduate in the school's 141-year history.^[11][12] In August 2008, Morehouse welcomed a total of 920 new students (770 freshmen and 150 transfer students) to its campus, one of the largest entering classes in the history of the school.^[13]

Administration and organization

Although Morehouse's official sister school, Bennett College, is located in Greensboro, North Carolina, the institution is physically located and socially intertwined closest with Spelman College, often considered the sister school. Morehouse and Spelman colleges have strong historical ties to each other: many Morehouse Men and Spelman Women intermarry by tradition.

Campus

Morehouse is located on a 61 acres (25 ha) campus near downtown Atlanta.^[6] The campus does not have a comprehensive sustainability program, but does operate recycling programs for paper, toner and ink jet printer cartridges.^[14]

Buildings

• Archer Hall, named after the fifth president of Morehouse College, holds the college's recreational facilities such as its gymnasium, swimming pool, and game room. The gymnasium seats 1000 people and was used by the college's basketball team before the Forbes Arena was built.
• B.T Harvey Stadium/Edwin Moses Track is a 9000 capacity seat stadium built in 1983. At the time of its completion, it was the largest on-campus black private stadium in the nation ^[15]
• Brawley Hall, named after Benjamin Griffith Brawley, houses the college's History, English, Language, Music, and Art departments.
• Brazeal Hall is a dormitory built in 1991. It housed athletes during the time of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Brazeal Hall originally housed upperclassmen, though it currently serves as a freshmen dorm.
• Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Music Academic Building. A $20-million, 76,000-square-foot (7,100 m²) facility—located at the edge of the historic West End district at the corner of Joseph P. Lowery and West End Avenue dedicated on September 29, 2010.^[16]
• Chivers Hall/Lane Hall is the cafeteria of the college. It seats 600 people and is attached to Mays Hall. The Sadie Mays lounge, named for the wife of Dr. Mays, connects Mays Hall and Chivers Hall.
• Dansby Hall houses the school's Physics, Psychology, and Mathematics departments.
• Douglass Hall (also known as LRC (Learning Resource Center)) was originally built as the school's student center but today houses the college archives and a computer lab.
• DuBois Hall is a freshman dorm erected in 1973, named after philosopher W. E. B. Du Bois.
• Forbes Arena is a 5,700 capacity seat arena, built for the 1996 Olympic Games. It is now the main gymnasium for the college's basketball team and holds many events year round.
• Graves Hall, named after the second president of Morehouse College, is an honors dormitory. When constructed in the 1880s, it was the tallest building in Atlanta. When the college relocated to the West End area, student housing, classrooms, and administration offices were all contained within the building.

• Hope Hall was named after John Hope, the fourth president of Morehouse College. When erected, it was known as the Science Building, then later the Biology Building. Through the years, the building became too small for classroom use and now holds laboratories for departments that are in other buildings. Hope Hall includes the offices of the Public Health Sciences Institute.
• Hubert Hall is a freshman dorm named after Charles D. Hubert, who was an acting president from 1938 to 1940.
• Kilgore Campus Center houses administrative offices, as well as several seminar rooms and lounges. A separate area of the building serves as a dormitory. Archer Hall, B.T. Harvey Stadium, and the exterior of Graves Hall are featured in the Spike Lee film School Daze.
• Leadership Center houses the Business Administration and Economics departments as well as other offices. It also has a 500-seat auditorium. The building was completed in 2005.
• Living Learning Center (LLC) was formerly known as Thurman Hall). It is one of the school's freshman dorms.
• Martin Luther King International Chapel/Gloster Hall was built in 1978 as the new auditorium and administration building for Morehouse College, replacing Sale and Harkness halls (Harkness is now a Clark Atlanta University structure). It is home to the Gandhi–King–Ikeda Reconciliation Institute.

• Mays Hall was named after the sixth president of Morehouse College, Benjamin Mays. It houses dorm rooms and is the headquarters for residence life for the college.
• Merrill Hall, named after Charles E. Merrill Jr., a chairman of the college's Board of Trustees, became the Chemistry building. The 2000s (decade) saw Merrill Hall undergo a renovation that doubled its size. Its new corridor is called John Hopps Technology Tower, which houses the Computer Science department.
• Nabrit-Mapp-McBay Hall was erected in 1987. The building is also known as Bio-Chem from a plaque at the corridor stating that the building was built to house the Biology and Chemistry classrooms. It now holds the Biology department. It was named for distinguished science professors Samuel M. Nabrit, Frederick Mapp, and Henry McBay.
• Otis Moss Jr. Residential Suites are apartment, studio, and suite dwellings built in 2003. The Suites were renamed in spring 2006, after Otis Moss Jr. (class of 1956), former chair of Morehouse's Board of Trustees.
• Perdue Hall is a dormitory built around the time of the 1996 Summer Olympics. It housed athletes during the 1996 Olympic events.
• Robert Hall, named after Joseph T. Robert, the first president of the college, was erected to be the first dormitory of the college. When built, there was a cafeteria in its basement. Today the basement houses a post office.
• Sale Hall, named after the third president, was built to contain classrooms. Today, it is the department building for religion and philosophy courses. On the second floor, a small auditorium, called the Chapel of the Inward Journey, was used for religious and commencement proceedings. Today, the chapel is still used for recitals, pageants, and student government association election debates.
• Wheeler Hall is a building used primarily by the Political Science and Sociology departments.
• White Hall is a freshman dorm, named after the college's founder.

Monuments

A bronze statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. stands to the left of King Chapel. Inscribed in the base of the statue are the words of Dr. King. Several previous presidents of the college have grave sites on-campus to honor their legacies.

• A statue of Benjamin Mays stands atop a marble monument sited in front of Graves Hall. This monument marks the graves of President Mays and his wife, Sadie Mays. Behind the graves are memoirs and a time capsule set to be opened in May 2095.
• Former president Hugh Gloster is buried in the eastern lawn of the building named after him.
• An obelisk named in honor of Howard Thurman stands to the right of King Chapel. The base of the Thurman Obelisk contains the ashes of Dr. Thurman and his wife. The obelisk also houses a bell which chimes every hour to the tune of "Dear Old Morehouse", the school's alma mater.

Academics

Morehouse College is accredited by the Commission and Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. Students may choose from over 26 majors and may participate in the Morehouse College Honors Program which is a four-year comprehensive program providing special learning opportunities for students of outstanding intellectual ability, high motivation, and broad interests.

In 2008, the student body consisted of 2,500 black-non-Hispanic, 66 non-resident aliens, 9 Hispanics, 7 white-non-Hispanics, 4 native Americans, and 21 unidentified race or ethnicity.^[17] On average, at graduation, 97% of graduates are offered two or more jobs by Fortune 500 companies, private companies, or attend post-graduate education. Morehouse College has received considerable attention as an outstanding national leader among liberal arts colleges from an array of media and ranking agencies. CNN quoted Sterling Hudson, the dean of admissions, as saying, "We're not aggressively pursuing white students, but like every other college, we're interested in diversity. So, if a white student becomes interested in Morehouse - of course we are going to treat him like any other student."^[18]

Morehouse sponsors "Project Identity," a federally-funded program to stimulate interest among high school students to attend college. Project Identity conducts Saturday and summer programs for high school students to give minority students exposure to college academic life.^[19]

High School juniors in the Atlanta area may gain admission into Morehouse's Joint Enrollment program which allows a high school senior to enroll in Morehouse classes and earn credits toward both a Morehouse degree as well as a high school diploma.^[20]

Rankings

• • Morehouse was named the nation's # 1 Liberal Arts College in 2010 by The Washington Monthly in an annual ranking of America's Best Liberal Arts Colleges.^[21]
  • Morehouse was ranked #127 of the best National Liberal Arts Colleges in the U.S. News 2011 Report.^[22]
  • Morehouse is also one of only four historically black colleges ranked in the Top tier among the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges according to the U.S. News and World Reports 2011 rankings.
  • In 2010, according to the Huffington Post, Morehouse ranks among America's Most Grueling Colleges.^[23]
  • Morehouse was ranked # 1 three times in a row (2002–2004) as the best school for African Americans for undergraduate study by Black Enterprise magazine.^[24]
  • In a 2003 study, Morehouse was ranked # 29 by The Wall Street Journal as being one of the "Top 50 Feeder Schools" for elite graduate and professional schools .^[25][26]
  • According to a 2007 joint publication by Newsweek and Kaplan, Inc., Morehouse College was one of the "25 Hottest Schools in America" and the "Hottest Men's College".^[27]
  • Newsweek ranks Morehouse among the nation's Best Colleges for the Service Minded.
  • In addition to the above rankings, in 2009 and 2010, the U.S. News reported that America's high school College Counselors ranked Morehouse College # 68 among the Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the Nation for their students.^[28]
  • In 2008, Morehouse College was listed among 10 Great Schools for Networking by Forbes magazine.^[29]

Library and collections

Morehouse College, along with other members of the Atlanta University Center, share the Robert W. Woodruff Library.^[30]

Morehouse College is home to a 7,000-piece collection of original documents written by Martin Luther King, Jr. (referred to as the King Collection). The set was valued by the Library of Congress as being worth between $28 to $30 million dollars and was originally scheduled by his family to be auctioned off to the general public in 2006, but private donors in Atlanta intervened and offered a pre-auction bid at $32 million. On June 29, it was announced by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, a key catalyst in the buyout, that a new civil rights museum would be built in the city to make the documents available for research, public access and exhibits. Coca Cola donated a land parcel valued at $10 million in order to assist with the development of the project. The collection includes King's 1964 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.^{[31][32][33][34]}

Student life

Regulation of student conduct

In October 2009, Morehouse College initiated a student dress code that prohibits wearing women's clothes, jewelry on their teeth, pajamas as classroom attire, tight fitting caps or bandannas on their heads, or pants which hang below the waist at official college-sponsored events. This dress code is part of the Five Wells which holds that, "Morehouse Men are Renaissance Men with a social conscience and global perspective who are: Well-Read, Well-Spoken, Well-Traveled, Well-Dressed and Well-Balanced."^[35] Dr. William Bynum, vice president for Student Services was quoted by CNN as saying, "We are talking about five students who are living a gay lifestyle that is leading them to dress [in] a way we do not expect in Morehouse men."^[36] These remarks and the dress code itself have been the source of great controversy both on and off the campus. They eventually led to President Franklin having to personally send out an email to the schools' alumni, clarifying and stressing that the university's new dress policy is not intended as an affront to gays.^[37]

Activities

Morehouse College offers organized and informal co-curricular activities including 78 student organizations, varsity, club, and intramural sports, and student publications.^[38] Perhaps among the most notable of Morehouse's current students is Stephen Stafford II, a home-schooled student who matriculated at age 11 and is scheduled to graduate when he turns 16 in 2012.^[39]

Morehouse Marching Band

The Morehouse College Marching Band is known for their halftime performances which combine dance and marching with music from various genres, including rap, traditional marching band music, and pop music. They have performed at Super Bowl XVIII, the Today Show, and at Atlanta Falcons home games. Affectionately known as the "House of Funk" they march alongside the Maroon Mystique Color guard (flag spinning) squad and Mahogany-N-Motion dance team.

Mock Trial Association

In 2005, Morehouse College became a member of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA).^[40] The school is one of only four competing teams to come from a historically black college and is also the only all-male team in the AMTA.

From 2006 to 2010, Morehouse consecutively won their regional championship competitions, and thus received direct trips to the AMTA national championship competitions in Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota.^[41]

Glee Club

Founded in 1911, the Morehouse College Glee Club has a long and impressive history. The Glee Club performed at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral, President Jimmy Carter's inauguration, the Super Bowl XXVIII, and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The Glee Club's international performances include tours in Africa, Russia, Poland and the Caribbean. The group also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie School Daze, directed by notable Morehouse alum (c/o 1979), Spike Lee.

Debate Team

Recently, the Morehouse debate team won the 2011 Georgia Parliamentary Debate Association state tournament. Four of the members (Austin Williams, Chris Fortson-Gaines, Kevin Porter, and Franklin Kwame Weldon) participated in an exhibition with Howard University for the Nation's classic in 2011.

The Maroon Tiger

The college's weekly student-run newspaper is The Maroon Tiger. Originally founded in 1898 as The Athenaeum, it was renamed in 1925. American poet and writer Thomas Dent was a contributor while he attended from 1948–1952,^[42] as was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The 2008–2009 staff sought to expand the newspaper into a news organization by creating Morehouse's first television news program, Tiger TV, and advancing online news coverage.

National fraternities and honor societies

Morehouse College has chapters of several national fraternities and honor societies:

NPHC

• Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity (Alpha Rho chapter)
• Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity (Pi chapter)
• Omega Psi Phi fraternity (Psi chapter)
• Phi Beta Sigma fraternity (Chi Chapter)
• Iota Phi Theta Fraternity (Alpha Pi chapter)

Fellowship

• The Tiger 6 Chapter of Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship,Inc.

Honor Societies

• Phi Beta Kappa (Delta of Georgia chapter)
• Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
• Phi Alpha Delta
• Kappa Kappa Psi
• Alpha Kappa Delta
• Beta Gamma Sigma
• Beta Kappa Chi
• Omicron Delta Epsilon (Iota of Georgia)
• Omicron Delta Kappa
• Golden Key International Honour Society
• National Society of Collegiate Scholars
• Phi Alpha Theta
• Pi Delta Phi
• Pi Sigma Alpha
• Psi Chi
• Sigma Delta Pi
• Sigma Tau Delta^[38]
• Alpha Lambda Delta

Religious organizations

Campus religious organizations include the Atlanta University Center Catholic Student Coalition, King International Chapel Ministry, Martin Luther King International Chapel Assistants, King Chapel Choir, Muslim Students Association, New Life Inspirational Fellowship Church Campus Ministry, and The Outlet.^[38]

Athletics

In sports, Morehouse College is affiliated with the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II. The mascot is the Maroon Tiger. Morehouse College competes in football, baseball, basketball, cross country, tennis, track & field and golf.

The Morehouse swim team is called the Tigersharks. From 1958 till 1976 the swim team had 255 wins and only 25 losses, with over 15 SIAC championships, making it the most winning sports team in Morehouse history.^[43] It beat Emory University and Georgia Tech in dual meets in different seasons. The team also appeared in Jet and Ebony magazines, Black Sports, and Sports Illustrated throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and is presently being considered as honorary inductees into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Actor Samuel L. Jackson was once the team statistician and apprentice swimmer. Some of the swimmers had competed in NCAA and NAIA competition at various times throughout the team's history. The team was disestablished in 1976, and the funds were transferred to build the Morehouse School of Medicine, which separated from Morehouse in 1981.^[44] During the years of 1966 to 1970, their star butterfly swimmer was Bobby Garcia, now filmmaker Robert G. Christie (IMBD.com). His film, The Sobbing Stone, was nominated Best Feature Drama at the Sabaoth International Film Festival in Milan, Italy in 2006. He is now writing a screenplay of his years at Morehouse, soon to be made into a major motion picture.

Notable alumni

Morehouse alumni include notable African-Americans such as: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., businessman and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, Theologian Howard Thurman, filmmaker Spike Lee, filmmaker Robert G. Christie (a.k.a. Bobby Garcia), actor Samuel L. Jackson, Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, former Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta Maynard Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, former United States Surgeon General David Satcher, and also include: United States Court of Appeals judges, United States Ambassadors, university presidents, Ivy League professors and Wall Street executives, among others.

Morehouse is also one of two historically black colleges in the country to produce a Rhodes Scholar. The school's first Rhodes Scholar, Nima Warfield, was named in 1994, the second, Christopher Elders, in 2001.^[45] A third, Oluwabusayo "Topé" Folarin, was named in 2004. Morehouse has been home to seven Fulbright Scholars, Damon M. Lombard (1995), John Thomas (2004), Jason T. Garrett (2006), Morgan C. Williams, Jr. (2006), Lasean Brown (2008), Eric R. Baylor (2008) and Wendell H. Marsh (2009).^[46][47]

Since 1999, Morehouse has produced five Marshall Scholars, five Luce Scholars, four Watson Fellows and 2010 White House Fellow, Erich Caulfield.^[48][49] Previous Watson Fellows include, Craig Marberry '81, Kenneth Flowers '83 and Lynn P. Harrison III '79.

Notes

References

• Addie Louise Joyner Butler, The Distinctive Black College: Talladega, Tuskegee, and Morehouse (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1977).
• Leroy Davis, A Clashing of the Soul: John Hope and the Dilemma of African American Leadership and Black Higher Education in the Early Twentieth Century (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1998).
• Edward A. Jones, A Candle in the Dark: A History of Morehouse College (Valley Forge, Pa.: Judson Press, 1967). Moss Kendrix, P.R icon

External links

• Official Morehouse College Website
• Atlanta University Center Website
• Official Morehouse College Glee Club Website
• The Maroon Tiger Student Newspaper