Morehouse College

Coordinates: 33°44′48″N 84°24′55″W / 33.74667°N 84.41528°W / 33.74667; -84.41528

Morehouse College
The academic seal of Morehouse College
Motto	"Et Facta Est Lux" (Latin: "And there was light")[1]
Endowment	130 Million [2]
President	Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr[3]
Students	2,100
Location	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Campus	61 acres (25 ha), Urban[4]
Former names	Atlanta Baptist Seminary, Atlanta Baptist College
Colors	Maroon & White
Athletics	NCAA Division II[5]
Sports	football baseball basketball cross country tennis track & field golf
Nickname	Maroon Tigers[5]
Mascot	The Maroon Tiger
Affiliations	Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference[5]
Website	www.morehouse.edu

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

The mission of Morehouse College is to develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service. A private historically black liberal arts college for men, Morehouse realizes this mission by emphasizing the intellectual and character development of its students. In addition, the College assumes special responsibility for teaching the history and culture of black people.

Morehouse has a 61-acre (250,000 m²) campus and an enrollment of approximately 2,100 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..

History

Establishment

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.^[6] 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.^[6][7] 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.^[6] 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, 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. The school of medicine welcomed two dozen students to its single building on the Morehouse campus. Gloster also established a dual-degree program in engineering with three other universities.^[8]

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 was the tenth president of the College. In November 2012, Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr., an alumnus of Morehouse College, was announced as the institution's 11th president.^[9]

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]

Morehouse celebrated several historic milestones in 2013. 100 years ago, in 1913, Atlanta Baptist College was renamed Morehouse College after Henry Lyman Morehouse, corresponding secretary for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. 2013 is also the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, when Morehouse graduate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., class of 1948, delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C. The year also marks the 50th anniversary of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." The College also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the "A Candle in the Dark" Gala, which honors some of the world's leaders and raises scholarship funds for Morehouse students.

In May 2013, President Barack Obama became the first sitting president in three quarters of a century to deliver a commencement address in Georgia when he took part in Morehouse College's 129th Commencement ceremony. Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a summer commencement address at the University of Georgia in 1938. President Obama received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the College.^[14]

Administration and organization

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 but it is not. The two schools socially intertwine in events with the agreement of Bennett College. Bennett College for Women and Morehouse College are Brother and Sister institutions via the close and historic friendship of Bennett College for Women President Dr. David Dallas Jones and Morehouse College President Dr. Benjamin E. Mays. Spelman College represents Bennett College in various events. Morehouse and Spelman colleges have strong historical ties to each other: many Morehouse Men and Spelman Women intermarry by tradition.^{[citation needed]}

Campus

Morehouse is located on a 61 acres (25 ha) campus near downtown Atlanta.^[4] The campus does not have a comprehensive sustainability program, but does operate recycling programs for paper, toner and ink jet printer cartridges.^[15]

Buildings

Graves Hall, Century Campus, and Mays' Tomb.

• 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 1,000 people and was used by the College's basketball team before Franklin Forbes Arena was built.
• B.T Harvey Stadium/Edwin Moses Track is a 9,000-seat stadium built in 1983. At the time of its completion, it was the largest on-campus stadium at any private HBCU in the nation ^[16]
• 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 is a 76,000-square-foot (7,100 m²) facility dedicated on September 29, 2010.^[17]
• 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.

Kilgore Campus Center.

• 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.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.

Historic Chapel Bell outside of Sale Hall.

• 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 residences hall 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 College's first residence hall. 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 residence hall, named after the College's founder.

Monuments

Obelisk in front of King Chapel dedicated to Howard Thurman, world famous theologian and civil rights leader.

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 College'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.^[18] 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 former dean of admissions, as saying, "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."^[19]

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.^[20]

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.^[21]

Division of Business Administration & Economics

Division of Humanities & Social Science

Division of Science & Mathematics

Historically black colleges and universities, which grant bachelor's degrees to 30 percent of the African Americans who pursue majors in science and engineering, continue to play a critical role in this regard. Since the 1989-90 academic year, the number of degrees awarded by the member institutions of The College Fund/UNCF have increased 64 percent in biology, 39 percent in mathematics, and 31 percent in physics and chemistry. At Morehouse College, more than 1/3 of our graduates are in science and engineering. And, last year at Morehouse, we received federal support to establish a Center of Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education. The Center's mission is to increase the number of underrepresented groups pursuing careers in science, mathematics and engineering by providing scholarships and recruiting male and female high school students to participate in intensive summer programs, and by providing professional development activities and research experiences for public high school teachers.

Rankings

• • Morehouse was ranked #2 among the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the U.S. News & World Report 2014 rankings.^[22]
  • Morehouse was ranked #127 of the best National Liberal Arts Colleges in the U.S. News 2011 Report.^[23]
  • 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.^[24]
  • 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.^[25]
  • 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 .^[26][27]
  • 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".^[28]
  • 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.^[29]
  • In 2008, Morehouse College was listed among 10 Great Schools for Networking by Forbes magazine.^[30]
  • A 2008 National Science Foundation study found that of over 3,000 colleges and universities in the U.S., Morehouse College was the fifth biggest producer of African Americans who eventually earned PhDs in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).^[31]
  • In 2011, Morehouse received a rare grade of "A" for its overall core curriculum and was counted among the "hidden gems" in the What Will They Learn?™ project conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.^[32]

Library and collections

Morehouse College, along with other members of the Atlanta University Center, share the Robert W. Woodruff Library.^[33]

Morehouse College is home to a 10,000-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 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.^{[34][35][36][37]}

Student life

Regulation of student conduct

In October 2009, Morehouse College initiated a campus wide attire policy 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."^[38] 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."^[39] These remarks and the attire policy itself have been the source of great controversy both on and off the campus. President Franklin personally sent out an email to the schools' alumni, clarifying that the university's attire policy is not intended as an affront to gays.^[40]

Activities

Morehouse College offers organized and informal co-curricular activities including 78 student organizations, varsity, club, and intramural sports, and student publications.^[41] 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.^[42]

Morehouse is a NCAA Division II school and competes in numerous sports, including football, baseball, basketball, cross country, and track & field. They also offer club and intramural sports and over 75 student organizations and activities.

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. They gave the halftime show during the 2013 NCAA Men's National Championship basketball game. 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

2005–2006 Morehouse College Mock Trial Team after it obtained an "Honorable Mention" award in their first appearance at the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament in 2006

In 2005, Morehouse College became a member of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA).^[43] 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.^[44]

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. Most recently, the Morehouse College Glee Club was invited to perform at the ABCUSA 2011 Conference in Puerto Rico. Also, the glee club studio-recorded a song for Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer" entitled Zachary and the Scaly-Bark Tree.

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 to 1952,^[45] 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 (Grand 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
• Chi Alpha Epsilon
• Omicron Delta Epsilon (Iota of Georgia)
• Omicron Delta Kappa

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.^[41]

Athletics

Morehouse Tigers athletics logo

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.^[46] 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, ^{[citation needed]} which separated from Morehouse in 1981.^[47] 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

Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering "I Have a Dream" at the 1963 Washington, D.C. Civil Rights March.

Morehouse alumni include notable African-Americans such as: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., theologian Howard Thurman, businessman and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, filmmaker Spike Lee, filmmaker Robert G. Christie (a.k.a. Bobby Garcia), actor Samuel L. Jackson, Gang Starr rapper Guru, Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, Lloyd McNeill, Jazz flutist, USPS Kwanza Stamp designer, the first recipient of Howard University's MFA Degree, former Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta Maynard Jackson, Major League Baseball first baseman and 1969 World Series MVP Donn Clendenon, Lee Gregory Bryant, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, and former United States Surgeon General David Satcher.

According to Morehouse's own "About Us" page, Morehuse was the first historically black college to produce a Rhodes Scholar. The school's first Rhodes Scholar, Nima Warfield, was named in 1994, the second, Christopher Elders, in 2001.^[48] 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).^[49][50]

Since 1999, Morehouse has produced five Marshall Scholars, five Luce Scholars, four Watson Fellows and 2010 White House Fellow, Erich Caulfield.^[51][52] Previous Watson Fellows include, Craig Marberry '81, Kenneth Flowers '83 and Lynn P. Harrison III '79.

President Barack Obama holds an honorary doctorate of laws from Morehouse.^[14]

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Morehouse College.

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