Inside A CAMPUS NEWSLETTER FOR FACULTY,MOREHOUSE STAFF AND STUDENTS MAY 2011 Price says HBCU grads do bet­ Meet members of the first African leaders talk about the Maroon Tigers spring sports ter in the labor market Renaissance Class continent's present and future teams win S1AC titles COMMENCEMENT/REUNION 2011 Ifill and Ogletree to Deliver Commencement Addresses our years ago during fall 2007, President Robert “With these two venerable change agents as Franklin ’75 returned to his alma mater to realize speakers, Morehouse continues to serve as a forum his vision of renaissance at Morehouse. At the for thought leaders and decision makers in the global Fsame time, approximately 500 young men entered themarketplace of ideas, and thereby honor the legacy of campus for the first as men of Morehouse. our esteemed former presidents, as well as the shared On May 15, Franklin and those same young men aspirations of our alumni, faculty, staff and support­ - or what many call “the Renaissance Class” - will ers,” Franklin said. celebrate a successful four years at Morehouse during Ifill and Morehouse trustee Billye Aaron will the College’s 127th Commencement ceremony. receive the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, The class of 2011 includes young men who while Ogletree and Morehouse College Board of will work on Wall Street, attend graduate schools Trustees chairman Willie “Flash” Davis ’56 will such as Stanford and Harvard, and work in their receive the honorary Doctor of Laws. communities. Frederick D. Haynes III, senior pastor of Charles Ogletree One of those graduates, Camron J. Yarber ’ll, will Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, will deliver the valedictory address as the top scholar. deliver the Baccalaureate address on May 13 in the Yarber, an accounting major, finishes at Morehouse Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. with a 4.0 grade point average. The weekend also will be a special one for More than 10,000 people will fill the Century alumni who return to campus for Reunion 2011. Campus as journalist Gwen Ifill and Harvard Law Activities include the Morehouse Commencement School professor Charles Ogletree both deliver com­ Golf Challenge on May 12, the Golden Tigers mencement addresses. Breakfast on May 13, as well as the President’s Ifill is a veteran political journalist and modera- Welcome Luncheon, the Rite of Passage Ceremony tor/managing editor of the PBS political roundtable and the Morehouse-Spelman Reception. May 14 talk show, “Washington Week” activities include the class agents meetings. Ogletree, who is also a veteran civil rights attorney, Baccalaureate service and the reunion banquet. ■ taught both President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at Harvard. See the Commencement/Reunion schedule on page 12. campaign period he wanted to STATE OF THE COLLEGE the future dominated the evening. Franklin said international build a new student center, see the Franklin's Goals Include Increasing Graduation Rate, Raising $125 Million financial research firms have Morehouse Male Initiative achieve downgraded Morehouse’s national stature and perhaps start BY ADD SEYMOUR JR. financial outlook from “stable” a new masters degree program in to “negative” because of the leadership studies. OVER THE NEXT SIX YEARS, the Morehouse College National tough fundraising climate and In the immediate future, President Robert M. Franklin ’75 Alumni Association and its drops in endowment and Franklin told alumni that the wants to see two-thirds of gradu­ Atlanta chapter. enrollment. College’s size and character would ates get advanced degrees, raise “We believe in Atlanta that an The College’s six-year, $125-mil- be the subject of conversations the overall graduation rate to 80 informed alumni body is an lion capital campaign will address among members of the Board of percent, explore starting a mas­ engaged alumni body,” said fundraising and endowment con­ Trustees. They will talk about ter’s degree program and, most Brandon Banks ’06, Atlanta chap­ cerns, though Morehouse’s endow­ whether the College should remain importantly, raise $125 million. ter president. ment (which is $120 million) is one a liberal arts institution or focus on “It’s time for Morehouse to Members of the president’s of only five HBCUs with more than pre-professional programs. step up,” Franklin said during his leadership team - vice presidents $100 million. They also will consider State of the College Address on Andre Bertrand ’76 (Campus Franklin also said the cam­ whether the student body should April 27 in the Bank of America Operations) and Phillip Howard paign, along with increased remain around 2,400 or be Auditorium. “It’s time for great­ ’87 (Institutional Advancement), alumni giving, will allow the increased to as many as 3,500. ness once again. We’ve already chief financial officer Gwen Sykes College to increase the number of Franklin challenged alumni to proven what we can do.” and provost Weldon Jackson ’72 - faculty-endowed chairs and raise be part of the “futuring” of Franklin outlined the College’s were on hand to answer questions the compensation level for facul­ Morehouse. challenges and plans during his from the audience. ty and staff. “This is what alums do at President Robert M. Franklin '75 speech, which was sponsored by But the President’s vision of The President said within the great colleges,” he said. ■ INSIDE MOREHOUSE. MAY 2011 MY WORD Inside Morehouse is about the people who make up the Morehouse RITE OF PASSAGE College community. 'They transform from Men of Morehouse and become Morehouse Men To tell those stories, and join the ranks of brothers who completed the journey before them' WE NEED YOU to send us your ideas, understand their new roles in The last phase, incorpora­ is ready to embrace all the comments and thoughts, society and serve as examples of tion, takes place when the par­ rights, responsibilities, expecta­ how people should be treated. ticipant formally begins their tions and privileges that along with your news, These rites of passage contain new role. This month, we cele­ accompany such a title. On information about your new three main phases: separation, brate this phase with graduation. that day, the institution cele­ books or publications and transition, and incorporation. In our Morehouse commu­ brates the maturation of young nity, we further celebrate the men who are now charged with your commentary for During separation, young people are taken away from transition of our students as changing the classrooms, sections like My Word. their familiar environment and they join the ranks of 15,000 courtrooms, churches and To send us your information, former role, forcing them to living alumni around the communities around them. contact Inside Morehouse adopt a very different, and world. Students go from being Howard Thurman, valedic­ sometimes foreign, routine they men of Morehouse to torian of the Morehouse class Editor Add Seymour Jr. at must become familiar with. Morehouse Men, joining the of 1923, once said, “Don’t ask [email protected] Here at Morehouse, that phase ranks of brothers who com­ what the world needs. Ask For more up-to-the minute is represented by our successful pleted the journey before them. what makes you come alive, New Student Orientation. Fittingly, the College’s com­ and go do it. Because what the information about academic The transition phase is the memoration of this point in world needs are people who departments, adminsitra- By DAMON PHILLIPS '96 time that these budding leaders their lives is our Rite of Passage have come alive.” tion, learn the appropriate behavior - the culmination of hours, The Rite of Passage cele­ here have always been rit­ for the new stage they are dollars and wisdom invested by brates new Morehouse Men athletics, registration, uals that signify a transi­ entering. This is the time when family, friends, alumni and coming alive. ■ financial aid, as well as tion from one stage in life they learn and grow and pre­ staff, all focused on the success the people and activities at to another. Nearly all societies pare to be an independent of the student. Damon Phillips ’96 is the associ­ recognize and often hold cere­ adult in the real world. Each The Rite of Passage is the ate director of Alumni Relations, Morehouse College, go to www.morehouse.edu monies to celebrate this change. day, our students do this introduction to the world of a Annual Giving Programs and These ceremonies help people through matriculation. new Morehouse alumnus who Special Events. 'It is never just about us, it is bigger than us' Inside MOREHOUSE By LYDIA A. WOODS But then 1 heard the announcer say, As we posed for a photo, 1 heard the voice “Lydia Woods, third place with a time of 36 of the Lord speak to me again: “You see, this stood in Hurt Park five years ago, nervous minutes.” Shocked, I shook my head. I felt thing is bigger than you.” I then realized that Director of Public Relations like an ant as I walked back toward my hus­ Toni O'Neal Mosley and excited. It was my first 5K road race, for next year, I would make it a requirement [email protected] the Downtown Dash for Diabetes. I was band holding my award. Then I heard the for all my activity classes. Inew to running. But I have type II diabetes small still voice of the Lord. He said softly to So at the beginning of this semester, I told Executive Editor and my donation would go to a good cause. me, “Keep running, do your best, be encour­ my students we would be competing in the Vickie G. Hampton You never realize how hilly downtown aged, I am with you.” That was March 2006, 2011 Downtown Dash for Diabetes 5K as a [email protected] Atlanta is until you have to run it.