TABLE OF CONTENTS The Black Ink Project 1 Building Upon A Morehouse Tradition 3 Writing Proficiency Leads To Opportunity 5 Morehouse QEP Development 7 Goals & Outcomes 9 Goal 1: Student Learning Outcomes 10 Goal 2: Student Learning Outcomes 15 Goal 3: Faculty Development Outcomes 16 Goal 4: Research Outcomes 17 The Black Ink Project in Action 21 Curriculum Components 24 Faculty Development 25 Timeline 26 Administration & Staffing 27 Resources & Budget 27 Assessment & Evaluation 27 Morehouse College Sankofa "Learning from the past... to shape the future" Adinkra Symbol THE BLACK INK PROJECT Students will immerse themselves in the writing process at every stage of their educational experience through writing topics related to Black Life, History, and Culture. GOAL Provide students with numerous opportunities to engage in writing ONE activities that improve their written communication skills throughout their matriculation at the College. GOAL Facilitate student exploration and selection of writing topics related to TWO Black Life, History, and Culture (BLHAC) in First Year Experience, General Education, and discipline-specific courses. GOAL Provide opportunities for faculty development in teaching and assessment THREE strategies to facilitate improvements in student writing and use of BLHAC topics. GOAL Morehouse College will become known for producing research on FOUR undergraduate Black males’ writing and writing pedagogy, particularly on the use of culturally relevant topics in the writing process. Morehouse College The overarching goal of The Black Ink Morehouse College has a strong record of Project is to increase the writing proficiency preparing students to meet the challenges of of students. As part of Morehouse College’s each decade of its 151-year history; yet, there Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), The Black Ink is evidence that the College must do more to Project will provide them with opportunities to enhance student outcomes and prepare highly immerse themselves in the writing process at trained and skilled leaders who are steeped in a every stage of their educational experience at the strong liberal arts tradition. College—from General Education and First Year Experience courses to the senior-level writing Morehouse currently enrolls approximately 2,200 assignments in the disciplines. This goal, which is students and will work to increase enrollment consistent with the tradition of articulate servant to 2,600 within five years. The College’s new leadership for which Morehouse Men are known, president, Dr. David A. Thomas, has set an will be informed and facilitated through students’ ambitious goal for the graduating class of 2022 to selection of writing topics related to Black Life, have at least a 70% graduation rate. Investment History, and Culture (BLHAC). Key to the success in a writing program and center is a critical of this plan will be the preparation of faculty, component that will net great returns and allow equipping them with the knowledge of culturally us to enhance outcomes related to retention, relevant pedagogy and strategies for teaching persistence and graduation rates. The Black and assessing writing skills across the curriculum Ink Project writing program and center will and within disciplines. The project emphasizes help the College to meet the strategic goals of assessment and use of results to inform strategies enhanced recruitment and admissions, increased for improving student writing over time. This persistence toward degree, and improved four focused assessment process over the five-year and six-year graduation rates. period of the QEP will also contribute to building and strengthening a culture of assessment at Morehouse College. Morehouse College 2 BUILDING UPON The mission of Morehouse College is to develop men with disciplined minds who A MOREHOUSE TRADITION will lead lives of leadership and service. A private historically black liberal arts Morehouse College has a proud tradition college for men, Morehouse realizes this of producing articulate servant-leaders mission by emphasizing the intellectual who not only have enriched black life and and character development of its students. culture, but also American society. In addition, the College assumes special responsibility for teaching the history and culture of black people. Founded in 1867 and located in Atlanta, Georgia, Morehouse is an academic community dedicated to teaching, scholarship, and service, and the continuing search for truth as a liberating force. As such, the College offers instructional programs in three divisions—Business and Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Mathematics—as well as extracurricular activities that: • Develop skills in oral and written communications, analytical and Morehouse College has a strong record of critical thinking, and interpersonal preparing students to meet the challenges of relationships each decade of its 151-year history; yet, there is evidence that the College must reaffirm • Foster an understanding and its mission and do more to enhance student appreciation of world cultures, artistic outcomes and prepare highly trained and skilled leaders who are steeped in a strong liberal arts and creative expression, and the nature tradition. of the physical universe The Black Ink Project merges two aspects of • Promote understanding and Morehouse College’s mission into one project. appreciation of the specific knowledge The most relevant mission-related project goals and skills needed for the pursuit of are: professional careers and/or graduate • The College seeks to “develop skills in study ...written communications, analytical and critical thinking.” • Cultivate the personal attributes of self-confidence, tolerance, morality, • Morehouse “assumes a special responsibility ethical behavior, spirituality, humility, a for teaching the history and culture of black global perspective, and a commitment people.” to social justice The Black Ink Project will train faculty from all departments and disciplines to use best practices in teaching writing skills. Moreover, they will 3 learn strategies to assist students in using Professor Benjamin Brawley '01 BLHAC topics to inform their writing and wrote History of Morehouse (1917) facilitate improvement. Morehouse students 1901 and A Short History of the American choose to attend this institution for a Negro (1921) reason. Our students are seeking to become articulate and impactful servant leaders consciously aware of and empowered by their connection to the Black Experience. The Howard Thurman '23 writings of some Morehouse Men have even 1923 was an internationally had a global impact. For example: renowned theologian, mystic, and author. Past Morehouse President Dr. Hugh Gloster '31 Howard Thurman's most famous 1931 wrote Negro Voices in book, Jesus and the Disinherited American Fiction (1948). (1949), informed the activism of Martin Luther King, Jr. '48, Civil Rights icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner. King himself wrote many 1948 books and delivered the “I Have a Lerone Bennett '49 was Executive Dream” speech, selected in 1999 as Editor of Ebony magazine for many the 20th Century’s Greatest Speech. 1949 years, and also wrote the ground- breaking history text Before the Mayflower (1962). Shelton “Spike” Lee '79 is an Oscar-nominated 1979 screenwriter. Corey Richardson '01 wrote a Panama Jackson '01 children’s book We Used to Have 2001 is Co-founder of Money and Now We Have You (2018). VerySmartBrothas blog. Shaun King '02 is an activist with Black Lives Matter and blogger. 2002 2005 Ben Cory Jones '05 writes for HBO’s Insecure. Mark Anthony Green '10 earned the role of GQ’s Style Guy with regular columns and 2010 articles before he was 30. 4 WRITING PROFICIENCY requires them to write an essay that responds to an academic topic. This practice reflects the LEADS TO OPPORTUNITY College’s longstanding commitment to improving the writing abilities of Black males. In the 21st No matter what path or career the student century, this need is more evident than ever chooses after graduation (as a scholar, before. No matter what field the student chooses, educator, health practitioner, preacher, during his time here, he will use/need writing to think, analyze, investigate, and create. And entrepreneur, artist, lawyer, engineer, or no matter what path or career he chooses activist), he will use writing to propose, to after graduation, he will use writing for those investigate, to analyze, and to represent purposes and others: to propose, to investigate, himself and his work. to analyze, and to represent himself and his work. Mastery of such skills as oral and written The College recognizes that the change that communication have facilitated the success of we seek in retention and graduation rates Morehouse Men over time—a number of whom can only be obtained through intense and have distinguished themselves as great leaders, in meaningful academic programs and systems of large measure, because they have also been great student support. The General Education reform communicators. initiative is underway with attention to the A 2014 Symposium on Writing at HBCUs acquisitions of basic skills, of which writing is spotlighted the needs of writing program key. Simultaneously, as the College undergoes administrators, composition teachers and faculty reaccreditation, the faculty consensus was to who use writing in the classroom at these special center its QEP in writing. The QEP is a planning mission institutions. We believe Morehouse exercise in