Morehouse College News

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ATLANTA, GA, July 11, 2000 - The Morehouse Research Institute (MRI) will host its second annual Leadership and Life Skills Workshop July 16 through 22. Funded through a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Population Affairs/Office of Family Planning, the workshops will emphasize reproductive health in relation to leadership and life skills for 40 youth between 15 to 18.

The sessions will include discussions on interpersonal relationships, avoidance of drugs, school and study habits, and career choices. For seven days, the students from across the country will participate in lectures, group team building activities, and special events to help them develop skills that will enhance their abilities to contribute to the well being of themselves and their families and communities.

The MRI's Leadership and Life Skills Program was developed and implemented after discussions with officials from the Office of Family Planning, said Dr. Obie Clayton, director of MRI. "These discussions focused on research which suggests that a range of physiological, psychological, and social factors cause men to avoid seeking health care," said Clayton. "This health-seeking avoidance results in premature mortality, high morbidity rates and complicates relationships.

"The Leadership and Life Skills Workshop is designed to bring these issues to the male participants early in their lives with the hope that the information they receive will be shared with others both formally and informally," Clayton said.

The students participating in the workshop are from Title X Programs throughout the country and have been selected based on their community service and extracurricular activities at school. Upon completion of the program, participants will have a better understanding of male healthandthe responsibilities associated with interpersonal relationships and disease transmission.

One of the most distinguished institutions of higher education, Morehouse College is the nation's only historically black, private liberal arts college for men. Founded in 1867, the College enrolls approximately 3,000 students and confers bachelor's degrees on more black men than any other institution in the world. In addition to offering 36 majors in the humanities, natural and social sciences, Morehouse provides a number of programs and activities to enhance its challenging liberal arts program, including the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, the Morehouse Research Institute, and the Andrew Young Center for International Affairs.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Dr. David Satcher, U.S. Surgeon General; Sheldon "Spike" Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Maynard H. Jackson, president of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta; and Nima A. Warfield, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from an historically black college or university.

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Media Contact:

Thonnia Lee
404-215-2680
Tlee@Morehouse.edu