Morehouse College News

Institutional Advancement * Division of Communications * 830 Westview Drive, S.W. n Atlanta, Georgia 30314

ATLANTA, Sept. 13, 2000 - As Morehouse College officially begins the new school year at 11 a.m. Thursday with the Opening Convocation, an enthusiasm blankets the campus among faculty and students with the return of a divisional structure first established in 1968. This also marks the College's move toward increasing multidisciplinary education opportunities.

Dr. Calvin Grimes '62 has been named dean of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences; Dr. J.K. Haynes '64 is dean of the Division of Science and Mathematics; and Dr. John Williams '69 is dean of the Division of Business and Economics.

"With roughly 1,000 majors in each division, the divisional structure will make it easier to assemble students for the kinds of common learning experiences that distinguish a small liberal arts college," said Dr. Willis B. Sheftall Jr., Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. "By bringing together related programs of study, the divisional structure will also facilitate closer interactions between a student and his teachers and mentors as well as other students from various departments who have similar academic and/or career interests. In the final analysis the division structure will strengthen the bond between students and the College."

One of the main reasons for activating the division structure was to also foster more cooperation among faculty members from a variety of disciplines in the development of curriculum and research initiatives, said Dr. Sheftall. "This increased emphasis on
interdisciplinary efforts is a rather natural response to the recognition that not all of the phenomena and problems in the real world fall neatly into our discipline-based categories of expertise." The Environmental Studies, Neuroscience and Telecommunications programs are three new examples.

The new deans will be formally introduced to the campus at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel during Opening Convocation.

"Hopefully, this will be a beginning for the students to view their relationships with interdepartmental efforts, and relate their own major to others," said Dr. Calvin Grimes, who is the former chairman of the music department. "Medical schools often hire religious leaders and others in the humanities out of their concerns with human, ethical, and moral development."

"The role of dean is a little different from that of my previous position," said Dr. John Williams, former economics and business chairman, and now dean of the Division of Economics and Business. "We have to serve as ambassadors for the College. Travel on behalf of the College requires that I'm away from the campus on average one day per week, to interact with accreditation bodies, academic societies and corporate senior management who are interested in providing financial support to our program."

Dr. J.K. Haynes, the former chairman of the Biology Department, said this is also sending a signal to the faculty to assume more ownership in planning the direction of the College. "When Dr. Sheftall and I were students, there was a student to faculty ratio of 11-1. By breaking the College down into smaller units, we will return to a time of closer interaction between faculty and students. Both ideas represent important reforms."

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 curriculum, 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; Nima A. Warfield, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from an historically black college or university; and Dr. Louis Sullivan, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

# # #

Media Contact:

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