Morehouse College News

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

ATLANTA, Feb. 13, 2001 — Morehouse College President Walter E. Massey will moderate a panel discussion as part of the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education's Conference “Advancing Student Achievement: Higher Education Collaborations with Public Schools” on Feb. 21 at the Loudermilk Center for the Regional Community in downtown Atlanta.

Dr. Massey, the former director of the National Science Foundation, the government's lead agency for support of research and education in mathematics, science and engineering, will moderate a panel entitled “Enhancing Students' Preparedness for College in Math and Science.”

“The Consortium's conference will include the premier educators representing this area and the country,” said Dr. Massey. “Morehouse is committed to preparing young men to advance their own educational interests, increasing the number of African-American Ph.Ds, as well as increasing the number of African-American male educators in our nation's school systems.”

The conference opens with several key educational policy makers offering their perspectives on higher education's role in public school student achievement. Six concurrent panels follow with college and public school representatives addressing ways in which collaborative programs help students. Topics include: use of technology in the classroom, alternative teacher certification methods, professional development of teachers and administrators, student preparedness for college — particularly in math/science, and early learning's role in student performance.

Georgia Gov. Roy E. Barnes will provide the keynote address at the concluding luncheon. Morehouse College has two programs that will be highlighted during the conference. The Coca-Cola Pre-College Leadership Program exposes male high school students to the competencies, skills and behaviors needed for ethical leadership in the 21st century. The Center of Excellence in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics integrates the science, mathematics and engineering academics departments in an effort to address the under-representation of African Americans in these fields. That Center's pre-college program has four components, including the Pipeline, an intensive four-year program of activities for students completing the eighth grade designed to stimulate interest in careers in the mathematics, sciences and engineering fields. During the summers, students participate in an organized set of courses, seminars, meetings and field trips and research activities.

Ranked the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by  Black Enterprise magazine, Morehouse College is the nation's largest 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; 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