Morehouse College

Commencement at Morehouse College is a time of tradition and celebration - but perhaps more so this year. Amid lamentations about the dearth of black men in higher education, Morehouse graduated its largest class ever - nearly 600 educated African American men. No other institution in the world can match this impressive number.

The 2006 valedictorian is Alan Clarke, a native of Andover, Mass. Clarke, who graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has deferred Harvard Law School for a year to participate in the Asia Pacific Leadership Program. The yearlong program is connected to the East West Center and is designed to acclimate international studies students with foreign policies in the Asian Pacific region.

From Tragedy to Triumph
Chaz Clark, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate, was the first high school student to receive the UNCF Liberty Scholarship and is the first scholarship recipient to receive a Morehouse degree. The UNCF Liberty Scholarship was founded in October 2001 for children of victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. His father, Benjamin Keefe Clark, was working as an executive chef for Fiduciary Trust's 250 employees on the 96th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower Clark on that fateful day. Clark will remain in Atlanta, where he will work for Price Waterhouse Cooper in the Internal Audit Division.

Student Finds Home at the ’House

As a teenager, Donald Washington Jr. was forced to live in several homeless shelters after the separation of his parents. Still somehow he found a way to pave the way for a future that would change his life. He was awarded a senatorial scholarship, which opened the door to higher education. Now the summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate is one of only five recipients of the prestigious Compton Mentor Fellowship, a $35,000 award offered to graduating seniors nominated by colleges invited by the Compton Foundation. Washington will conduct a project in Atlanta during the 2006-07 academic year titled "The Peacemakers: Redeem the Dream Youth Leadership Program."
Morehouse Boasts Two Fulbright Scholars

Morgan C. Williams Jr. ‘06 will conduct research on “The Economics of HIV/AIDS: Effectiveness/Cost-Effectiveness of Resource Allocation in the Republic of Mali.” The international studies and French major also will work as a technical consultant with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to the Executive Secretariat of the High Council on HIV/AIDS, under the office of the President of the Republic of Mali.

Jason T. Garrett ’06, a native of Hillside, N.J., will research the business and economic conditions of two distinct Afro-Ecuadorian communities. The business finance major has interned on Wall Street and sought to merge his financial skills with his Spanish-speaking abilities by studying abroad in Mexico and Costa Rica.