“We are ready to become the next business tycoons, world health leaders, music moguls, fashion trendsetters, progressive research scientists, social advocates, etc.,” he said during his address to more than 10,000 family, friends, faculty and staff. “We are ready to make Morehouse proud.”

His proud mother and father were already in tears.

“It’s exhilarating,” said Jamaji’s father, Sir Pamaji Nwanaji-Enwerem as his wife, Lady Chioma, beamed. “I’m so happy and proud of him and all the students graduating with him. It’s an enjoyable day.”

The sun-splashed day was even more special as President Robert M. Franklin ’75 gave his final Commencement address as Morehouse president. Franklin is stepping down in 2012 to focus on his writing and research on issues facing black boys and men.

“It’s been my greatest privilege to lead my alma mater during these critical years,” he said. “Through the worst economy of our lifetime, a renaissance has taken hold. Producing Renaissance Men with a social conscience in a hip-hop culture is an audacious adventure that must continue.

“Our disappointments have been few; our triumphs and achievements many, but I thank God and we [he and First Lady Dr. Cheryl G. Franklin] thank you for the opportunity and privilege to serve and to give our best,” Franklin said. “I want to thank all of my dedicated staff and the entire campus community. Thank you for making these years special.”

He told the graduates – who dubbed themselves “Franklin’s Men” – they could only earn the crown of service that the College holds above their heads if they “make a difference…No crown until you pick a big problem and go out and solve it. Then and only then can you return as these Golden Tigers and alumni to show us that you deserve the crown.”

Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy joined Elaine Tuttle Hansen, executive director of Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, and Econet Wireless founder and chairman Strive Masiyiwa in receiving honorary Doctors of Humane Letters. Each had a bit of advice for the graduates.

“Take time, make time while clamoring to the top to stop and reflect,” Hansen told the graduates.

“Perhaps you will make money along the way, but I know something,” Masiyiwa said. “If you reach out to meet the needs, you will wear the crown that we so eloquently heard about this afternoon.”

Cathy’s advice was short and to the point.

“A good name is more desirable than A LOT OF MONEY,” yelled the millionaire businessman to laughs.

To see video and photo from Commencement/Reunion Weekend, go to http://www.morehouse.edu/commencement/index.html

Making good on requests to “bring the fire” in his 2012 Morehouse Baccalaureate Service speech, the Rev. Al Sharpton urged the College’s nearly 500 graduating seniors to go out into the world and make a name for themselves.

“Tomorrow, you will become graduates of a great…respected institution,” he said to capacity audiences in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, the Bank of America Auditorium and the Executive Conference Center on May 19. “As people talk about the history of Morehouse and how it has produced great Morehouse Men, the issue before you is not the Morehouse Men of the past, but what you will interpret as the Morehouse Men of today...Make tomorrow the first of many times we call your name.”

Sharpton chastised, praised, sang and shouted to the delight of a crowd that rose and applauded several times as the veteran civil rights leader touched on the need to focus on issues such as the Trayvon Martin shooting, gay marriage and getting behind President Barack Obama’s re-election effort.

But his message was directed towards the class of 2012 and their responsibility as future global leaders.

“The challenge that you face is that you have to get us across the river -- the river where there is health care and equal opportunity and a fair criminal justice system,” he said. “That’s the challenge you have. Don’t just be experts on the past Morehouse Men. Focus on what today’s Morehouse Man is going to do about today and the future.”

“I see smoke,” the Rev. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr., dean of the King Chapel said after Sharpton’s speech.

Afterwards, two oil portraits were unveiled: one each of Sharpton and President Robert Franklin ’75, who is stepping down in 2012. Both portraits will hang in King Chapel’s International Hall of Honor.

The Baccalaureate ceremony was part of myriad activities over the weekend for Commencement/Reunion 2012. The highlight will be Sunday’s 128th Commencement.

But the rousing Baccalaureate service was the College’s final religious sendoff for the class of 2012.

“It is a final tribute, according to the College’s prophetic liberal arts tradition,” said Robert C. Davidson ’67, chairman of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. “It is our expectation that you will become the life of every man and woman who comes into this world,”

To view the 2012 Baccalaureate Service or get more information about Commencement/Reunion 2012, go to http://www.morehouse.edu/commencement/index.html.

Approximately 530 men of Morehouse will become Morehouse Men and hear President Robert M. Franklin ’75 deliver his final commencement address as the College’s president during the 128th Commencement Weekend.

Franklin, who is stepping down in 2012, will be joined that day by nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner who will deliver the Commencement Charge, Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, Strive Masiyiwa, founder and chairman of Econet Wireless and Elaine Tuttle Hansen, the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, in speaking to the class of 2012 in front of an expected crowd of 10,000.

The day celebrates young men who will go out into the world and head to medical, law, theology or other graduate schools; go directly into the work world in finance on Wall Street or as teachers on the nation’s Main streets.

“Men, make us proud of you. You were special here,” Franklin said to them during the Senior Day Crown Forum last week. “You added your brick to the wall that will forever stand as Morehouse. Morehouse is in you and you are in Morehouse.”

Commencement is only one event during a full weekend of activities.

Alumni from class years ending in “2” and “7” will celebrate Reunion 2012 with a number of receptions, class meetings, a golf tournament and other events.

Morehouse alumni will accept the class of 2012 into their ranks on Friday, May 17, for the Rite of Final Passage Ceremony in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. Morehouse and Spelman alumni will meet that evening for a joint reception at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway at 7 p.m. that evening.

Saturday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, gives the keynote speech during the Baccalaureate Ceremony in King Chapel at 3 p.m. An alumni reunion banquet will be held at 7:30 p.m. that evening in the Georgia International Convention Center.

Then Sunday morning, alumni will form a corridor through the center of campus as the class of 2012 makes the traditional march from King Chapel to the Century Campus, where Commencement begins at 8 a.m.

The 128th Commencement will be available for viewing online, via web stream, at www.morehouse.edu.

For an entire schedule of Commencement/Reunion activities, go to http://www.morehouse.edu/commencement/index.html.

Nearly 40 students were eager to take classes at the Augusta Institute in 1867. The Rev. William Jefferson White, with help from former slave Richard Coulter and the Rev. Edmund Turney, had successfully orchestrated the beginning of a place of higher learning for blacks in Georgia.

One hundred and forty-five years later, the Institute, now known as Morehouse College, has grown from those humble beginnings to become one of the nation’s most renowned institutions with more than 16,000 graduates.

Morehouse is celebrating that distinguished history of leadership and excellence during the 2012 Founder’s Day Observance. From Feb. 5-12, a number of events will honor White’s work, including the Founder’s Day Convocation when educator Donald Hense ’70 speaks; the Founder’s Day Concert with Musiq Soulchild; and Reflections of Excellence, when the 2012 Bennie and Candle Award recipients participate in a question-and-answer session with students.

Other events include the 4th Annual Black Male Summit on Feb. 10, which features scholars and educational practitioners discussing the many issues facing black boys and men. Jim Shelton ’89, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Dept. of Education, will speak at a luncheon before the Summit.

The Rev. Amos C. Brown ’64, senior pastor of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, will deliver the sermon at the annual Founder’s Day Worship Service. And the Morehouse College Glee Club will close out the week with their annual Spring Concert.

Henry Goodgame ’84, director of Alumni Relations, Annual Giving and Special Events, is chairman of the College’s Founder’s Day and Gala Steering Committee. He said the event highlights Morehouse’s efforts to follow in White’s footsteps.

“For 145 years, we have tried to do something very consistent, and that is be the number one producer of African American leadership in this nation,” Goodgame said. “To celebrate at this time and in this very special way, with one of our honorees being the president of the College, this really is a signal event for us. It shows that we are still truly committed to what the founders of the institution decided our purpose would be and that we are fulfilling that purpose.”

One of the grandest events of the week will be the College’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the 24th “A Candle in the Dark” Gala. Since 1989, the Gala has raised more than $9 million for the Morehouse College General Scholarship Fund.

During the Gala, President Robert M. Franklin ’75, who will be transitioning from his position in June, is one of five men who will be honored as Bennie and Candle Award recipients for their exemplary lives and careers.

Bennie recipients are Morehouse graduates who receive recognition in the categories of service, achievement and trailblazing. It is named in honor of the College’s sixth president, Benjamin E. Mays.

Candle recipients are honored for excellence in a variety of fields, such as the arts, athletics, business, education, entertainment, government, law and medicine.

Franklin will receive the Candle in Education, while philanthropist Earl Stafford Sr. will be presented the Candle in Humanitarian Service and Business. Bennie honorees are Howard University professor Herman Bostick ’49 (Leadership); former U.S. Congressman Earl Hilliard Sr. ’64 (Service) and cardiologist Calvin McLarin ’68 (Achievement).

For a complete list of 2012 Founder’s Day Observance events, http://www.morehouse.edu/events/2012/foundersweek/index.html.

After five years of leading one of the nation’s top historically black colleges, President Robert M. Franklin ’75 has decided to step down when his term ends on June 30, 2012.

Franklin will become Scholar-in-Residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Institute with plans to return to Morehouse in the role of Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics.

The Morehouse Board of Trustees recognized his service this week by awarding Franklin with the College’s highest and most prestigious rank: President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor.

“I look forward to a sabbatical, during which I intend to travel, write, speak and interview leaders about the condition of black boys and men in the U.S. and around the globe, research that I began years ago in my book, “Crisis in the Village,” said Franklin. “I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for the invitation to return as President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics, and the opportunity to continue supporting the mission of Morehouse in a different way.”

The Morehouse Board of Trustees has instituted a rigorous search to identify a successor. If a new president has not been selected by July 1, 2012, Franklin will continue in his current role until a one has been selected by the board, but no later than Dec. 31, 2012.

Since succeeding Walter Massey ’58 as president in 2007, Franklin has directed fund-raising efforts that increased alumni giving from 17% to 36%, three times the national average. His leadership generated $60 million in federal grants and contracts and $33 million to support of the College’s capital campaign, during its quiet phase, from corporations, foundations and individual donors.

The College also has renewed its commitment to academic vigor, being reaffirmed for accreditation in 2009 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

“Dr. Franklin has served an integral role leading the renaissance of Morehouse, and his dedication is greatly appreciated,” said Robert Davidson ’67, chairman of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. “In addition to his years of service, Robert led by example, dedicating a substantial portion of his time to community service, which is one of the core values that Morehouse seeks to instill in each and every one its students. We will miss him as the Board endeavors to find a replacement who will help to usher the College into a new era.”

When Curtis Browne ‘11 was looking for a college, he wanted to go someplace that emphasized service. It didn’t take long for him to see that Morehouse College was where he needed to be.

Helping Browne make that a reality was the UNCF, which gave him assistance that included the UNCF’s Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship. Now he is giving back as a college adviser for the Harlem Chidren’s Zone, a not-for-profit dedicated to ending the generational cycle of poverty.

“UNCF has transformed me in ways that are indescribable,” said the 2011 graduate. “Had it not been for UNCF, I would not be the man who I am with a Morehouse degree.”

On Jan. 29, Browne will be one of several students who will tell their personal story about the help they’ve received from the UNCF. They will appear on the 33rd UNCF An Evening of Stars, which will be broadcast by BET.

Among those who will appear or perform are Patti LaBelle, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Miguel, Music Soulchild, Ledisi and David Banner.

“This year’s UNCF An Evening of Stars is filled with high-energy performances, combining the hottest talent with inspirational stories of young students who are beating the odds because they can receive a good education,” said Michael Lomax ’68, UNCF president and CEO. “We are grateful for the support of all our celebrities, sponsors and contributors who understand the importance of ‘Educating Our Future’ and giving students the opportunity to earn college degrees that will enable them to lead successful and fulfilling lives.”

UNCF manages approximately 400 programs that provide scholarships, internships, academic support and mentoring to students. UNCF has provided more than $615 million in scholarships to almost 50,000 undergraduate students.

For more information on the UNCF An Evening of Stars, go to http://www.uncf.org/aeos/.

(Jan. 12, 2012) -- The Morehouse community has to continue its legacy of fighting racism and faith-based discrimination, said global interfaith activist Eboo Patel.

“There are too many people out there building prisons of racial or faith-based isolation,” he said. “We need you to be architects for the World House. Across the generation, when history has called, Morehouse Men have answered. And so must you, and so will you.”

Patel, founder and president of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, was the main speaker during the Martin Luther King Jr. Crown Forum on Jan. 12. His speech was also the first event during the College’s 2012 King Celebration.

The celebration focuses on King’s importance today, senior Rashad Moore, a Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel assistant said before Patel’s speech.

“When we limit his legacy to quotes and community service, we do ourselves a dishonor,” said Moore, a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar. “When we remember this simple this truth, that he like us walked this very campus, we realize he is our example and not our exception.”

Patel, who served on President Barack Obama’s inaugural advisory council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said that King went through some of the same personal struggles with religion and his professional aspirations that some students do now.

It was when King drew upon not only his family’s spiritual legacy but the energetic, intellectual yearning he got from other men of Morehouse that he figured out his true life calling.

“He was having what a Morehouse experience promises – a deepening into his roots and a spreading of his wings,” Patel said.

Patel finished by saying that men of Morehouse, who are the fruits of King’s dreams, are being counted on to continue his work.

“You are what has become of that dream,” he said. “It’s not in changed laws. It’s in an empowered and committed people. Continue that legacy, men of Morehouse and Morehouse Men, for him, for the College, for each other, for all of us.”

Morehouse is now the home of some of the most important historic art in South Africa.

The College is the recipient of 26 oil paintings and mixed media from the Soweto School of Art, courtesy of Martin Britz, a South African pastor and art collector who’s father was also an art collector and curator.

“Martin came to Morehouse to meet with President Robert M. Franklin ’75 in 2009 to discuss his desire to make this gift,” said Terry Mills, dean for Research and Sponsored Programs. “As part of the gift, I’m involved in editing what will eventually be two coffee table books on the Soweto School of Art. One will be on the broader Soweto school and the other will be about the 26 pieces of Soweto art that we received as a gift.”

The history of the Soweto School of Art is steeped in the journey of blacks in South Africa. But the Soweto School of Art isn’t an institution. It is a movement, like the Harlem or the Italian renaissance.

The art comes from a group of mostly black men who created pieces that chronicled their lives through apartheid, beginning in the 1940s.

“That’s the connection to Morehouse – because these are black men,” Mills said. “I don’t believe there is any other institution in the Western world that has a collection of this Soweto School of Art. It’s also a coup because, again, these artists are primarily black males, so what better place in the U.S. than Morehouse to have this representation.”

Morehouse unveiled the first 14 pieces the College during a reception on Dec. 2 in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center before the 85th Annual Morehouse-Spelman Christmas Carol Concert. A permanent site for the collection hasn’t been determined yet.

Mills said the Soweto School of Art Collection joins the Purvis Young Collection as a valuable teaching tool as Morehouse continues to document the history of black males through art.

“When folks see this art, they will be impressed,” he said.

Throughout January, Morehouse will celebrate the life and legacy of one of the world’s most important figures and one of her most distinguished College sons.

The 2012 Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration honors King, a 1948 graduate and global drum major for justice and peace, with events ranging from interfaith worship to a day of community service.

“The annual commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a call to action and an important recognition that we must document, preserve and pass along such an important history of social change. It frames our past and ultimately impacts the future,” said Vicki Crawford, director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.

Much of the College’s King Celebration activities aptly take place in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel.

There, Eboo Patel, founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Core (an international organization that promotes interfaith cooperation) starts out the month of activities with his 11 a.m. speech during the Jan. 12 Martin Luther King Jr. Crown Forum. Patel also is a member of President Barack Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.

A community wide multi-faith worship service also will be held in King Chapel at 6 p.m. on Jan. 15. Representatives from the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim faiths will commemorate King with a special worship service that will include music and dance.

“We wanted to use a series of events to look at King as an interfaith pioneer,” said Roy Craft, the Chapel’s executive director. “We also are going to look historically at Benjamin E. Mays and Howard Thurman ’29 as interfaith pioneers during their eras. What we also are doing is making Morehouse a catalyst in bringing together representatives of other Atlanta campuses to look at the importance of getting the next generation of leaders to have a sensitivity and awareness of the importance of developing skills across these big differences that interfaith presents. That’s the world young people live in and that’s the world they are going to have to work in.”

For the first time, one of the College’s signature King Celebration activities will not be at King Chapel.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s “A King Celebration” Concert, a musical tribute to King, will be held on Jan. 12 at the Atlanta Symphony Hall to commemorate the event’s 20th anniversary. The Morehouse and Spelman glee clubs will perform, along with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Back at Morehouse, President Robert M. Franklin ’75 and Ambassador Andrew Young will host a screening of one of Young’s documentaries, “Crossing in St. Augustine,” on Jan. 26 at 4:30 p.m. in the Bank of America Auditorium. Immediately afterwards, the two will discuss the film and Young’s civil rights work with King.

Students also will commemorate King’s legacy through public service. The Bonner Office of Community Service annually sponsors a Community Day of Service in which students do everything from building bookshelves to spreading mulch at Atlanta area sites such as Boyd Elementary School, the APEX Museum and the Grant Park Conservancy. Students will come together that afternoon to talk about their experiences and how they relate to King’s vision.

Other events during the King Celebration month include a theatrical production, a literary cafe and a presentation on the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection.

For a full schedule of activities for the 2012 Morehouse College King Celebration, go to http://www.morehouse.edu/kingcollection/index.php.

The glee clubs for both colleges, along with one at Atlanta University, would do a free Christmas concert together for the entire community. Harreld was also the also the director of the Spelman College Glee Club.

So on Dec. 21, 1927, in the newly built Sisters Chapel (which was the largest chapel of the three institutions at the time), the first Christmas Carol Concert thrilled a huge crowd.

Eighty-five years later, the concert has grown from a one-performance affair into a soaring trifecta, alternating over three days on both the Morehouse and Spelman campuses. It also has become, for many, the
musical beginning of the Christmas season.

“Some people say they’ve been going to the concert all of their lives,” said Morehouse’s Glee Club director David Morrow ’80, who also performed in the concert each year when he was a member of the Glee Club. “It’s a performance that we look forward to. It’s such a wonderful tradition.”

The 85th Annual Morehouse-Spelman Christmas Carol Concert will be held in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 and at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4. It will be held in its first home, Sisters Chapel at Spelman, on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. (Performances are free and open to the public, but the Dec. 3 performance requires a complimentary ticket. Go to http://www.spelman.edu/christmascarol/index.shtml for more information.)

Standing room only audiences who overflowed in Sisters Chapel for decades forced the concert having to be moved to Morehouse, at least for a few of the annual performances, when King Chapel was built in 1978.

The audience will be even larger this year because for the first time, the Sunday performance will be available for viewing, via Internet web stream. The live stream will be available at www.morehouse.edu/Christmascarol.

“It’s amazing to me how much the concert keeps growing,” Morrow said.

No matter the venue, concertgoers have each year been treated to a unique program of standard carols, special arrangements of traditional Christmas songs and spirituals.

The two glee clubs perform some pieces together and others individually, which requires rehearsals that begin in October.

“We rehearse twice a week,” Morrow said. “One day both Glee Clubs are with Spelman’s director Kevin Johnson and then the next day here at Morehouse with me. And that’s just the mixed chorus. Then the individual choruses rehearse.

“The guys really like to collaborate with the Spelman College Glee Club and both groups get to go back and forth to each other’s campus to create this music,” he said. “It’s a wonderful camaraderie.”

But because the concerts are for the community, Morrow and Johnson said they want people to leave with hearts filled with the Christmas spirit. That’s exactly what Reed and Harreld intended 85 years ago.

“I hope they leave feeling they have heard some good music and they are ready for the Christmas season,” Morrow said. “I am told that many people will go home and decorate their Christmas trees. Another guy told me that his Christmas doesn’t begin until he hears the Christmas Carol Concert. If that’s what it does, then we’ve done what we are supposed to do.”

Go to www.morehouse.edu/christmascarol to get more information bout the concert and view the Dec. 4 performance.

In the magazine’s 2012 College Rankings issue, U.S. News and World Report ranked Morehouse as the No. 3 HBCU in the country. Spelman College is ranked first while Howard University is ranked second.

Morehouse has been listed among the nation’s top HBCUs in all five years that U.S. News and World Report has been ranking HBCUs.

Morehouse also was listed as one of the magazine’s top National Liberal Arts Colleges.

To view the entire U.S. News and World Report 2012 College Rankings, go to http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges.

It was all in honor of King and those who have worked to lift the legacy of the Nobel Prize-winning civil rights legend.

“It always means a lot when the institution that dad and I attended does something in his honor,” said Martin Luther King III ‘79. “Tributes like these are helping inspire a new generation of leaders.”

Former congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and music icon Stevie Wonder we’ve both presented with the Presidential Renaissance Medallion from the College for their efforts to make the federal Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday a reality.

“This is a validation of all of the energy, the struggle, the resources, the commitment, the good days and those not so good, that went into accomplishing a public holiday for Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Conyers, who’s grandson attends Morehouse. “I’m so pleased to be here with all of you as we begin to recognize and continue to reignite the passion for justice as King did.”

Wonder performed three songs, including the King Holiday anthem, “Happy Birthday.”

“We could see the vision of the King holiday, the vision of the King monument and now we must have a vision for the future,” said Wonder, who’s son is a sophomore at Morehouse. “Faith is seeing the vision of the America that is part of the dream that Dr. King left behind. We must have faith for that vision of his dream and not get distracted along the way.”

The concert hall crowd was then treated with the sounds of Timeless Voices, which consists of Eddie Levert, Dennis Edwards and Johnny Gill.

Each had the crowd singing and swaying to their hit songs, some dating back to the 1960s.

But Gill said the event was something extra special for each performer.

“I have been honored to be part of this event,” he said after the show. “Dr. King’s work has brought us this far, but there’s still more to do. We hope and pray everyone can stand and work together along with those who are taking advantage of that great Morehouse education who are going to be on the forefront of continuing to carry on King’s legacy and opening the doors for generations to come.”

To see photos from the Morehouse College Concert and Tribute to King, go to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150361516179311.372371.316502514310&type=1.

The Glee Club, with director David Morrow ’80, will ring the NASDAQ Stock Closing Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. Joining them will be Adair Johnson ’90, president and CEO of the Maroon and White Fund. The Glee Club is in New York this weekend for the Maroon And White Fund’s Morehouse College Glee Club Centennial Celebration.

To view the Glee Club’s ringing of the NASDAQ bell, go to www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsitetowervideo.asx. For more information about the Morehouse College Glee Club Centennial Celebration, go to www.themwf.org.

He focused on the words, “we have pledged our lives” and “give ourselves.”

“Note what is at work in the language,” Franklin said to approximately 2,000 people gathered in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. “Morehouse is not an individual experience. It is a communal, collective project. The person seated next to you now is a part of your Morehouse experience. Morehouse is its people.”

Franklin’s speech was the keynote address for the convocation, which is the formal opening of the academic year. It is an opportunity for new members of the Morehouse community – specifically the class of 2015 – and returning students, faculty and staff to commit to the College’s mission each year, said Provost Weldon Jackson ’72.

Students were dressed in shirts and ties and faculty members in full academic regalia as they marched into the Chapel, Jackson said the formality of the occasion was a testament to the excellence expected from all.

“We must be committed to affirming excellence in every aspect of our daily activities and recognize the significance and consequence of every choice that we make,” he said. “This commitment also involves a partnership between and among faculty, students and staff. Thus, today we ask every member of the Morehouse family to pledge his or her commitment to the success of that partnership. Our confidence that Morehouse College will meet the challenges of the 2011-12 year rests on the strengths of those commitments.”

After performances by the Morehouse College Glee Club, Franklin recognized members of the Morehouse faculty, Student Government Association President Travis Randle and Morehouse College National Alumni Association President Kevin McGee ’93.

But he ended the program by stressing the importance of the entire College community in making sure the Morehouse brand remains strong.

“Ultimately, a brand is about enhancing life,” Franklin said. “But a symbol is about transforming life … I would submit to you that, yes, Morehouse is a brand. But beyond that, there is the opportunity for enlightenment, ethical service, and mentoring others that lead to a deeper transformation.

“We have an opportunity to participate in a transformative experience,” Franklin said. “Let this be a year in improving Morehouse, of advancing the Renaissance and doing all we can to lift our community as we climb.”

(September 8-11, 2011) WASHINGTON, D.C. – The inaugural AT&T Nation’s Football Classic weekend in Washington, D.C., didn’t end with only one winning side, President Robert Franklin Jr. ’75 told a capacity audience at Howard University’s Amour J. Blackburn University Center.

“We have been the privileged ones to sit in the presence of extraordinary students…. And then Saturday there was a great meeting of two great teams – and one great team won. I pay tribute to the Howard Bison today. But there will be next year. We celebrate a victory for all of us.”

The renewal of the 88-year-old Howard-Morehouse football rivalry (Howard nipped Morehouse 30-27 in a close and thrilling game) was the centerpiece of the weekend. Thousands of maroon-clad alumni, students, faculty, staff from Morehouse and Spelman cheered, tailgated and attended a number of receptions and parties across the District.

But the academic tradition of both institutions was also highlighted each day.

During the daylong Presidential Symposium on Thursday, Franklin, Howard President Sidney Ribeau, Arkansas Baptist College President Fitzgerald Hill and author Michael Eric Dyson discussed black male achievement with moderator Fredricka Whitfield of CNN.

“What can be more important today than the African American family and you can’t talk about that without discussing the well being and nurturing of African American males,” Ribeau said.

Morehouse psychology professor Bryant Marks ’94, executive director of the Morehouse Male Initiative, presented his findings on black male college students, while English professor Stephane Dunn moderated a discussion on the black male college experience.

“We stay up until three, four or five in the morning, talking about social issues,” said Morehouse SGA President Travis Randle, who was joined by senior psychology major Ryan Boles, Howard SGA President Brandon Harris and his vice president, Derrien Hinton. “These are the kinds of conversations many of us had never had before. But students are also involved in talking about solutions.”

Personality psychology professor David Wall Rice ’95 talked about black male masculinity with actor Isaiah Washington, Washington Post sports columnist Jason Reid, Howard professor Greg Carr and film director Seith Mann. Mann will teach in Morehouse’s new Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies Program.

Cramton Auditorium was filled to capacity Friday as debaters from Howard and Morehouse took part in the inaugural Mordecai Wyatt Johnson-Benjamin E. Mays Student Debate.

Franklin closed the weekend with the Sunday Chapel Service sermon. The service was moved from the Andrew Rankin Chapel because of the huge crowd. Among the attendees were Spelman president Beverly Tatum and Vernon Jordan, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton.

With his sermon coming exactly 10 years after the Sept. 11th tragedies in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, Franklin told the crowd that it was all right to still feel sadness. But it was also a time to remember, reflect, heal, rebuild and help others.

“What time is it in your life today?” he asked. “What are you called to do now at this moment, in this season, of your life? Always be generous to others and let the warmth of your life melt the ice around us.”
To see a photos and videos from the AT&T Nation's Football Classic weekend, go to www.facebook.com/Morehouse1867.