Newspaper Page Text
MOREHOUSE
A CAMPUS NEWSLETTER FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS
SEPTEMBER 2008, ISSUE 1
to T'imkbt
Morehouse Gets Million-Dollar
Art Collection
Williams and Worthy Honored
as Employees of the Month
Henrietta Yang Brings Mandarin
Chinese Language to Campus
Maroon Tigers Kick Off 2008
Football Season
Tears and Cheers Abound as Families
See Sons Become Men of Morehouse
President Rearranges
Top Administrative
Positions in One-Year
Pilot Program
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
Charlo Bain stood in the center
of campus, taking everything in.
Watching all the husde and bustle
of fellow first-year students and
their parents moving clothes, stereos
and other belongings into dorm
rooms, Bain’s New Student Orienta
tion during the last week of August
turned into an eye-opener for the
freshman from Nassau, Bahamas.
“It’s a real wake-up call,” Bain
said as his mother, Claudia, stood
anxiously nearby.
“I guess I’m a little anxious as to
how he’s going to cope in this new
environment,” she added. “But I'm
happy that he’s made it this far.”
Fifty feet away, 18-year-old Ryan
Hobbs, his mother, Kimberly, and
father, Alvin, were lifting boxes, a
(Please see Tears and Cheers page 4)
The class of 2012 marches
into the Martin Luther King
Jr. International Chapel to
start the Parents' Parting
Ceremony on Aug. 21.
Proud parents snap photos
while their sons march
into the King Chapel.
I'm Home'
97-Year-Old Returns After the Great Depression Forced Him From Morehouse
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
Ellis Freeman (left), with his grand
daughter, Jasmine Adams (right),
stands in front of Graves Hall where
he lived as a student in 1929.
E llis Barney Freeman quietly
scanned the immaculately cut
lawns, the stately buildings
and the golf carts zipping around
the Morehouse campus during
Summer Commencement.
“Unbelievable,” said the 97-
year-old former Morehouse stu
dent. “Golf carts. When I was here,
we walked everywhere. The cam
pus is 66 acres now. Know how
many it was then? One.”
With that, Freeman laughed on
what was a great day for him. After
79 years, he was returning to the
place where he started as a fresh
faced freshman in 1929, only
to have to leave two years later as
the country suffered through the
Great Depression. Freeman was
never able to return to Morehouse,
but he kept the College close to
his heart.
“I feel like I’m home,” he said.
Freeman came to Morehouse
from Jefferson City, Mo. from a
family of high-achievers. His father
and step-father were entrepre
neurs. Education was important.
A high school principal told
Freeman that Morehouse was the
school he should attend. Freeman
didn’t question the principal,
even though he’d never heard
of Morehouse and knew little
about Atlanta.
So after finishing high school in
1929, he boarded a segregated train
to Georgia.
“I had been conditioned for
new adventures,” he said. “1 wasn’t
worried. I said to myself, ‘I’m here
and I’m supposed to learn.’”
He remembers making new
friends at Graves Hall where he
lived, walking to the segregated Fox
Theatre and going to socials with
the Spelman students and other
activities around campus.
(Please see Tm Home' page 5)
President Robert M. Franklin
Jr. 75’ has announced a one-year
pilot in which he has reorganized
the College’s administrative
structure and performance team.
John Williams ’69, dean of the
division of Business Administra
tion and Economics, is now the
senior vice president for Academic
Affairs. Karen Miller, vice president
for Administrative Services and
General Counsel, is now senior vice
president for administration.
Associate general counsel
Michelle Reid is the interim gen
eral counsel while Alana Veal,
director of Title III, becomes the
associate vice president for
Administrative Services. Cheryl
Allen, associate dean of the Divi
sion of Business Administration
and Economics, is the acting
dean of the division.
The changes went into effect
on Aug. 1.
Franklin said the decision this
summer by Howard University
associate provost Alvin Thornton
’71 to remain at Howard instead
of becoming the new provost at
Morehouse allowed the opportu
nity to “rethink and re-engineer”
the administrative structure.
“For some time I have been
weighing the benefits of separat
ing the duties of the provost and
senior vice president for Aca
demic Affairs, as well as the gen
eral counsel,” he said. “I firmly
believe that there are consider
able advantages in having both a
senior vice president who is
tasked with focusing exclusively
on the needs and developments
of our faculty and academic pro
gram, and a senior vice president
for administration who will
bring laser-like focus to improv
ing the operations and customer-
service profile of the College. In
addition, the College needs a
general counsel whose efforts
will be concentrated on the legal
integrity of the institution.
“This deliberate interim ex
periment will allow us to test and
critically assess the effectiveness
of a new and dynamic adminis
trative model,” Franklin said.
“Each of these colleagues has
agreed to serve for one year,
allowing sufficient time to
formulate and implement plans
for one or more searches during
this period.” ■