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Hank Aaron
Cicely Tyson
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Actress Cicely Tyson and Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. to Address
Class of 2009; Hall of Famer Hank Aaron to Receive Honorary Doctorate
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
520 Morehouse
seniors enter the lush
Century Campus on
May 18 for their final few moments
as men of Morehouse, they will be
given advice from Emmy-award
winning actress Cicely Tyson and
Harvard professor Henry Louis
Gates Jr. during the College’s 125th
Spring Commencement.
Tyson is a trailblazing actress
and activist who, through an
award-winning film career playing
strong black women, has raised the
consciousness of audiences world
wide. She was the first black actress
to co-star in a television drama se
ries; she portrayed “Rebecca” in the
memorable film “Sounder;” and
she won an unprecedented two
Emmy awards for the title role in
“The Autobiography of Miss Jane
Pittman.”
A world ambassador for UNICEF
and a volunteer for Save the Chil
dren, Tyson is also a founder o f the
Dance Theater of Harlem. Currendy,
she is involved with the Market
Women’s Project with President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and
FuturePac, an organization dedi
cated to raising funds to support
women with political aspirations.
Gates, one of the nation’s pre-
mier African American scholars,
has become a chief storyteller of
African American history and lin
eage. The Harvard professor has
edited influential anthologies such
as The Norton Anthology of African
American Literature and the
Schomburg Library of Nineteenth
Century Black Women Writers, and
co-editing many others, including
The Civitas Anthology of African
American Slave Narratives.
Among his many groundbreak
ing pieces of work, Gates has been
behind the African American Lives
series in which he traced the roots
of celebrities such as Oprah
Winfrey, Tom Joyner, Chris Rock
and Tina Turner back to their fam
ilies’ beginnings in Africa.
Tyson, Gates and baseball Hall
of Famer Hank Aaron will each re
ceive an honorary doctorate of Hu
mane letters.
Aaron is one of the most re
spected figures in sports after a 23-
year baseball career that ended
with him being a near unanimous
choice for the Baseball Hall of
Fame. Amid repeated death
threats, Aaron became best known
for breaking one of baseball’s most
revered records: he hit his 715th
career home run in April 1974 to
break Babe Ruth’s long-standing
mark. Aaron finished his career
with 755 home runs.
After leaving his playing career
behind, Aaron spent 13 years as
director of Player Development for
the Atlanta Braves, becoming a
senior vice president in 1989.
Aaron also has become a distin
guished businessman.
Also during Commencement
weekend, alumni from across the
nation return to campus for Re
union 2009: A Gathering of Men.
Classes with graduating years end
ing in four or nine will be honored
during activities that include the
May 16th Reunion Banquet at the
Ritz-Carlton in downtown Atlanta.
One alumnus likely to have the
most fun will be Rynalder D. Ram-
beau Sr. ’34 as he returns to campus.
The retired educator from
Donaldsonville, Ga„ is 98 years old
and will be the oldest alumnus on
hand during Commencement/
Reunion this year. But he won’t be
the only one celebrating in the
Rambeau family. His son, Rynalder
Jr. ’64, will also be attending
Reunion 2009.
For a full schedule of Commence
ment/Reunion events go to page 8 or
go online to:http://www. more-
house.edu/events/2009/commence-
ment/index.html. ■
Morehouse Hosts Rare Public Appearance
by Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
When the world witnessed Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tell
a Morehouse College audience the
economy was slowly improving, the
nation’s fiscal health was hardly the
only newsworthy item.
What turned heads was the fact
that Bernanke was at Morehouse.
Rarely do Federal Reserve board
members make public appearances.
But seeking to sooth frazzled nerves
over the economy, Bernanke has
been looking to explain to people
how the Fed works and to detail the
steps he is taking to fix the nation’s
fiscal problems.
So in the midst of a global
economic nosedive, he chose
Morehouse as the place to speak.
“To me, it was indeed a coup,”
said Denise Moore, director of
Government Relations. “He could
have gone to his own alma mater
Harvard or even Yale.”
Bernanke spoke for 25 minutes
in the filled Bank of America Audi
torium as national print media and
cable television outlets such as Fox
Business News, CNBC, CNN and
MSNBC followed every moment.
He then took an array of
probing questions from Morehouse
senior business and economic
students, Tristan Allen, Anthony
Roberts, Ricardo Rabathaly and
Zantoine Truluck.
“I think it’s important for people
to understand [what’s happening
(Please see Morehouse Hosts Bernanke'
page 4)
Fed Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke (second from left) gets a tour of the Martin Luther
King International Chapel from Phillip Howard '86 (left). President Robert M.
Franklin Jr. '75 (second from right) and Lawrence E. Carter Sr, (right), dean of
the Chapel.
Inside Morehouse is
Going Green and Online
We are doing our part in the
College's efforts to go green and be
environmentally conscious as you
are now holding the last printed
edition of Inside Morehouse. Start
ing with the September issue,
Inside Morehouse will be available
online at www.morehouse.edu!
Each edition, every story and
picture, will be available to a much
wider audience as anyone with
Internet access will be able to see
what's happening with faculty,
staff and students at Morehouse
College. If you have questions
about the change, contact editor
Add Seymour Jr. at
aseymour@morehouse.edu.