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MEWS/SPORTS
INSIDE MOREHOUSE, FEBRUARY 2010
Students Inspired Art Profess
Louis Delsarte’s King Mural
By ADO SEYMOUR JR.
M orehouse art professor
Louis Delsarte’s new
mural, depicting the life
of Martin Luther King Jr. ’48, has
the students he teaches at
Morehouse as its inspiration.
“The students are the future
leaders and heroes,” Delsarte
said. “This is what Dr. King’s
legacy is about and what this
memorial is all about.”
Delsarte’s mural, titled
“Dreams, Visions and Change,” is
a colorful, 125-foot, 25-panel
pictorial history honoring King
and his journey from growing up
on Auburn Avenue, to studying
at Morehouse to becoming the
world’s pre-eminent civil rights
leader in the non-violent civil
rights movement.
The breathtaking mural took
Delsarte and a cadre of volun
teers two years to complete.
“My mural depicts Dr. King
in the light that he so richly
deserves,” he said. “His sacrifice
has moved me as an artist and as
an American. I wanted the mural
to reflect the peace, despite the
turbulence. The colors are refl
ective of the hold of promise.. .at
the end of the rainbow.”
Commissioned by the city of
Atlanta, the mural was dedicated
during a ceremony on Jan. 17 at
the Martin Luther King Jr.
Natatorium, just a block away
from King’s birth home and
across the street from The King
Center, where he is entombed.
The mural is spread across a sig
nificant portion of the Natat-
orium’s wall.
“Great cities have great art
and have great artwork,” said
Mayor Kasim Reed. “Today, we
have both in both the piece of
work we have here and the artist
who sits with us.”
Terry Mills, dean of the
Division of Humanities and
Social Sciences, said Delsarte’s
work reflects not only his dedica
tion to his craft, but also his abil
ity to see through the world’s
negativity.
“Louis is a true artist and is
true to his art,” he said. “We are
indeed very proud of you and
we’re very proud to have you as a
member of the Morehouse
College faculty and teaching our
young men about the impor
tance of art.” ■
Art professor Louis Delsarte and
President Robert M. Franklin '75 view
the Morehouse panel in Delsarte's 25-
panel, 125-foot mural depicting the life
Martin Luther King Jr. '48.
Jackson Answers Presidential Call and Returns to His Alma Mater as Provost
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
Leaving the tiny, rural farm
ing town of Greensboro, Ga.,
wasn’t a problem for a teenaged
Weldon Jackson ’72.
Neither was figuring out
where he was going to college.
“I had four teachers who
graduated from Morehouse,”
Jackson said. “I was definitely
influenced by them.”
Life has come full circle
as Jackson has returned to
Morehouse, though not in the
way he thought he would when
Jackson first entered Morehouse
- he wanted to be the black ver
sion of famed criminal defense
attorney F. Lee Bailey.
Jackson is now the College’s
provost and senior vice president
Weldon Jackson '72
for Academic Affairs.
“I’ve come back to a place that
meant so much and did so much
for me,” Jackson said. “To be giv
ing the same kinds of things to
young men [at his alma mater] is
simply rewarding and satisfying.”
Though Jackson has enjoyed
a successful career as a professor
and administrator, he came to
Morehouse hoping to be an attor
ney. He changed his mind during
his freshman year and thought
about becoming a doctor.
The academia bug bit
Jackson during his sophomore
year when, as a political science
major under the tutelage of pro
fessors Tobe Johnson, Abraham
Davis and Robert Brisbane, he
saw his future.
“While most of my class
mates were going to law school,
academia became my fascina
tion,” he said.
He earned his doctorate at
Harvard and then taught at
Wellesley College for nine years.
Then he got a call from former
president Hugh Gloster ’31.
“I had just gotten tenure at
Wellesley when Dr. Gloster
called and asked me to come
back,” Jackson said. “There was
no hesitation.”
Jackson became the College’s
vice president for Academic
Affairs, a position he held from
1985 to 1996. He left Morehouse
for Manhattan in 1996.
He got another presidential
phone call last year, this time
from President Robert M.
Franklin ’75.
“An accomplished political
scientist and academic adminis
trator, Dr. Jackson will play a
critical role in advancing the
Renaissance at Morehouse Col
lege,” Franklin said.
Jackson main goal is to raise
the College’s academic reputa
tion even higher.
“I’d like to see that the world
knows about us, especially in
terms of educating black men,”
he said. “I’d also like to see more
of our men going to graduate
school. But more than anything,
I’d really like for us to not only
be recognized as a first rate his
torically black college, but as one
of the best in the world. And
that is possible.” ■
**» « »
atiiaae
Williams, a sophomore, is the
son of Reggie Williams, a
smooth-shooting forward who
starred at Georgetown in the
1980s before playing 10 seasons
in the NBA. He now coaches
high school basketball in
Towson, Md.
Curry’s father, is an Augusta,
Ga., native who played college
basketball at Georgia Southern.
He was a defensive specialist in
the NBA, where he played for 11
years. He went on to become an
NBA assistant coach and for one
season was the head coach of the
Detroit Pistons.
“Great pedigree”, said Mar
oon Tigers head coach Grady
Brewer.
“That’s what you look for,”
he said. “You’re looking for play
ers who have a familiarity with
what you’re trying to do as a
coach. It’s a plus having kids
from parents who were great in
college and the NBA.”
Both players said having
famous basketball fathers bring
some pressure.
“At first it was intimidating
because most places I went, they
expected me to play like my dad,”
said Reggie Williams Jr. “I feel
like every time I step on the
court, the coach knows of my
dad but he expects me to do this,
that and the other because he’s
seen my dad do this, that and the
other. So it’s kind of a give and
take. I want to live up to that and
be better, but sometimes it’s
overwhelming to try to live up to
what my father did in college.”
Freshman Michael Curry
agreed.
“After a while you get used to
it, but it’s different because every
body Jcnows who you are, and the
fans will try to get into your
head,” he said. “It’s a little bit
harder, but eventually you get
used to it.”
The two, who physically fav
or their fathers, have become
friends, linked by their common
backgrounds.
On the court, Williams is the
team’s top sixth man while Curry
provides defense and stability off
the bench.
Both love basketball and the
pressures that come with it. But
the two are just as focused on
academics. Williams is a sociolo
gy major while Curry, who has a
passion for creative writing, is a
business management major and
plans to get a doctoral degree.
“These are two very good
young men, very nice young men
who we think will develop into
some really nice basketball play
ers,” Brewer said. “We’ve got two
good finds in these young guys.” ■
Maroon Tigers Curry and Williams Carry
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l rujessiuniu 1 euigree on p amous Fathers' Basketball Success
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
At first glance, the More
house Maroon Tigers basket
ball team has a couple of old
college and professional stars on
the roster.
Wearing number 34 is Reggie
Reggie Williams Jr. and Michael Curry Jr.
Williams and sporting number
21 is Michael Curry.
But the two Maroon Tigers
are actually the sons of the for
mer college and NBA stars of the
same names.
