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MOREHOUSE A CAMPUS NEWSLETTER FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS FEBRUARY 2011 Marcellus Barksdale '65 talks about the founding of Morehouse Chinese Studies Program celebrates Year of the Rabbit Morehouse College Glee Club celebrates its 100th Year Maroon Tigers look to rebuild basketball legacy iSW 20// Morehouse Celebrates 144 Years of By ADD SEYMOUR JR. I n 1866, Richard Coulter walked into Platt Brothers Furniture to talk with minis ter and cabinetmaker William Jefferson White about an idea. The two met on the third floor, with Coulter handing White a let ter from the Rev. Edward Turney of the National Theological Institute in Washington, D.C. The idea: to start a school to educate former Negro slaves, much like Turney’s institution. White agreed to lead the effort. One year later and based out of Springfield Baptist Church, the Augusta Institute was born. One hundred and forty-four years later, that effort has grown and flourished into what is now Morehouse College, the nation’s top liberal arts college, according to Washington Monthly magazine. For five days, the Morehouse community will come together to celebrate the work of Coulter, Turney and especially White. “During Founder’s Week, Morehouse Men and future men of Morehouse gather to celebrate not just longevity, but excellence,” said President Robert M. Franklin 75. “Part of that excellence comes through the acknowledgement that we are not perfect; rather, we con tinue to seek to find our best selves.” The week of celebration, reflection and discussion includes: • The plight of black men will be examined during the 3rd Excellence Founder William Jefferson White Annual Black Male Summit, “Boys to Men: Interrogating Assumptions About Black Male Development” on Friday, Feb. 18 in the Bank of America Auditorium. Psychology pro fessor David Wall Rice ’95 will moderate the panel discussion with television judge Glenda (continued on page 4) Education Secretary Urges Morehouse Students to Serve Their Country by Becoming Teachers BY ADD SEYMOUR JR. WHEN DERRICK DALTON grew up, education didn’t hold the same importance each day at his house as did just getting by. “I was from a household where education was not a priority,” he told a capacity-audience in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center during the “Just Another Day at the Office,” town hall meeting on the importance of elementary and secondary teachers in America. “But I had teachers along the way who helped pick me up,” said Dalton, now the princi pal at Mundy’s Mill High School in suburban Atlanta. “I made a decision that I would make a difference in the lives of people like myself” It is a lesson that Dalton - along with Atlanta teacher Christopher Watson, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, filmmaker Shelton “Spike” Lee ’79, MSNBC’s Jeff Johnson, President Robert M. Franklin 75 and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan - hopes more young black men will learn from. Sponsored by Morehouse College and the U.S. Department of Education, the town hall meeting is part of a national initiative to get more (continued on page 4) Education Secretary Arne Duncan (third from left) leads a discussion in the Emma and Joe Adams Concert Hall. President Assembles Renaissance Commission to Help Chart College's Future As Morehouse recollects and revels in its achieve ments over the last 144 years, nearly 100 of the nation’s foremost business, civic and political leaders and alumni will convene in the Executive Leadership Center to pool their expert ise and best thinking into plans and strategies for the College’s future. “To ensure that we have both the financial and the intellectual resources we will need to ensure that future, I have created the Renaissance Commission,” said President Robert M. Franklin 75. The Morehouse College Renaissance Commission is a volunteer group of “thought leaders” and fundraisers who will help chart the course as Morehouse heads towards its 150th anniversary in 2017. As they meet during the week of the Founder’s Day observance, they will focus on nine areas: • Financial viability • Academic enterprise • Student development • Leadership and civic engagement • Internationalization • Technology • Green practice and sus tainability • Competitive advantage • History of the College The Commission will then present a set of recom mendations that the Board of Trustees, the president and senior staff will use as they develop the College’s strate gic plan for 2013 to 2018. “Like the vision of William Jefferson White 143 years ago, we now have an opportunity to image again—to think and rethink about what might be possible 20, 50, 100, 150 years from now if we embrace and fund—bold new possibil ities for 21st century leadership at Morehouse College,” said Franklin. ■