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MOREHOUSE
A CAMPUS NEWSLETTER FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS
OCTOBER 2013
Toni O’Neal Mosley Talks
About her Jouney to Wholeness
OPENING CONVOCATION 2013
BY VICKIE G. HAMPTON
S A STUDENT, President John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79
spent time dreaming—not about personal aspirations
or future possessions, but about Morehouse College.
“I remember that I used to dream about thiis
being a better place. I used to imagine and envision this
campus as already whole,” he said. “Seriously, I saw it in my
mind’s eye.”
Back then, to stir change, he wielded the power of the pen,
writing litanies on the shortcomings of his beloved alma mater
in the student newspaper, The Maroon Tiger.
Now, more than three decades later, he has returned to
Morehouse to create change, and this time girded with remark
able fundraising successes and administrative expertise, as well as
experience as the executive director of the White House Initiative
on HBCUs, where he served as a liaison between historically
black institutions and the White House.
His dream is aflame. And pen and paper have been
replaced by position and unabashed passion.
“As your 11th president, I insist that Morehouse College
was created to be preeminent. And I first saw that as clear as
day, when I sat where you now sit,” he said.
“I saw a better Morehouse. Now I stand here to make a
better Morehouse.”
Dream On
On the occasion of his inaugural Opening Convocation
address, President Wilson assessed the capacity crowd in the
Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel.
More than 2,000 students—many dressed in suits
and ties—were before him. He declared that some of them
were dreamers—like himself, like King ’48 and like a fellow
alumnus president, Hugh M. Gloster ‘31.
“It matters what you are sitting in here imagining,
envisioning and dreaming right now,” he said to the men of
Morehouse. “What you can envision now may have a lot to
do with what you can achieve later.”
The advantage of the presidency gives him the platform
to elevate his 34-year-old dream into a shared and collective
vision. And his vision is as panoramic—folding in elements
of the past, present and future—as it is rare: preeminence in
both capital and character.
“Preeminence in capital and character is a powerful
combination seldom exhibited by institutions of higher
education,” he conceded.
As Wilson explained, some schools have capital pre
eminence, including large and growing endowments; infra
structure with state-of-the-art facilities; and numerous and
generous scholarship packages.
Others, however, possess character preeminence: a calling
to cultivate distinctive values so that they produce students who
serve their community in outstanding ways, he said.
Morehouse is among these institutions.
“Through our character preeminence, we have contrib
uted mightily to this society,” said Wilson, adding that many
institutions have not produced a transformational leader like
King; an Olympian like Edwin Moses ’78; an award-winning
filmmaker like Spike Lee ’79; a disease-eradicator like Donald
Hopkins ’62; or a political analyst like Jamal Simmons ’93.
But Dr. Wilson’s vision is not of capital or character
preeminence. It’s of capital and character preeminence.
“In my mind, we don’t have to choose. It’s not an either-
or proposition. At Morehouse, we can have both. At
Morehouse, we must have both,” he said.
Freedom Bound
Every path, regardless of how it winds or the detours that
happen along the way, leads to a destination.
Admittedly, the College has traversed some rocky
patches recendy, including a reduction in staff that saw the
elimination of 75 full-time jobs; a decrease in enrollment
precipitated by an economic climate that makes a college
education increasingly more difficult to afford and cooled
philanthropic giving,
But President Wilson insists that the pathway to preemi
nence releases Morehouse from the shackles of “insufficiencies.”
“But unshackled by such insufficiencies, we can do amaz
ingly more. We can advance our mission to a higher level, we can
operate more optimally, and we can produce more and better
Morehouse men to lead, serve and transform this world, he said
“Capital preeminence, at its heart, is a vision of freedom.”
And until then, he said, “We are not yet free.”
His step-by-step plan down the pathway to preeminence
involves recovering, uncovering and discovering.
The College recovers, he said, by taking a look at
what is not working and fixing it.
“We will look at academic processes and systems, infra
structure, customer service.... None of us can honestly say
these are operating optimally to produce Morehouse Men,”
he said to applause.
Continued on page 9
Morehouse Hosts Unveiling of USPS “Forever” Stamp Honoring Ray Charles
BY ADD SEYMOUR JR.
Young Maroon Tigers Football
Team Matures
(Left to right) Emcee Ryan Cameron; USPS Judicial Officer William Campbell; R&B singer Ashanti; country legend Kenny Rogers; President John Silvanus Wilson Jr. 79; and
Music Department Chairman Uzee Brown ‘72
IN THE BUILDING that sprung from his vision to devel
op future musicians, music icon Ray Charles was honored
by the United States Postal Service for a lifetime of perfor
mance and philanthropy.
Charles became only the third person to be featured
on a USPS “Forever” stamp, which was unveiled in the Ray
Charles Performing Arts Center on Sept. 23.
“I can’t think of a more perfect place,” said William
Campbell, judicial officer for the United States Postal Service.
“Despite being blind and having a life marked with
hardship and tremendous challenges, Ray Charles went
on to have a remarkable 58-year career playing the music
that bordered the lines of jazz, gospel, blues, and later
years, country. In doing so, he became the personifica
tion of the American dream,” he said. “Today we honor
a man who not only had an incomparable impact on the
face of contemporary soul, gospel, R&B and rock, he also
touched people personally and individually.”
Charles had a long-standing relationship with
Morehouse and gave millions of dollars to invest in the
education of young musicians.
Continued on page 5