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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 And pen and paper have been replaced by position and unabashed passion.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