Newspaper Page Text
Page 2/The Maroon Tiger/August 31, 1984
Benjamin Mays
Passes
Bennie
By Allen S. May, Jr.
Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays,
extraordinary builder of men in
his long and distinguished career
as president of this College, died
at 7:20 a.m., Wednesday, March
28, 1984, at Hughes Spalding
Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
At an emotional memorial
service held in the Martin Luther
King, Jr. International Chapel on
campus on Thursday, March 29,
1984, over 2,000 students, alum
ni, faculty, staff, Atlanta Board of
Education members, and friends
of Dr. Mays gathered to pay
tribute to the legendary
educator.
President Gloster stated, “At
Morehouse College we are a
family; and today we are
assembled for the saddest ex
perience that a family can en
counter - the death of a beloved
and inspiring parent ... For 44
years - from 1940, when he
became President of Morehouse
College, to 1984, when he passed
during his sleep at the Hughes
Spalding Community Hospital -
he has been a father to the
students who have attended this
institution. He worked with us in
his office, at his home, in the
chapel, and on the campus; and,
after we graduated, he visited us
in our homes in order to check
up on us and see if we were living
up to his standards and expec
tations. He helped to develop in
us the Morehouse mystique,
which demands that we be
successful in college and in later
life, that we rise to the top in our
professions, that we serve our
fellow, man, that we be loyal to
each other and to our Alma
Mater, that we have self-
confidence and self-respect, and
that we use Christian and
democratic principles in the
solution of social and racial
problems. Since Dr. and Mrs.
Mays had no children of their
own, they adopted us. The Men
of Morehouse are the proud
sons of Dr. and Mrs. Mays, and
they were loving parents.’’
Gloster told those asembled
that, “Dr. Mays was the best and
greatest role model that I have
ever seen or known. Here at
Morehouse we admired him
because we knew that he had
been tested in the fires of human
experience ... Dr. Mays is a
shining example of the kind of
man Morehouse is trying to
develop. He not only got an
excellent education, leading all
the way to the highest degree in
his field, but he used that educa
tion to help and lift people who
were less fortunate than he was.”
He pointed out that Mays
“fought death to the bitter end.
When age and disease bent him,
he did not break. He was an
active writer and speaker until
the last year of his life. Again and
again he lifted himself out of his
bed and, wearing his cowboy hat
and waving his walking cane, he
fared forth to speaking
engagements in all parts of the
country - from New York to
California and from Minnesota
to Texas. When he reached the
point where he could not walk,
he went by wheelchair; and at
the end slipped upon him when
he was asleep yesterday mor
ning.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, S'r.,
speaking in a soft, solemn tone of
voice stated, “These moments
are very serious moments for all
of us ... To me, I have lost my
closest friend. No one in my life
meant more. I doubt if there will
ever be one who means more. I
know where he is ... but^know
what those closest to him must
be going through.”
Charlie J. Moreland, president
of the National Alumni Associa
tion, remarked, “Dr. Mays was a
gentleman, educator, ad
ministrator, civil rights leader,
builder of men, and a man of
God. He was held in high esteem
among all of the Morehouse
College alumni.”
Vice President for Academic
Affairs, Willis J. Hubert, in behalf
of the Faculty said, “Many of my
colleagues were here as faculty
or staff members under Dr.
Mays. I knew him through family
members, seeing him, hearing
him speak as a Trustee,
President-Emeritus, and as a
personal friend ... Dr. Mays left a
permanent imprint on Atlanta,
black America, the nation, and
the international family of
nations. He was a scholar,
humanitarian, and leader for all
men.”
In an emotional tribute on
behalf of the student body, W.
Kelvin Walker, president of the
Student Government Associa
tion asked, “How can we
memorialize the life, legacy, and
work of Benjamin E. Mays—how
can we use our time together to
effectively translate the immor
tality of our memories into a
tangible tribute to his life? The
answer to such a question is
searching and yet redemptive.
For it challenges us to act as Dr.
Mays acted; it challenges us to
commitment, the most impor
tant and pivotal element in the
life of man.”
Walker added, "Let us reflect
on things that Dr. Mays loved
and in that contemplation, let us
commit ourselves to his un
finished work. Let us love justice,
for therein lies the glorious
possibility for affirming the
human. Let us love, like Dr.
Mays, the search for wisdom and
knowledge, for therein lies the
key to the solution of myriad
problems that afflict us. Thank
you, Dr. Mays, for giving — our
commitment is in the pattern of
your full life to give of ourselves
until all men are free. Farewell,
Dr. Mays, our beloved brother,
and prince among men — may
flights of angels sing thee to they
rest.”
Prior to the funeral services,
Dr. Mays’ body lay in state at
Providence Baptist Church in
Southwest Atlanta, where he was
a member, and in the Martin
Luther King, Jr., International
Chapel.
At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday,
March 31, 1984, every seat in the
Martin Luther King, Jr., Inter
national Chapel was filled as the
funeral services for Mays began.
Hundreds of floral arrangements
— presented by friends, alumni,
students, faculty, organizations,
and governmental agencies —
adorned the stage area of the
Chapel. Members of the
audience warmly applauded
many of the speakers as they paid
tribute to Mays. Former Presi
dent Jimmy Carter received loud
applause when he stated that
Mays told him, “You may be the
first Morehouse Man in the
White House, but you won’t be
the last.”
In emotional tones President
Carter stated, “Dr. Mays was the
epitome of a Southern Christian
gentleman whose life will live on
in those he inspired. I frequently
went to Dr. Mays for advice
before, during, and after my
tenure as President.”
Carter, who holds an honorary
doctorate from Morehouse
College, remarked that he was
reluctant to accept most of the
honorary degrees offered a
President because he wanted
those he had to remain
meaningful. He added, “The
most meaningful of all (degrees)
is the one I received from
Morehouse College — long
before I had told anyone that I
wanted to run for President.”
When all Morehouse Men were
asked to stand, President Carter
stood with them. He said, “I was
proud to stand as one of the
Morehouse Men. Dr. Mays had
told me that he was proud a
Morehouse Man was finally in
the White House.”
Carter pointed out that Mays
demonstrated a standard of
personal wisdom, dedication,
and personal courage that
helped to transform the social
consciousness of our nation and
served to enhance our country’s
leadership in the struggle for
human rights.
Dr. Samuel Dubois Cook,
President of Dillard University,
one of Dr. Mays’ closest friends’
and a student during the Mays’
years stated that Benny Mays was
a hard taskmaster.
In his eulogy. Cook said, “I am
one of Benny Mays’ boys — I
have been one of Benny Mays’
boys since I was a kid in Griffin,
Georgia; and I will be one of
Benny Mays’ boys until the day I
die.”
“Dr. Mays,” continued the
eloquent Dillard University
President, “had a divine
romance with the world of
higher possibilities ... The world
of Dr. Mays was a world of lofty
aims, high ideals, and noble
goals of striving ... a world of the
morally sensitive and the ethical
ly disturbed. Dr. Mays was a
peerless spokesman for the
gospel of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth. He was always his own
man, always a man of great moral
courage. He taught us how to
live and he also taught us how to
die.”
“The life of Dr. Mays,” added
Cook, “was a life magnificent. A
life fully lived at the summit on a
dazzling mountaintop. A life of
the impossible possibilities. His
was a life spent in the persistent
pursuit of unattainable ideals."
He told the audience that at
the time of his death “Dr. Mays
was working on three books. He
told me I would have to com
plete these, but who is worthy to
complete something started by
Benny Mays? Dr. Mays gave the
highest and best one can give to
life, the gift of self.”
Mays’ body was buried beside
his wife at Southview Cemetery,
1990 Jonesboro Road, SE, Atlan
ta, Georgia.
*Dr. May is the Director of
Public Relations at Morehouse.