Newspaper Page Text
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MOREHOUSE COLLEGE ATLANTA, GA
NOVEMBER 16 - 28, 2012
VOLUME LXXXVII, ISSUE 10
P0LITIH0USE
Has Mother Morehouse kept her
promises?
page 2
THE PULITZER BEAT
US ELECTION REMINDS KENYANS OF
THEIR OWN POLITICAL
STRIFE
page 3
WHAT'S INSIDE
WHO’S ON TOP?
BEST COLLEGE
DEGREES
pagg4
SPELHOU5E
WHERE ARE THEY
NOW?
page 7
FIVE YEARS
LATER WHAT
HAS FRANKLIN
ACCOMPLISHED?
Tre’vell Anderson
Managing Editor
Anderson. trevell@yahoo. com
As Dr. Robert M. Frank
lin ’75 makes way for the 11th
President of the College, The
Maroon Tiger takes the time to
analyze Franklin’s contribution
to this great institution over his
five year tenure. Take a look
at Franklin’s impact on More
house College:
CONTINUES ON PAGE 2 ►
Jared Loggins
Associate World and Local Editor
Jared.loggins@yahoo. com
Social media exploded just after 10 A.M. on
Monday morning as the Board of Trustees led by
Chairman Robert Davidson announced the selec
tion of Executive Director of the White House Initia
tive on Historically Black Colleges and Univerisites
(HBCUs) Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79 as the 11th
President of Morehouse College.
“Pleasantly surprised John Wilson will be able
to assume the presidency so soon,” junior Anthony
Simonton said following the announcement that
spread like wildfire on Twitter.
Though many were pleased with Wilson’s
fundraising prowess as associate provost at the Mas
sachusetts Institute of Technology and as an Obama
appointee, others expressed their discomfort with
the deviation from the 2007 Presidential Search in
which the final three candidates - Wilson, Franklin,
and Dr. Calvin Butts - were all invited to meet with
students before a final selection was made.
“Why didn’t we get to meet him before he was
selected,” one student tweeted.
Alumni also lauded the appointment while
still expressing concern about the secrecy shrouded
around the selection process.
“I still wish my alma mater @morehouse would
FRANKLIN BIDS
Donnell Williamson
Associate Campus News Editor
donnellwiIliamsonjr@yahoo. com
In 2007, the Morehouse Board of Trustees de
clared Rev. Dr. Robert Michael Franklin Jr. ‘75 the
10th president of Morehouse College. Having given
the college five and a half years of dedicated, commit
ted service, he has decided to return to his true pas
sion, teaching.
There were many students, faculty, staff and
alumni in attendance to give their thanks and appre
ciation to Dr. Franklin this past Sunday at his final ad
dress to the College. His mother and family were also
in attendance. The service was occupied with songs,
dance, litanies, and memories that will last a lifetime.
Franklin was honored with an oil painting that
depicts the initiatives that he has implemented and
task that he has completed during his tenure.
First Lady Dr. Cheryl Franklin was also honored
with a beautiful oil portrait that will grace the Hall
of Fame in the Martin Luther King Jr. International
Chapel along with other heroic civil rights leaders.
She was honored for her commitment to the College,
and for giving over $400k endowment to the college
to support students who plan on pursuing a medical
career.
Many students are upset, yet hopeful, now that
Franklin is leaving. Many students commend Frank
lin on being open and a student advocate.
“His presidency meant we, as Morehouse, were
united as one,” Matthew Guthrie, a sophomore busi
ness marketing major said.
“Franklin was very transparent and friendly,”
Guthrie continued. “Seeing him in Chivers, or on
Brown Street, set the tone for brotherhood for many
have some transparency in choosing its leadership,”
Associate Professor at City University of New York
and Morehouse alumnus Dr. L’Heureux Lewis said.
The announcement hit social media networks
just after the decision was announced to faculty and
alumni via email.
“The Morehouse College Board of Trustees
today announced that Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr.
has been named the College’s 11th president,” the
press release said. “The appointment follows a rigor
ous, nationwide search conducted with professional
recruitment firm Heidrick & Struggles.”
“Dr. Wilson has the vision, experience and pas
sion to ensure that Morehouse continues to advance
its aim of producing global leaders who will con
tinue to make a difference in the world,” Chairman
Davidson also said in the statement.
Wilson was selected to lead the college after
having worked alongside The White House, 52 fed
eral agencies and private agencies to increase the
capital of HBCUs nationwide.
“I wish John the best as he takes on this important
new role as the president of Morehouse College and
as he continues to inspire more of our nation’s youth
to pursue higher education,” President Obama said
in the statement.
Wilson is expected to take over as president at the
end of January 2015. Interim Provost Willis Sheftall
will serve as acting president until Wilson’s arrival.
students. He was the prime example of how Men of
Morehouse and Morehouse Men should interact.
Students have high hopes of the new president,
Dr. John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., following Franklin’s in
fluence.
“Now that Franklin’s leaving, I expect Dr. Wil
son to be as open and friendly as Dr. Franklin,” Guth
rie stated hopefully.
Many students are honored to have Franklin’s
Five Wells implanted in their conscience and spoken
through their demeanor. These Wells innovated the
Morehouse brand and emphasized the need to learn,
travel and to present oneself exceedingly suitable.
“The Five Wells and being a renaissance man
with a global conscience was foundational because
it inspired great young men across the campus and
around the world to take it and apply it,” Charles
Brooks, a sophomore philosophy major, said.
“Everywhere I go, I remember the Five Wells,”
he continued.
In three words Brooks describes Dr. Franklin’s
presidency as “Foundation, intellectual, and vital.”
Brooks, a Presidential Intern, was one of the
few students that were able to interact and see Dr.
Franklin on a daily basis.
“I would always see Dr. Franklin in his office
pondering and thinking,” Brooks stated plausibly.
“He is a very intelligent man and would al
ways challenge me to grow as an individual,” Brooks
commended. “We would always have conversations
about Plato, Martin Luther King Jr., Aristotle and
even the orating style of Otis Moss Jr.”
It may be hard for many students to say good
bye to a president that was here when they entered
the college, but Dr. Franklin definitely left a gift for all
students to carry with them in their future endeavors.
FAREWELL IN FINAL ADDRESS
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