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MOREHOUSE COLLEGE ATLANTA, GA NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2012 VOLUME LXXXVII, ISSUE 11
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WHAT'S INSIDE
W ONLY CHAIRS
COULD TALK
page2
IS CHINA
GROWING TO FAST?
PW3
THE DARKEST
FRIDAY OF THE
YEAR
PW4
MPAGE: THE
ULTIMATE AFRICAN
EXPERIENCE
page 7
RAGG
BOUTIQUE
FRESHMAN ENTREPRENUER SETS
NEW TRENDS
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LsSWT- QLO^Y
SAFESPACE, SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT OFFERS NEW LGBT COURSE
Moriba Cummings
Staff Writer
moribacummings@yahoo.com
Morehouse College, though dominantly consisting
of a homogenous demographic, regularly boasts an aura of
diversity that is often ignored from the outside looking in.
Most recently, this sense of diversity has taken new form
as the gay/straight alliance and student advocacy group,
SafeSpace, through the hard work of Dr. Michael Hodge of
the sociology department, has officially received the green
light to launch a special topics elective on Rlack lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender history and culture to be of
fered for credit Spring 2015.
The idea came to fruition when SafeSpace’s Special
Project and Events Coordinator Marcus Lee partnered with
Yale University professor Dr. Jafari S. Allen to pitch the
project. Allen focuses on the intersections of queer sexual
ity, gender and blackness.
“He’s very interested in gender non-conformity
among colored people, and I’m interested in that as well,”
Lee said. “I told him that I don’t have much direction here
at Morehouse because many of the professors whose focus
is on sexuality often focus on diseases and not really cul
tural critique. So he recommended that he teach a class via
Skype.”
Roth well versed and experienced in the field of sexu
ality and gender expression, Dr. Allen currently teaches
courses on the cultural politics of race, sexuality and gen
der among Rlack diasporas, and has authored various pub
lications, including “Crucial Palimpsest: Re-Reading Broth-
er Rrother” and most currently “Rlack Queer Here and
There: The Social Poesis of Diaspora” (tentatively titled).
Fixed to extend his expertise to the students of More
house College, Allen is sure to make a mark and set quite a
high standard of excellence through his course.
“What you call ‘human rights advocacy’ is for me
just trying to be a responsible person in the world-to point
out and perhaps, in some cases, also to attempt to help to
fix injustices,” Allen said. “While this may be controversial
in some academic settings where there is the pretension of
a kind of non-political educational project, this has never
been the case for Morehouse or for any historically Rlack
institution. So, it is essential for Morehouse students, facul
ty, administrators and alumni to engage [in] this conversa
tion.”
The fruition of this course is due to Hodge, the Chair
of the Morehouse College sociology department. Academic
departments often offer special elective courses, such
as this, to “allow the department to trial-run a course to
strengthen the learning outcomes, judge student interest
and clean up any loose ends before submitting it to the of
ficial committee for curriculum.” Rased on Allen’s syllabus
and learning outcomes, the course was approved by the
division Dean Dr. Clarissa Myrick-Harris and faculty of the
department.
The class has also been cross listed by the African
American studies department.
The course is expected to outline various key concepts in
Rlack feminism and critical cultural theory and methodolo
gy. Described as “an interdisciplinary survey of Rlack lesbi
an, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGRTQ) culture
and politics” in the course’s syllabus, the class will serve as
an in-depth look into critical, social and cultural theory that
will vastly benefit the Morehouse community.
SafeSpace’s Public Relations Director Ja’Mal Lewis
believes that this course will finally shine light on the LGRT
figures that have been overlooked throughout history.
“Many influential LGRT leaders have gone unrecord
ed due to their sexuality, and they made many of the move
ments that changed and shaped our history,” Lewis said.
SafeSpace’s President, Kenneth Pass, has one ulti
mate goal in mind for the course.
“We’re not here to make people feel comfortable,
we’re here to make people think and this course will fos
ter a much needed discussion about the Rlack experience
through an LGRT lens here within Morehouse’s walls,” Pass
commented.
Dr. Allen is working to make this not just a worth
while educational experience, but also, more broadly, one
that will perpetuate growth and expressional, educated
freedom.
“I want students to be open and engaged in reading
closely, generously, and with what Gramci called something
like ‘pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will,”’ Allen
said. “That is, to relentlessly question and never settle for
a just-so story or interpretation that suggests, for example,
that any knowledge is innocent of the author’s own motives,
background or the times in which s/he lived ... This is my
general commitment as a pedagogue.”
The course (History and Culture of Black LGBT,
HSOC 300, CRN: 45022) is open for registration under the
sociology department on Tigernet. It will be offered on
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:50 P.M. to 5:05 P.M.
MOREHOUSE MEETS THEIR NEW PRESIDENT
Kayla Nelson
Campus News Editor
knelsoll@scmail.spelman.edu
“I am pleased to be returning to
my alma mater,” President-elect Dr.
John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79 said.
As the students began filing into the
Martin Luther King Jr. International
Chapel, Dean Kevin Booker could
be heard from the center doors com
manding, “First ten rows fellas; first
ten rows.”
It was a usual Tuesday morning
but November 27, 2012 was about to
mark something special. The presen
tation read, “Report of the Morehouse
College Presidential Search Commit
tee, Robert C. Davidson Jr., Chairman,
Morehouse College Board of Trustees.”
As students continued trickling
down the aisles in 12 second intervals,
men dressed in suits, no less, were con
vening at the right ends of the stage.
Clapping began at 11:05 A.M.
and a man appeared at the transparent
podium located center stage. After a
swift introduction, Dr. Robert Michael
Franklin ‘75 took his place. He spoke
few words and quickly made reference
to the new President-elect, Dr. Wilson.
The students instinctively rose to their
feet to welcome him.
Before he was set to speak, Dr.
John Williams, Dean over the division
of Business and Economics, began with
an explanation of the subject at hand.
He started outlining the steps that
went into finding the new president
who would be serving as the college’s
11th president in the school’s 145-year
history.
By 11:11 A.M. two-thirds of the
chapel was already filled and students
were still pooling in through the adja
cent doors.
At the 25 minute mark, Dean
Williams wrapped up his talk and in
troduced Dr. Wilson.
“Good morning everyone,”
Wilson greeted to the large gathering
of students. “The last time I stood here
was when I was delivering a com
mencement speech to classmates.”
Wilson then touched on his
more than 25 years in higher educa
tion which consisted of his work at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and his former position as the
executive director of President Barack
Obama’s White House Initiative on
Historically Black Colleges and Univer
sities.
Wilson quickly jumped into
sharing his time at Morehouse College.
“I had every intention of attend
ing Lincoln University,” he began. “I
had the name of my roommate and the
key to my dorm room.”
Wilson then shared how it must
have been divine intervention; “Some
thing happened and I decided I wanted
to go to Morehouse.”
He then crept into some very
honest territory.
“I loved Morehouse but I didn’t
always like it,” he bellowed as voices
from the crowd spoke in agreement. “I
didn’t like how it was being ran.”
The crowd continued to clap
and cheer. There was a unanimous
energy flowing throughout the chapel.
The tone then changed to one of
action.
“We need a surge in capital,” Wilson
explained, “so that we are in the pa
pers for the right reasons and not the
wrong ones.”
Wilson then began sharing the
significance of 2015, which will mark
his official arrival at the institution. In
1915, 100 years prior, the school was
renamed Morehouse College from
Atlanta Baptist College. He went on to
say that 2013 would be the 50th an
niversary of the “articulation of King’s
dream and the 150th anniversary of the
Emancipation Proclamation. Wilson
summed up by saying, “We need a new
kind of freedom.”
While sharing his hopes for the
college, Wilson touched on his friend
ship and alliance with fellow alumnus
Shelton “Spike” Lee ‘79.
“We met during freshman week
and have stayed [friends] ever since,”
he smiled.
Wilson’s experience and net
work will be a welcomed boost that
Morehouse will undoubtedly benefit
from. The college appears that it will
continue to be in good hands and can
look forward to an increase in funding,
student retention and a rising gradua
tion rate.
Though Dr. Robert M. Franklin
will be missed, it can be said with as
surance that Morehouse College will
be safely left in fully capable hands of
Dr. Wilson.
Interim Provost Sheftall will
serve as Interim President until Wilson
takes over the school’s presidency in
February.
NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2012
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