Morehouse College: A Legacy of Excellence and Leadership

Morehouse College, a private, all-male, historically black liberal arts college located in Atlanta, Georgia, has a rich history of developing leaders and fostering a strong sense of brotherhood. Founded in 1867, Morehouse has grown into the largest men's liberal arts college in the United States, boasting a diverse student body and a distinguished faculty. With a commitment to academic rigor, social justice, and global citizenship, Morehouse continues to be a premier institution for African-American men seeking to make a difference in the world.

Founding and Early Years

In 1867, two years after the American Civil War, the Augusta Institute was founded by William Jefferson White, an Atlanta Baptist minister and cabinetmaker, with the support of the Rev. Richard C. Coulter, a former slave from Atlanta, Georgia, and the Rev. Edmund Turney, organizer of the National Theological Institute for educating freedmen in Washington, D.C. The institution was founded to educate African-American men in theology and other subjects, at Springfield Baptist Church (Augusta, Georgia), the oldest independent Black church in the United States. The school received sponsorship from the American Baptist Home Mission Society, an organization that helped establish several historically Black colleges. The institute's first president was the Rev. Joseph T. Robert (1871-1884).

In 1879, the institute moved to Atlanta and changed its name to the Atlanta Baptist Seminary. It later acquired a 4-acre (1.6 ha) campus in downtown Atlanta. In 1885, Samuel T. Graves became the second president. That year the seminary moved to its present location, on land given by a prominent Baptist and industrialist, John D. Rockefeller.

Growth and Transformation

In 1890, George Sale became the seminary's third president. In 1899, William E. Holmes served as acting president briefly. In 1906, John Hope became the first African-American president and led the institution's growth in enrollment and academic stature. He envisioned an academically rigorous college that would be the antithesis to Booker T. Washington's view of agricultural and trade-focused education for African Americans.

In 1913, the college was renamed Morehouse College, in honor of the Rev. Henry L. Morehouse, corresponding secretary for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. Samuel H. Archer became the fifth president of the college in 1931 and chose the school colors, maroon and white, to reflect his own alma mater, Colgate University. Benjamin Mays became president in 1940. Mays, who became a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., presided over the growth in international enrollment and reputation.

Read also: Discover Astonishing Facts

A Legacy of Leadership

Morehouse College has a long and impressive history of producing extraordinary leaders, visionaries, and pillars of the community. The development of leaders is the ultimate goal of Morehouse College, an all-male school in Atlanta that seeks to send “Morehouse Men” into the world as strong, critical thinkers. Mentorship is the bedrock of a Morehouse education, and the school’s 16-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio helps create a close-knit culture where professors act as both teachers and guides.

Morehouse is one of two black colleges in the country to produce Rhodes Scholars, and it is the alma mater of many celebrated African Americans, including civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and filmmaker Spike Lee. Other notable alumni include actor Samuel L. Jackson, Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, former Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, and many more who proudly represent the Morehouse ideals. The school has a distinguished history of producing health professionals, with more than a thousand physicians and dentists among its alumni.

Academic Programs and Opportunities

Morehouse offers more than 30 majors and the Howard Thurman Honors Program which is a selective academic program providing special opportunities for students of outstanding intellectual ability, high motivation, and broad interests. Students can choose from thirty-three majors spread across seven academic divisions, ranging from Software Engineering to Journalism in Sports, Culture, and Justice. Students work toward specific learning outcomes such as the practice of global citizenship or the demonstration of integrative learning of Black life, history, and culture. The college’s general education curriculum grants a groundwork in African and African diasporic heritage using texts, examples, perspectives, and principles of Black people across time, and a breadth requirement ensures that all students receive a balanced liberal arts education that touches upon the thematic areas of arts, literature, and ideas.

Eight different centers and institutes support classroom instruction while also providing opportunities for research and service. The Morehouse College Honors Program is a four-year comprehensive program providing unique learning opportunities for outstanding students. Attendees are encouraged to take an active interest in social outreach, and to participate in global studies and study abroad.

Campus and Facilities

Morehouse has a 61-acre (250,000 m2) campus. Anchored by its main campus of 61 acres (25 ha) near downtown Atlanta, the college has a variety of residential dorms and academic buildings east of Ashview Heights. The campus is a 66-acre complex near downtown Atlanta, with close proximity to major highways and transportation centers (including the Atlanta airport).

Read also: Exploring UCF

The campus features a variety of facilities, including:

Archer Hall: Holds the college's recreational facilities such as its gymnasium, swimming pool, and game room.
B. T. Harvey Stadium/Edwin Moses Track: A 9,000-seat stadium built in 1983. The track is named after the only alumnus to win an Olympic gold medal.
Brazeal Hall: A dormitory built in 1991. It housed athletes during the time of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Aretha Robinson Music Academic Building: A 76,000-square-foot (7,100 m2) facility dedicated on September 29, 2010.
Chivers Hall/Lane Hall: The cafeteria of the college and has been featured in many movies.
Douglass Hall: Originally built as the school's student center but today serves as an academic readiness center.
DuBois Hall: A freshman dorm erected in 1973, named after philosopher W. E. B. Du Bois.
Franklin L. Forbes Arena: A 5,700-seat capacity arena, built for the 1996 Olympic Games. It is now the main gymnasium for the college's basketball team and holds many events year-round.
Graves Hall: Home to the Howard Thurman Honors Program and Bonner Scholars. When constructed in the 1880s, it was the tallest building in Atlanta.
Hope Hall: Was known as the Science Building, then later the Biology Building.
Hubert Hall: A freshman dorm named after Charles D. Hubert.
Kilgore Campus Center: Houses administrative offices, as well as several seminar rooms and lounges.
Living Learning Center (LLC): Formerly known as Thurman Hall.
Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel/Gloster Hall: Built in 1978 as the new auditorium and administration building for Morehouse College, replacing Sale and Harkness halls. It is home to the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Reconciliation Institute.
Mays Hall: Named after the sixth president of Morehouse College, Benjamin Mays.
Merrill Hall: Became the chemistry building. The 2000s (decade) saw Merrill Hall undergo a renovation that doubled its size.
Nabrit-Mapp-McBay Hall: Houses the Biology department.
Otis Moss Jr. Residential Suites: Apartment, studio, and suite dwellings built in 2003.
Perdue Hall: A residences hall built around the time of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Robert Hall: Was erected to be the college's first residence hall.
Sale Hall: The department building for religion and philosophy courses.
Shirley A. Massey Executive Conference Center: Houses several large conference rooms and the Bank of America Auditorium.
Walter E. Massey Leadership Center: Houses the Business Administration and Economics departments, the Bonner Office of Community Service as well as other offices.

Traditions and Campus Life

New Student Orientation (NSO) is an eight-day experience that culminates with new students ceremoniously initiated as Men of Morehouse. They learn about the legacy of the college, traditions, academic divisions, the brotherhood, and the "Morehouse Mystique". These components complement academic success strategies designed to help them successfully matriculate to Morehouse Men (graduates).

Morehouse has 10 residence halls on campus. Approximately 60% of Morehouse students live on campus. Five residence halls are for first-year students only and five for upperclassmen only. It is a tradition for students living in first-year only residence halls to compete in various friendly competitions (i.e. stroll-offs, chant-offs, pranks, fundraising, etc.) during the academic school year.

The Morehouse College Marching Band, better known as the House of Funk, is known for their halftime performances which combine dance and marching with music from various genres, including rap, traditional marching band music, and pop music. They have performed at Super Bowl XXVIII, the Today Show, at Atlanta Falcons home games, and in a national commercial with Morehouse alumnus Samuel Jackson.

Morehouse's debate team claims to have been formed in 1906. In 2005, Morehouse College became a member of the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA). Founded in 1911, the Morehouse College Glee Club has a long and impressive history.

Read also: Exploring Language Learning

Admissions and Student Body

Morehouse attracts undergraduates from across the country and from a wide variety of backgrounds. While the school is predominantly black, great diversity is apparent within the school body. There are quite a few different types of people, and plenty of different social groups in which one might find himself, yet the campus is linked by a sincere "brotherhood" feeling, and most students fit in pretty well. The typical student is ambitious and goal-oriented, and most are highly invested in their education.

The average Morehouse College student has a 3.6 GPA, a 1170 combined SAT score, and has completed 4 AP/IB courses before their freshman year. With such high standards, its no wonder that the school ranks among America’s Most Grueling Colleges (according to the Huffington Post). Morehouse College is one of the two HBCUs in the United States that have produced Rhodes Scholars, and to this day, Morehouse is the number one feeder school for black males who are entering Ivy League graduate programs.

Commitment to Social Justice

Morehouse College is deeply committed to social justice and community engagement. In October 2009, Morehouse College initiated a campus wide attire policy that prohibits students from wearing women's clothes, jewelry on their teeth, pajamas as classroom attire, du-rags or bandanas on their heads, or pants which hang below the waist at official college-sponsored events. This dress code is part of the Five Wells which holds that "Morehouse Men are Renaissance Men with a social conscience and global perspective who are Well-Read, Well-Spoken, Well-Traveled, Well-Dressed and Well-Balanced."

Morehouse College is also home to a 10,000-piece collection of original documents written by Martin Luther King Jr. (referred to as the King Collection). The set was valued by the Library of Congress as being worth between $28 and $30 million. On June 29, it was announced by Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin that a new civil rights museum would be built in the city to make the documents available for research, public access and exhibits.

Athletics

As a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Morehouse College has seven varsity sports that students can participate in: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, tennis, and track & field. Many of the alumni who have participated in MC’s athletics have built successful careers in professional sports, including Ramon Harewood, Harold Ellis, Isaac Keys, Edwin C. Moses. But during the fall semester, Morehouse College football is the most popular sport on campus.

Recent Developments

Morehouse celebrated several historic milestones in 2013. One century prior, in 1913, Atlanta Baptist College was renamed Morehouse College after Henry Lyman Morehouse, corresponding secretary for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. 2013 was also the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, when Morehouse graduate Martin Luther King Jr., class of 1948, delivered his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The year also marked the 50th anniversary of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". In May 2013, President Barack Obama became the first sitting president in three-quarters of a century to deliver a commencement address in Georgia when he took part in Morehouse College's 129th Commencement ceremony.

In April 2019, Morehouse announced that they will begin admitting transgender men for the first time in the year 2020. In May 2019, Robert F. Smith paid off the student loans of the Class of 2019. In June 2020, Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin donated $40 million to Morehouse College to be used as scholarship funds for students enrolled at Morehouse. In January 2022, Morehouse announced the establishment of the Black Men's Research Institute.

tags: #morehouse #college #interesting #facts