Black History Makers: Morehouse College Founders' Day

Get the Point!

I have always believed that love and respect for America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities begins in the home, and I conclude as much because my parents, Charles and Vivian Hobbs, met on the campus of Florida A&M University in the 1960’s and from my earliest memories, were always singing the praises of their alma mater and her Sister HBCU's. 

“Dear Old Morehouse…”

In fact, my own path to Morehouse began when I was a kindergartener, as my mother read me a story about Dr. Martin Luther King and told me that he was a Morehouse Man—even though I didn't have a real clue at that time as to why he was so important to her—and why Morehouse was so important to him!

In 1980, my family moved to Tallahassee when my father took command of his last military assignment, which was as Professor of Military Science for FAMU's Army ROTC. We arrived in Tallahassee in June and that August, my mother took me down to her first alma mater, FAMU High School, and introduced me to her old principal, Mr. Matthew H. Estaras.

FAMU High Principal Emeritus Matthew Estaras (left), a Morehouse Man who was initiated into the “Grand” Pi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, with Mr. Harry Holt, a Tuskegee and Omega Man who served for many year’s as the school’s assistant principal and stern—but loving—disciplinarian. RIP

When we were summoned back to see Estaras by his longtime administrative assistant, Mrs. Evelyn Gary, what stood out to me that morning was that right outside of his office in the hallway was this HUGE poster that had the caption: "Be Somebody...Be a Morehouse Man!" The poster had several Black males wearing business suits while sporting big Afros, glasses, and looking sharp as razors! Now, I recognized the school name from my mother's prior readings, so when Estaras, a proud Morehouse Man, caught me staring transfixed, he placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "perhaps you, too, will become a Morehouse Man someday?"

In 1983, my dad brought back this brochure from a conference that he attended in Atlanta, one that had the very same caption as the poster that I had seen in Mr. Estaras' office in ‘80, “Be Somebody…Be a Morehouse Man!”

Years later, as a 9th grade student at FAMU High, my schoolmates and I were invited to a college fair that was held in the Perry-Paige building on campus, and it was there that for the very first time I encountered recruiters from several other HBCU's, including Mississippi Valley State, Grambling, Southern, Prairie View, and Hampton. 

During this same era, the Tallahassee Chapter of Jack and Jill teen group took an HBCU tour through Georgia and Alabama, and while I totally enjoyed visiting Albany State University and Fort Valley State for the first time, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by our visit to Tuskegee University, where I learned all about the rich history of that school—and the fact that its early buildings were designed and built by formerly enslaved Black hands! 

In addition to having a picturesque campus that was designed and developed by Black hands, the Tuskegee campus cemetery (above) is the final resting place for the great Booker T. Washington, and the equally great George Washington Carver…

So, by the end of 9th grade, Morehouse had some competition in my mind from Tuskegee and Howard University, the latter due to that part of me that never got over leaving Maryland in ‘80 and still longed to return to the Washington, D.C. area.

But then 10th grade came along, and on the weekend of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church lock in during Spring Break ‘88, the church leaders took over 100 students to the old Parkway Five Movie Theater to watch Morehouse alumnus Spike Lee's "School Daze," a film that had been released to critical acclaim one month earlier in February. At that point, I had yet to actually visit Morehouse or the Atlanta University Center (where the film was shot), so seeing the campuses on the big screen—and the serious debates and shenanigans of students at fictional "Mission College,” placed Morehouse squarely back in the lead for my future collegiate home. 

Now, I often have people ask me why I didn't stay home and attend FAMU as an undergrad, and the simple reason is that both of my parents felt that it was important for me to have some new scholastic experiences. In fact, Dad often said that "a boy needs to leave the comforts of home and find his way in the world," so as I moved closer to my senior year of high school, while I had a shoebox filled with recruitment letters from PWI's like Duke, Princeton, Rutgers, Emory, Florida State, and almost daily letters from the University of Florida, my final college choices boiled down to Morehouse, Howard, Tuskegee, Hampton, and Southern University, the latter primarily due to my affinity for their "Human Jukebox" Marching Band, and nearly a dozen beautiful members of Alpha Kappa Alpha that my first cousin Rolanda Hobbs brought to our house en route to their Spring Break during my senior year of high school 😂. 

But looking back, I was really and truly torn between Morehouse and Howard, so when I got the above brochure in the mail, one that featured a group of Morehouse Brothers looking as focused at the original "Be Somebody...Be a Morehouse Man" poster that I had admired nearly a decade earlier in Mr. Estaras's office, I took it as a sign that my destiny awaited in Southwest Atlanta. 

Me and my fellow Morehouse quiz bowl teammates during our thrilling semifinals victory over North Carolina Central University that aired on BET during the summer of ‘93…

34 years later, as we Morehouse Men celebrate Founder's Day (February 14, 1867), and the “Legendary” Class of ‘94 prepares to celebrate our 30th anniversary, I still consider choosing Morehouse to be among the best decisions that I ever made!