Morris Brown College's "Hard Reset"

The Thursday Thoughts!

Kudos are surely in order to Morris Brown College on earning full accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS)!

Nearly 20 years after financial mismanagement led to the College losing accreditation and the ability to offer financial aid to its students, what once was the largest school in the Atlanta University Center (AUC), and the only one founded by Blacks (AME Church) for Blacks, “Mo-Brown” is on its way back to prominence!

As a 15-year-old boy, my very first trip to the AUC in 1987 was not to visit my future alma mater, Morehouse College, but to attend the commencement exercises of my first cousin, Robert Parson, who graduated with a degree in accounting from Morris Brown. 

Cousin Rob (standing) next to his boys who were Miami Hurricanes and NFL superstars Jerome Brown (RIP), Tolbert Bain, Alonzo Highsmith, and Mel Bratton, at the Magic City nightclub in Atlanta circa ‘88

While I was well aware of the historic legacies of the AUC schools, which also included Clark College, Atlanta University, Spelman College, and the Interdenominational Theological Center, as Rob gave me my first tour in his car, I was totally surprised by how it was difficult to tell when you were leaving one campus and entering the next (with the lone exception being the heavily gated and quite secure Spelman College 😆). But even then, as I walked on the Morris Brown campus, the one closest to Atlanta's spectacular downtown vista, the visit served to hasten my desire to finish high school and head off to college! 

When I arrived in 1990 to begin my freshman year, the Sunday morning after we moved into our dorms, two new friends of mine, Scott Smith from Maryland and Brad Jackson from Miami, walked with me around the entirety of each AUC campus as we tried to take it all in. As history lovers, we understood the importance of these schools in lifting the veils of ignorance from so many of our ancestors who had never been formally educated due to slavery and Jim Crow customs. 

Aerial view of the Atlanta University Center

As with any college or university setting, rivalries surely existed within the AUC; the banter could range from light-hearted joking— to full-out fisticuffs, depending on the occasion. But from my vantage point, the love was genuine among most of the student body, especially those of us from the Deep South who had kin and friends from our home states pumping nothing but the latest 2 Live Crew, Poison Clan, and Jam Pony in their cars or at parties on the yard. 

But I am not naive, some of the joking was harsh and often touched upon some of the worst aspects of colorism and classism. I will never forget how the first time that I went to the Woodrfuff Library that each AUC school shared, that there was a large display on the first floor that featured blown up pictures of graduating classes from Clark, Morehouse, Morris Brown, and Spelman circa the early 1900s. What stood out to me in those photos, even in black and white, was how the complexion of most of the Morehouse, Spelman, and even some of the Clark graduates, was rather fair skinned, while the majority of the Morris Brown graduates depicted were darker complexioned! My mind began to drift to the old rumor that I had heard about the "paper bag" test and how there were quotas on how many darker skinned Blacks could enroll at Morehouse and Spelman.

Vintage picture of the Morris Brown baseball team, circa 19-teens

While I've never read any document that proves that such was true, I can attest that out of the HBCU's that I applied to, including Howard, Hampton, Tuskegee, Southern and FAMU, that the only application that required a recent photo was, you guessed it, Dear Old Morehouse!

These vintage photos of Spelman and Morehouse College tend to discredit the “paper bag” test, but those grad photos that I saw in ‘90 surely made me wonder…

So as I read thousands of celebratory posts this week, I also read several from Morris Brown alumni who, while proud of the reaccreditation, are still quite frustrated by some of the slights and jokes that their proud institution has endured.

One post came from a friend and Frat Brother of mine, Phillip Davenporte II, who wrote on his Facebook page:

"It's so crazy that Morris Brown College was clowned on and vilified when we lost accreditation. Now that we are fully accredited, we're still getting hate. It doesn't matter; it never mattered! We believed. That's all that matters. There has never been any shame in our game, when we were achieving in all industries, getting advanced degrees and keeping our legacy alive. Haters hate. Yall can all kick rocks. We've been out here achieving despite all the negative energy. We are back and we want our rightful place in the Atlanta University Center and our spot as a top producer of black graduates. It feels great to be a Wolverine!! We are a haven for all hungry souls!!

Nupe Davenporte and me at SpelHouse Homecoming circa ‘19

After showing love for his post, I added my thoughts in the comments: "Nupe, first, congratulations once again! Second, don't allow a few negative folks spoil the moment of joy that so many Morris Brown alumni and supporters have felt this week. I emphasize 'few' because the responses that I've seen, while anecdotal, have been overhelmingly positive! On my page, hundreds of friends/followers were very excited, with only a few being highly technical about the differences between one form of accreditation vs. another.  In one Spelman-Morehouse group that I am in, there were nearly 1k excited posts about having MBC back and the AUC being at full strength, and in the HBCU Alumni group, there were well in excess of 1k favorable responses to this glorious news! As an AME who also writes for The Christian Recorder, trust when I tell you that the news site's chief editor, John Thomas, and church leader Rod Belin—both Morehouse alums—and I, all have been anxiously awaiting the final hurdle ever since provisional accreditation was approved. Now that final approval has been reached, all of our focus is on heralding achievements and pulling for 'the hard reset' to turn into an outpouring of philanthropic gifts to see Morris Brown College thrive as it always did!"

I stand by these words because every single time that I have traveled to Atlanta since Morris Brown lost accreditation, including times that I've accompanied my mother and her Florida A&M HCASC team to tournament play in Atlanta, I have always conducted the same tour that my Big Cuz Rob gave me in '87, so that students can learn the legacies of these hallowed HBCU's!

I admit to getting choked up at times when I have ridden by Morris Brown's Herndon Stadium (above), near the historic Alonzo Herndon mansion, and noticed how the best stadium in the AUC, one that housed the best football team and the best band in the AUC, was silent as a tomb and riddled with graffiti. So I allowed myself a moment this week to smile and imagine that God willing, that Herndon stadium will be back rocking within the next decade, with a large student body showing their Wolverine pride in the classroom and in competition!

So again, kudos are in order to Bishop Reginald Jackson, all of the Reverend clergy and laity who have supported Morris Brown through storm and sunshine, as well as past President Stanley Pritchett and current President Kevin James, for keeping the faith and bringing back one of America's true academic treasures!   

Morris Brown College Kevin E. James, PhD