Morris Brown

I am not a graduate of an HBCU. My parents are. And one of my siblings is. Dozens of my friends are products of HBCUs. Sometimes I get the shoulda, woulda, coulda moments of regret about not matriculating from an HBCU. So, it saddens my heart to read about the woes still facing one.
Morris Brown.

Given the severity of financial distress in this nation, I’m worried Morris Brown may not make it through. The unpaid water bill is raising a specter of doom over the institution. Times are rough. Out of curiousity, did any body seek Johnetta B. Cole’s (current president of Bennett College and former president of Spelman College) savvy administration skills—she brought Bennett into the black? Currently, enrollment is 240, but I guess that is a step up from 56. There was a point in time enrollment nearly peaked at 3,000. And I wonder, how many applicants are applying for the fall of 2009? After the institution’s previous loss of accreditation back in 2002, I'm sure there image hasn’t quite been the same. I’m sure in the school’s restructuring loan, funding most have been contingent on enrolling a specific number of students. I wonder if a viable option is the demise of Morris Brown as we know it, yet the consortium of HBCUs in Atlanta could absorb the campus, thereby allowing the legacy of the HBCU to be sustained. Should the city of Atlanta have mercy over its soul?

I do believe alumnus Louise Hollowell has it right, “We want people to help us, we must get up and help ourselves first.” A Yes We-Care fundraiser is in full effect and alumni and students are banding together in hopes of resolving the imminent problems plaguing the institution. There is so much irony in this story.

Well folks when you poppin’ champagne tonight or praying at church, be thankful and be safe. Happy New Year!


cheers,

Bellini