Morehouse College!!

Today was our last day touring schools and it had to have been one of the most insightful and homey tours of them all. Located right next to each other in the Atlantic University Center (AUC), Morehouse and Spelman Colleges truly stand out as Historically Black Colleges. Our “Y” group split up for the tours today- the young ladies having taken a tour of Spelman College while the young men took a tour of Morehouse College.

Morehouse College was established in 1867 as Augusta Institute and remains the only male only Historically Black College/University in the nation. Morehouse has a similar selection process to Spelman in that they are looking for promise and potential- future leaders of America and the globe.

 Once you step foot on Morehouse’s campus you can quickly recognize that the campus is full of rich history and tradition due in part by the monuments on campus. One such monument is a bronze statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (a Morehouse graduate), located to the left of King Chapel, which depicts Dr. King pointing across the way towards the lawn used during commencement ceremonies. The graduation lawn is said to be sacred to the college because past president Hugh Gloster is buried in the lawn and his wife’s ashes were spread over the same lawn. Students are not allowed to walk across the lawn until graduation.

Another monument on the campus is a statue of Benjamin Mays which marks the grave sites of Mays and his wife. Mays is accredited as being one of the men that has made Morehouse what it is today. During his graduation, Mays refused to turn his tassel to the right because he didn’t feel that graduation was the end of his education- to Mays, expanding your education only ends with death. Today, during graduation ceremonies, the students turn their tassel to the right as they walk across the stage, but they turn it back to the left after they exit.

One of the most memorable aspects of the campus for our young men was the King Chapel. They explained with great fervor how the chapel seats 2,001 people- 2000 for the Morehouse men and 1 for them- a future Morehouse man. Another memorable aspect for our students is Morehouse’s idea of their Renaissance Men- men who are Well-Dressed, Well-Spoken, Well-Read, Well-Traveled, and Well-Balanced. This sparked great interest with our students and have hopefully taught them to yearn for a higher personal standard.

After both groups completed their tours and ate lunch on their respective campuses, we all met up outside of the Morehouse College Bookstore. The students were so full of excitement about their experiences, and inquisitive of each others separate schools, we all decided to have a mini small group discussion in which both the male and female students got to summarize their college’s history, answer questions posed by some of the Champions, and share their personal sentiments about the colleges. It was a great time and hopefully we will be able to share some video footage with you all!

Well, since then we have left Morehouse and Spelman, left Atlanta,Georgia, had dinner, have enteredFlorida, and are currently on the road toTampaBay. Enjoy the photos! We have to get back to watching Avatar!

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