Morgan Magazine 2009 Issue

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V O L U M E I 2 0 0 9

M A G A Z I N E

MSU President Earl S. RichardsonA Remarkable JourneyA Remarkable Journey

Fellow Morganites,

Jasmine and I are profoundly grateful for the opportunity we have been

given to serve Morgan State University as Student Government Associa-

tion president and vice president for the 2009–2010 academic year. Morgan

pride has flowed through our veins for quite some time. My brother gradu-

ated from Morgan in 2005, and Jasmine’s parents graduated from the Univer-

sity in the 1980s. We entered Morgan in the fall of 2006 ready to succeed and

build on the legacy of our families.

From the beginning, Jasmine and I have been very active in extracurricular

activities. However, we always dreamed of a better Morgan, one where stu-

dents were put first and students’ concerns were tackled with diligence and

tenacity. Morgan State University was once known as a place where students

held their heads high, simply glad to be a part of the rich orange and blue

legacy.

We want to get Morgan back to what it once was. We want today’s students

to be able to reflect many years from now on their Morgan experience and

remember the Bear Pride expressed at the Saturday football games, the

chanting of the Live Squad, participating in the Homecoming Parade and

letting loose on I Love Morgan Day.

Another important goal of ours is to spread the Morgan spirit throughout

the city of Baltimore. Unfortunately, Morgan students have become out of

touch with our surrounding community. We often forget that Baltimore is

our home and that community outreach only enhances one’s college experi-

ence. For this reason, we plan to implement various community service ini-

tiatives during our term. We are going into the community, the community

that desperately needs our support! As the SGA president and vice presi-

dent, we will work diligently to educate the Morgan community about the

history of historically black colleges and about black history in general.

On behalf of the students of Morgan, we thank our retiring president, Dr.

Earl S. Richardson, for his 25 years of faithful service, and we wish him and

First Lady Dr. Sheila B. Richardson all the best in their new endeavors. We

hope that you, the alumni, will continue to support the students during the

University’s next era of greatness. We are your future and hope to make you

proud.

When you come back for Homecoming or Alumni Day, please stop by our

office located in the University Student Center, Room 203. Jasmine and I are

well aware that the support of the entire Morgan family is vital to our suc-

cess as student leaders and are extremely grateful for each Morganite’s con-

tribution to making Morgan State University great!

Melissa LongleySGA President, 2009–2010

Jasmine T. CurrySGA Vice President, 2009–2010

Sincerely,

STUDENTGOVERNMENTASSOCIATION

MESSAGEFROM THE

SGA

MSU Student Governmentleaders Jasmine Curry (L)and Melissa Longley (R).

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Vice President forInstitutional Advancement

Cheryl Y. [email protected]

Director of Public Relations andCommunications

Clinton R. [email protected]

Assistant Director of PublicRelations and Communications

Kelvin [email protected]

Morgan Magazine is published by the Division of Institutional Advancement of MSU foralumni, parents, faculty, students, prospective students and friends.Morgan Magazine isdesigned and edited by the Office of Public Relations and Communications. Opinions expressedinMorgan Magazine are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of theUniversity. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs are welcome but will be returned only ifaccompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Letters are also welcome.

Correspondence should be directed to:Morgan MagazineMorgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Truth Hall, #109, Baltimore, MD 21251443-885-3022 office • 443-885-8297 fax • [email protected]

Morgan State UniversityMagazineVolume I 2009

M O R G A N M A G A Z I N E S T A F F

T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

History Lives in'The City of theDead'Mount AuburnCemetery

Winners!Strong Coach, NewCulture BringSuccess to MorganBasketball

ImprovingHealth in UrbanAmericaMSU’s School ofCommunity Healthand Policy

20 23 28

The BernardOsher Re-EntryScholarshipProgramCenter forContinuing andProfessional Studies

The GoldsekerFellowsProgramGraduate StudentGrants

Home-GrownSuccessWriter and ActorSamm-Art Williams,MSU ’68

PerfectExposurePhotojournalist forEbony and Jet BeganHis Career atMorgan

14 15 16 18

Letterfrom thePresidentDr. Earl S.Richardson

RemarkableJourneyThe Richardson Era

CommencementHighlightsActivism,ChangeMorgan’s 133rdGraduation

Honda All-StarChallengeGolden Bears Shinein AcademicCompetition

PublicationsManager

Ferdinand [email protected]

Art Director(Magazine Design)

David E. [email protected]

Sr. Graphic DesignerAndre Barnett

[email protected]

Photographer(Magazine Cover)

P. A. [email protected]

CommunicationsAssistant

Kevin [email protected]

ContributingPhotographer

Ferdinand Mehlinger

ContributingEditor

Eric Addison

ContributingWriters

Hope Ambush Chambers

Adrienne Gibbs

Wiley A. Hall 3rd

Brenda Thompson Henderson

Christina Royster-Hemby

Morgan Magazine,Volume II 2008,winner of the 2009APEX Award forPublication Excellence

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Office of the President

1700 E. Cold Spring Lane • Truth Hall, Room 403 • Baltimore, MD 21251(443) 885-3200 • Fax (443) 885-3107

Sincerely,

Earl S. RichardsonPresident

Alumni and Friends,Those in other areas of endeavor often express frustration with the language of academia: the tendency of

some educators to use overlong sentences, arcane, multisyllabic words, and terms used nowhere else. Of

course, these faults are far from universal. Consider the elegance of the academic term “commencement.”

“I could not believe the journey and experience had ended until I was up on stage at commencement,

pinching myself, giving thanks and praise for a purpose and a new journey. Thanks to my home away from

home, Morgan State University!”These are words from a Morgan graduate, Angela Riley, MSU Class of 2009, and you will find them later

in this magazine. To my mind, they capture perfectly the essence of the experience of graduation: disbelief at

the accomplishment, joy at a new beginning and knowledge that the place you are leaving will always be

your home.As I prepare for my own commencement, with my retirement from the presidency of this great institution in

December, I feel Ms. Riley’s words in my heart.I reflect on my 25 years of service to Morgan with the profoundest gratitude toward all those with whom I

have worked to make the University what it is today: a magnificent work in progress, one that is growing

and developing in its academic and research offerings, in its student successes and in its physical

infrastructure.As you will read in these pages, Morgan’s influence in the broader community also continues to grow — in

the arts, with renowned alumni such as playwright and actor Samm-Art Williams and photojournalist

Dudley M. Brooks; in the public policy arena, with innovative programs such as those of MSU’s School of

Public Health and Policy; in athletics, as exemplified by Morgan’s championship performance in basketball;

in historical preservation, with the University’s role in the restoration of Mt. Auburn Cemetery, and in many

other areas.My greatest desire, as always, is to see Morgan’s legacy expand, and I will continue to do all I can toward

that outcome, as I have for the past quarter-century.I look forward to working with you shoulder to shoulder for the good of the University, and I welcome you

back to your alma mater with this issue of Morgan Magazine.

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25-Year PresidencyDr. Earl S. Richardson’s

Remarkable JourneyThe Richardson EraBy Eric Addison

Earl S.Richardson came to

Morgan as interim president in Feb-ruary 1984. By that time, at age 41,he’d acquired a wealth of experienceover 19 years in educational admin-istration — with the University ofMaryland System as assistant to thepresident and at the University ofMaryland Eastern Shore (UMES) asassistant to the chancellor, then asdirector of Career Planning andPlacement, then as acting director ofAdmissions and Registration. Hiseducational credentials were just assolid: a bachelor’s degree in socialscience from UMES, and master’sand doctoral degrees in educationadministration from the Universityof Pennsylvania.

After eight months, his job atMorgan became permanent: Dr.Richardson was appointed the Uni-versity’s 11th president on Nov. 1,1984. Since then, Morgan has expe-rienced tremendous growth anddevelopment — in the credentialsof its faculty, in its academic pro-grams, in its learning and livingfacilities, in the qualifications of itsincoming students, in its impact on

the diversity of thenation’s work force, in research dol-lars attracted to the University, infunds raised for the University, andin many other areas.

“Dr. Richardson has really imple-mented the vision as reflected inthe University’s enhancement plan.He has moved the University for-ward significantly,” says Dallas R.Evans, chairman of MSU’s Board ofRegents. “For example, one of thegoals has always been to have theUniversity as a doctoral-grantingresearch institution, and weachieved that two years ago. He hastaken the University to a pinnaclewhere it had not been previously inits history.”

On Dec. 31, with Dr. Richardson’sretirement, Morgan will close thedoor on another era. For now, formany Morganites, the question ishow and in what direction theirinstitution will continue to progress.But that’s getting ahead of the story.Rough Landscape

In November of 1984, there weremany in Morgan’s family who didnot envy the new president.

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“HIS ARE ‘SHOES OF SUCCESS’ THAT WILL BE DIFFICULT, AND IN REALITY NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE,

TO FILL…. DR. RICHARDSON HAS BEEN BOTH EXPERT MANAGER AND INSPIRING LEADER.”

—Dr. Burney J. Hollis, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, MSU

Burney J. Hollis, Ph.D. has deep roots in Mor-gan State University. An outstanding scholarwho graduated summa cum laude from Morganin 1968, Dr. Hollis has been dean of the Univer-sity’s College of Liberal Arts for the past 10 years.By his own account, he was educated at Morganby some of the ablest scholars in American highereducation, some of whom, themselves, were edu-cated at Morgan. After getting his doctorate, Dr.Hollis returned to his alma mater as an assistantprofessor of English in 1970. He’s been a memberof the faculty ever since.“In this sense,” he says,” I am a very proud

graduate of Morgan and one who has a greatdeal vested in its progress and its future.”After that full disclosure, Dean Hollis goes on to

label his early days at Morgan as the tail end ofthe University’s “Second Era of Great Progress.”“The first of the eras was under the leadership

of Dr. John Oakley Spencer (1902–1936), Mor-gan’s first leader with academic credentials, whenMorgan reached a level of prominence as a lib-eral arts institution and won its first accreditationby the Middle States Association of Colleges andSchools,” Dr. Hollis writes.“The second era of prosperity was under Dr.

Martin D. Jenkins (1948–1970), when Morganearned distinction from Middle States and wasdesignated a model liberal arts institution,” hecontinues.Dr. Hollis calls the period between 1984 and

the present Morgan’s “Third Era of GreatProgress,” when it became “Maryland’s publicurban research university…not only in name butalso in fact.” He has another name for this time,also: the “Era of Dr. Earl S. Richardson.”

Burney J. Hollis, Ph.D.

Earl S. Richardson, Ed.D.—Mid-1980s

“Now that you mention it, the begin-ning of his tenure was somewhat likethe beginning of Obama’s tenure,” saysRuthe T. Sheffey, Ph.D., MSU Class of’47, a longtime professor of English atMorgan and one of the scholars Dr.Hollis praises for training him well.“Deeply, deeply troubled, with major,major problems that had to be solved.”

Between Dr. Jenkins’ resignation in1970 and Dr. Richardson’s arrival,Morgan had had two presidents — KingVergil Cheek, J.D. and Andrew Billingsley,Ph.D. Thomas P. Fraser, Ed.D. had servedtwice as interim president.

By the end of Dr. Billingsley’s tenure,by many accounts, the institution was inturmoil. The faculty’s and students’ dis-satisfaction with the University adminis-tration was high, infighting among fac-ulty and staff was rampant, enrollmentwas declining, and many Morganitesfeared the school was on the verge ofcollapse.

Clara Adams, Ph.D., now special assis-tant to the president of Morgan State,was vice president for Academic Affairsfor the University then. She joinedMorgan’s faculty in 1959, during theJenkins administration, after earningthree degrees in chemistry, including abachelor’s from Morgan.

“The problems weren’t with Morgan.The problems were with our externalenvironment,” Dr. Adams says. “WhenDr. Jenkins was here, we got what wegot primarily because of his doggedpersistence. He would go down to thestate legislature, and he would prettymuch demand what he should have(for) his programs at the college.

“In the late ’60s, the state started toexpand public higher education,” shecontinues. “All of the state teachers col-leges were made state colleges, andMorgan was forced under the Board ofTrustees of State Colleges of Marylandwith them. After that, whenever Dr.Jenkins would ask for anything, the

answer was, ‘Morgan is already anestablished liberal arts college. We haveto develop these other schools.’

“So, I feel that between the time that(Dr. Jenkins) left and during the five yearsCheek was the president and the almost10 years following that Dr. Billingsleywas the president, Morgan went through15 years of benign neglect.”

And, help was not forthcoming fromthe federal level, says Kweisi Mfume,MSU Class of 1976 and a currentmember of Morgan’s Board of Regents.When Dr. Richardson took on Morgan’spresidency, Mfume was a member of theBaltimore City Council. Three years later,Maryland’s 7th District sent thecouncilman to the U.S. House ofRepresentatives.

“Basically, historically black collegeswere viewed by the majority in Congressas entities to be rolled into larger col-lege and university campuses,” Mfumesays. “Congress as a whole just did notstep up with the kind of leadership thatwas required, because HBCUs just werenot a top agenda item.”

It was onto this hazardous politicallandscape that Dr. Richardson made hisentrance, determined to launch a Ren-aissance of Morgan State University.

Challenge and CharacterOne of the new president’s first chal-

lenges was convincing a dispirited, mis-trustful faculty that he had the Univer-sity’s best interest at heart.

“…One of the things that the facultywas a little upset about is we raisedadmission standards,” Dr. Adams says.“(The previous administrations) didn’tcall it open admissions, but that’sessentially what they were doing. Andwe decided that, no, if we wanted toattract some of the best students, wehad to revise our admission standards.

“A lot of the faculty were against Dr.Richardson, also, because they thoughthe had been appointed to merge us withthe University of Maryland. Theythought there was some ulteriormotive,” Dr. Adams continues.

“To add insult to injury, in Dr.Richardson’s very first legislative ses-sion, that following January, 1985, hewas told that he had to retrench 40 fac-ulty,” she recalls. “They wanted 40 fac-ulty members to go in one fell swoop(because) Morgan’s enrollment haddeclined. Well, Dr. Richardson had suffi-cient political savvy that he was able toconvince them to let him do that overtwo years. He came up with an earlyretirement package for those that wereat a certain age and had given a certainnumber of years of service. So, some ofthem that were most upset about theretrenchment cooled right down.

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Dr. Richardson and Dr. Clara Adams at the

ground-breaking of MSU’s Schaefer Engi-

neering Building

Dallas R. Evans

“DR. RICHARDSON HAS REALLY IMPLEMENTED THE VISION AS REFLECTED IN THE UNIVER-

SITY’S ENHANCEMENT PLAN. HE HAS MOVED THE UNIVERSITY FORWARD SIGNIFICANTLY.”

—Dallas R. Evans, Chairman of the Board of Regents, MSU

“Within five years, I would say, the fac-ulty was clear that he was here to buildthe University,” Dr. Adams says.

Dr. Sheffey finds deep significance inDr. Richardson’s handling of the facultyretrenchment situation.

“I think his administration can becharacterized by an attempt to take ondifficult issues and sometimesunpleasant ones but to do it ashumanely and as compassionately aspossible,” she says. “This year, we hadthe same problem, the problem of doingsomething about cutting back thesalaries and the budget, and here again,he did what he’s characterized bydoing…. You can say that’s a character-istic when it holds over 25 years.”

Linda Farrar, administrative assistantto Dr. Richardson, concurs. She hasbeen a member of the president’s staffat Morgan since she graduated from theUniversity in 1972.

“I have worked under several presi-dents, and each has brought his ownunique set of talents. None, however,has been more considerate, compas-sionate, committed or productive thanDr. Richardson,” Farrar says.

“I have often said to him that leadingthe University is his mission; it is hisministry given him by God,” Farrar says.“When Dr. Jenkins was president, heused to talk about going the ‘secondmile.’ That’s what Dr. Richardson does.He gives his all, plus more.”

Evans of the Board of Regents

describes Dr. Richardson as “verysecure” and “very thoughtful.”

“And he does his homework,” Evansadds. “That’s why he has been suc-cessful and why the University has beensuccessful.”

“The other thing he does very well islisten,” Evans continues. “He listens toall of the various points of view. Then hecomes back with the facts and thinksthrough what the position of the institu-tion should be.”

“He went prepared and made a con-vincing argument” to the lawmakers inAnnapolis, Dr. Adams relates. “(He)would go to the budget hearings with allof his charts and tables; he took stu-dents to have them speak on some ofthe things they were doing and wherethey were going when they graduated.”

“He really brought us to true univer-sity status,” she says. “…(Dr.Richardson) was young, a brand newpresident, had had no experience inbeing a president, and I think Morgan’sopponents thought that we were goingto just self-destruct, that it was just amatter of time,” Dr. Adams says. “(But) itdidn’t happen. He came in and turnedthis place around.”Engineering a Future

Dr. Richardson also helped buildthings from scratch at Morgan, when itwas called for, as in the case of theSchool of Engineering.

Morgan’s engineering school openedin May 1984, the result of planning by

the Billingsley administration. A statecommittee and MSU’s top administra-tors had determined the school wasnecessary to address the lack of minori-ties in a critical field.

“Dr. Richardson realized that theSchool of Engineering was a criticalpiece of the puzzle for Morgan movingforward,” recalls Eugene M. DeLoatch,Ph.D., Morgan’s dean of engineering. “Asa result, he made that an essential partof his early platform.”

As Morgan’s interim president, Dr.Richardson interviewed Dr. DeLoatchand hired him in July 1984, but notbefore the interviewee had also sized uphis future boss.

“I wasn’t exactly seeking this job whenI was recruited,” Dr. DeLoatch admits. “Ihad a firm impression of Dr. Richardsonbecause he had a vision, and he waspersistent. And he knew that he wantedto establish a quality effort at Morgan,as well as at the engineering school atMorgan. He was someone who wascommitted to working as hard as thepeople he chose to work with him.”

It was Dr. Richardson’s commitmentto give the engineering school theresources and the support of his admin-istration that convinced Dr. DeLoatch tomove from Howard University toMorgan, he says.

“He is a fighter,” Dr. DeLoatch says.“…We worked as a team. I was to be theone with some vision for engineering,and he would be the one to put his best

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MSU’s Richard N. Dixon Building, during construction

The William Donald SchaeferEngineering BuildingDr. Richardson views construction

progress at the MSU Student Center

Clara Adams, Ph.D.

“HE REALLY BROUGHT US TO TRUE UNIVERSITY STATUS.”—Dr. Clara Adams, Special Assistant to the President, MSU

effort forward to make sure theresources were here to reach thosegoals.”

The results of their teamwork are nowapparent, in the impressive physicalinfrastructure of the school, includingtwo state-of-the-art buildings; in the$10–12 million per year in research dol-lars the School of Engineering brings tothe University; and, most important, inthe human resources the school hasdeveloped. In the past 25 years, theengineering school faculty has grownfrom one member to 40, and MorganState has produced 1,600 bachelor’s,master’s and doctoral degree holders infour engineering specialties. Before theSchool of Engineering opened, “theState of Maryland hardly produced morethan 50 African-American engineeringgraduates a year,” Dr. DeLoatch says.“Now we’re steadily in the 180, 190output range, and typically 50 percent orbetter of those students come off thecampus here at Morgan State University.”

All of this growth and accomplish-ment, Dr. DeLoatch says, “has a lot todo with the president. The presidentdoes the final arbitration or fights thebattles in Annapolis. We also have greatsupport from our surrounding busi-nesses. The president is a critical pieceof the puzzle when it comes to helpingto make the sell.”Master Teamworker

Engineering is hardly the only areawhere Dr. Richardson’s relationship-

building and teamworking skills havebeen critical. His colleagues on campusdescribe him as a likeable but powerfuladvocate for the University.

“Dr Richardson filled the bill. He hasmore of the steel fist in the velvet glovekind of approach,” says Dr. Adams. “Dr.Jenkins would romp and stomp. Dr.Richardson is more smooth and givesthe impression of being easygoing, buthe doesn’t back down.”

Says Dr. Sheffey: “Over these past 25years, Dr. Richardson has had to fight,like a demon, the opponents inAnnapolis. Fortunately, he has had onhis side people like (the late) HowardRawlings — though he and Dr.Richardson locked horns sometimes —(the late) Clarence Blount, NathanielMcFadden, other Morgan graduatesdown there.

“Dr. Richardson had the personality tocultivate the friends who were willing tohelp us and (the personality) to speaktruth to the powers who stood againstus. That’s an unusual combination,” Dr.Sheffey says.

Mfume names the MSU Board ofRegents, Maryland State Senators JoanCarter Conway and Ulysses Currie, andformer NAACP President EnoliaMcMillan (now deceased) as some ofthe others who have worked well withDr. Richardson over the years to bringabout Morgan’s growth.

And, “I think a good deal of it isdirectly attributable to Dr. Richardson’s

leadership….” Mfume says. “I have togive him credit for bringing the Univer-sity out of a bad period that was verytroubled and into a period of growthand of competitiveness.”‘A Very Rare Thing’

His colleagues also say their presi-dent will be very difficult to replace.

“I’m nervous. I’m really nervous”about Dr. Richardson’s departure, Dr.Adams admits, “unless we get someonewho is really strong.” Morgan’s oppo-nents “haven’t been able to control Dr.Richardson,” she says.

“One certainly wonders what willbecome of Morgan State University inits post-Richardson years, mainlybecause what Morgan has achieved inthe last 25 years is due, in largemeasure, to Dr. Richardson’s leader-ship,” Dr. Hollis says. “His are ‘shoes ofsuccess’ that will be difficult, and inreality nearly impossible, to fill. He issuch a rare educational leader who bal-ances the two faces of leadershipremarkably well — realizing that ‘Thingsare managed, but people are led.’ Dr.Richardson has been both expert man-ager and inspiring leader.”

Dr. Richardson’s departure “comes ata very interesting time in the country,”says Dr. DeLoatch. “Financially, thecountry is not sound…. But I thinkthere’s enough strength in the founda-tion that he’s laid that the future forMorgan is very bright.”

“He has put the University on a very

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“HE IS A FIGHTER…. WE WORKED AS A TEAM. I WAS TO BE THE ONE WITH SOME VISION FOR

ENGINEERING, AND HE WOULD BE THE ONE TO PUT HIS BEST EFFORT FORWARD TO MAKE SURE

THE RESOURCES WERE HERE TO REACH THOSE GOALS.”

—Dr. Eugene M. DeLoatch, Dean of the School of Engineering, MSU

Eugene M. DeLoatch, Ph.D.

Dr. Richardson (second fromright), with (left to right) Mor-gan alumnus the late James H.Gilliam Jr., ’67; Vice President(then-U.S. Sen.) Joseph Biden;Linda G.J. Gilliam, now MSURegent and Chair of theGilliam Foundation; and U.S.Sen. Paul Sarbanes, at theopening of the Murphy FineArts Center in 2001

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“I THINK HIS ADMINISTRATION CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY ANATTEMPT TO TAKE ON DIFFICULT ISSUES AND SOMETIMESUNPLEASANT ONES BUT TO DO IT AS HUMANELY AND AS

COMPASSIONATELY AS POSSIBLE.”—Dr. Ruthe T. Sheffey, Professor of English, MSU

Nearly 25,000 students have graduated from Morgan during Dr. Richardson’s tenure.

Ruthe T. Sheffey, Ph.D.

Dr. Richardson with President Bill Clinton

solid footing, as far as the infrastruc-ture, the programs, the delivery ofeducation,” Dallas Evans concurs.“He’s put it on a very solid founda-tion for growth.”

“It’s been a remarkable journey....”Dr. DeLoatch adds. “Five to six yearsis about the average for deans acrossthe country, in terms of their time inoffice. And that’s usually the averagetime for a president. This is a veryrare thing, that a dean or a presidentwould spend 25 years in that role. Asa result, I think you can see the infra-structure has changed dramatically,the enrollment has more than dou-bled. A lot of things like that havebeen the result of Dr. Richardson’spersistence and hard work over thepast 25 years.”

Dr. Sheffey sees Morgan’s 11thpresident as a leader for the ages.She has written a poetic tribute thatcompares him to great warriors ofhistory and literature — FrederickDouglass, the Trojan hero Aeneas,Roland of the French national epic.

“That ability to keep calm in theworst kind of storms, where you thinkall is lost, to keep an even keel...tonot give up,” she says. “All of thosestories about those heroic leadersgive us some substance for talkingabout Earl Richardson’s career.” �

The Villanelle is a traditional form of poetry. Villanelles, with their frequent refrains and complex rhyming, have been writtenfor at least 300 years. The name derives from the Italian “villa,” or country house. The form may have grown out of native songs.

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A Villanelle In Praise of Earl S. Richardson’sRemarkable Journey

For this strong man the journey does not endThe path, like Paul’s, found him an advocate.

He saw a challenge there, where the road bends.Equity and parity in funding found a friendIn speaking truth to power, stern, articulate.For this wise man the journey does not end.

Like Odysseus, breasting Aegean seas, or Douglass, contendingwith the Chesapeake’s winds.

His vision was to build and renovate.He loved the victories, there where the road bends.

A greater joy, distinguished graduates, the school’s life blood to sendOut, in twenty-five years seems much too short a date.

For this just man the journey does not end.A tireless leader whom even foes commend,

New programs, structures, once done, more to anticipateHe raised a monument there, where the road bends.

Firm on the threshing ground, where truth and honor blendA happy warrior clad in helmet, armor, and breastplate

For this brave man, the journey does not end.He seizes a new mission there, where the road bends.

By Ruthe T. Sheffey, Ph.D., MSU Professor of English • Presented at the Faculty Institute, Morgan State University, Aug. 12, 2009

The Journey

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• Improved credentialing of faculty— tenure-track faculty holdingterminal degrees increased tomore than 90 percent• Thirty-eight new academicprograms• Accreditation and reaccreditationof all qualified academic programs• Designation as a doctoral researchinstitution by the CarnegieFoundation for the Advancementof Teaching• Renovation of 17 living andlearning facilities andconstruction of 12 new facilitiesand facilities replacements,totaling more than $500 million• Increase in enrollment of morethan 75 percent• Dramatic increase in SAT scores ofincoming freshmen• Growth of more than 1,000percent in dollar amount ofexternal grants and researchfunding• Successful completion of a capitalcampaign that exceeded its goal of$25 million in record time• High state and national rankingsin the production of African-American graduates• Outstanding success forgraduates, including three of thefive African-American four-starArmy generals commissioned inthe nation’s history• Graduation of more FulbrightScholars than any institution ofcomparable size in the U.S.• Worldwide acclaim for theMorgan State University Choir

MSU’S GROWTH &DEVELOPMENT,

1984–2009

Morgan State University held its133rd Commencement Cere-

mony on Saturday, May 16, 2009, inW.A.C. Hughes Memorial Stadium.Thirteen hundred candidates from theU.S., as well as from nations in Africa,the Caribbean and elsewhere, receivedbachelor’s, master’s or doctoraldegrees. For many, the celebrationwas tempered by the knowledge thatDr. Earl S. Richardson was attendinghis final Morgan Commencement inhis role as University president.Retired MSU professor Dr. Clayton T.Stansbury Jr. served as chief universitymarshal at the event for the 35th con-secutive year.

The candidates, their families andother guests were addressed by long-time civil rights activist and currentNAACP President Benjamin Jealous,who praised the graduates for theirpolitical activism.

“Congratulations to the Class of 2009.You will forever carry the badge ofhonor as the generation that changedthe world before it graduated,” hesaid, referring to young peoples’ rolein the election of the nation’s firstAfrican-American president.

Highlights of the ceremony includedthe awarding of an honorary Doctor ofPublic Service degree to Jealous. TheHonorable Nathaniel J. McFadden, ’68,

was also recognized. McFadden, presi-dent pro tempore of the MarylandState Senate, was named MorganAlumnus of the Year in February, forhis tireless efforts in the politicalarena and as a community leader inMaryland’s 45th District.

All of Morgan’s commencements havebeen unique, and few can match thisyear’s tales of triumph.

Zenia Wilson, a philosophy/pre-lawbachelor’s degree recipient, and hermother, Angela Riley, recipient of amaster’s in social work, made the pur-suit of higher education a familyachievement. Wilson, who graduatedwith a 3.9 GPA, states, “My departurefrom Morgan was bittersweet. I amgrateful that I was able to graduate inthree years but sad that I will miss outon spending another year with thepeople whom I have grown to love.”

“My experience at Morgan, after manyyears of being out of school, at firstwas overwhelming,” says Riley. “Icould not believe the journey andexperience had ended until I was upon the stage at Commencement,pinching myself, giving thanks andpraise for a purpose and a newjourney. Thanks to my home awayfrom home, Morgan State University!”

Public relations bachelor’s degree recip-ient Akeem Croft received the presti-gious Second Mile Award during Com-mencement, for his exemplary campusservice and leadership. Croft recallsthat he was denied admission toMorgan initially, but he did not give up.

“There were a lot of opportunities atMorgan. The hard work was worth it,”he says. “But most of all, I was gratefulfor the opportunity to walk across thestage to shake hands with PresidentRichardson.”

University honors program graduates,as well as recipients of ROTC commis-sions and class and special awards,were acknowledged. And, of course,Commencement would not have beencomplete without the performances ofthe MSU Band and MSU Choir. �

Commencement Highlights Activism, ChangeBy Hope Ambush Chambers, ’68

The Honorable Nathaniel J. McFadden, ’68

Morgan’s 133rd Commencement speaker,NAACP President Benjamin Jealous

University Honors Program graduatesZenia Wilson, ‘09

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

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MORGAN MAGAZ INE

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Think ‘Jeopardy’ on a College Bowlscale,” says Dr. Oluwatosin Adeg-

bola, as she describes the 2009 HondaAll-Star Challenge. The assistant pro-fessor in Morgan State University’sDepartment of CommunicationStudies coached five MSU students tosemifinalist status in the academiccompetition, which took place inOrlando, Fla., in March. In her firsttime out as a coach, Dr. Adegbola’steam was one of eight to make thesemifinals, out of 64 schools entered.Morgan brought back $7,500 in grantmoney, and a trophy.

“I am very proud of the young peoplewe had on our team this year,” saysMSU President Dr. Earl S. Richardson.“They certainly proved that they areamong the best and the brightest thatMorgan and Maryland have to offer. Iam grateful to the students and coach,Dr. Adegbola, for their hard work.”

Twenty years old this year, the HondaAll-Star Challenge is a quiz bowl tour-nament for historically black collegesand universities. The event is adminis-tered by the College Bowl Companyand sponsored by American HondaMotor Company, Inc. To make thegrade, Morgan’s team had to give upholiday breaks for study, compete in acampus tournament and other tourna-ments regionally, and become mastersof trivia in fields such as art, politics,geography and African-American his-tory. They also had to make the gradein working well with others.

“Having a high GPA doesn’t necessarilyqualify you to be a member of a team,”Dr. Adegbola says. “I knew that I couldprepare the right competitors academ-ically, but it’s more difficult to teachsomeone how to be a team player.”

This year’s good run has left the Bearshungrier for victory in 2010. The teamis already soaking up facts for the nextHonda All-Star Challenge. �

Morgan’s 2009 Honda All-Star Challenge Team: (left toright) junior Richard T. Bowl-ing, from Forestville, Md.;freshman Virgo T. Morrison,team captain, from Lancaster,Pa.; sophomore Andre A.Greene, from Paterson, N.J.,and senior Lesley C. Osuala,from Queens, N.Y. Not pic-tured: senior OlawaleWilliams Jr., from Washing-ton, D.C.

GoldenBearsShine inthe HondaAll-StarChallengeBy Christina Royster-Hemby, ’93

The MSU Honda All-Star Challenge Team with their coach, Dr. OluwatosinAdegbola (far right), Assistant Professor of Communication Studies

The Bernard Osher Foundation,based in San Francisco, Calif., was

founded in 1977 by Bernard Osher.Sometimes referred to as the “quiet phi-lanthropist,” he is well respected as abusinessman and community leader.The mission of the Foundation is “toimprove the quality of life through thesupport for higher education and thearts.”

The Foundation provides postsecondaryscholarship funds to colleges and uni-versities across the nation. Approxi-mately 80 percent of Osher Foundationgrants have gone to support educationalprograms with particular emphasis onreentry students, one of the BernardOsher Foundation Programs. The OsherReentry Scholarship Program, launchedin the summer of 2005, provides schol-arship support for nontraditional stu-dents, aged 25–50, who are returning toa four-year institution after a significantinterruption in their education of five

years or more to complete their bach-elor’s degree. Presently, this programhas been funded at 70 institutionsincluding Morgan State University.

The first Morgan State University (MSU)Osher Reentry Scholarship program wasfunded by the Bernard Osher Founda-tion in June 2008. Now operating in theCenter for Continuing and ProfessionalStudies (CCPS), the scholarship pro-gram supports nontraditional adultlearners enrolled in baccalaureatedegree programs. The Osher ReentryScholarship fits with Morgan’s otherContinuing and Professional Studiesprograms and with the mission of theUniversity.

“The partnership with the Bernard OsherFoundation aids in Morgan’s ability tomeet the needs of its growing diversepopulation of adult learners,” says WillieA. Bragg, Ph.D., assistant dean ofMorgan’s School of Graduate Studiesand director of the MSU Center for Con-

tinuing and Professional Studies.

Osher Reentry Scholarship recipientsrepresent several disciplines, includingArchitecture, Business Administration,Elementary Education, Engineering,English, Family and Consumer Sciences,Finance, Information Science and Sys-tems, Physics, Social Work, Sociologyand Anthropology.

Eligibility Requirements:• Currently enrolled at Morgan State

University as a part-time or full-time

student pursuing first bachelor's

degree.

• Between the ages 25 and 50.

• Has experienced a gap in education

of five or more years.

• Meets a minimum 2.5 grade point

average.

• Demonstrates financial need.

• U.S. citizen and Maryland resident.�

Center for Continuing and Professional Studies

The Bernard Osher Re-Entry Scholarship Program

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

VOLUME I 200914

Willie A. Bragg, Ph.D.

MSU Osher Scholarship Recipients:Back Row (L-R): Christine Southall, Robert Headen, Cordelia Jones, Tahisa Hamwright, Dealia JonesFront Row (L-R): Raymond Carter, Sheena Black, Ernest Stewart, Robin Harris

For further information,please contactDr. Willie A. Bragg(443.885.3155).

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

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Throughout hernine-year

career as an edu-cator, ChristineGraham hadwanted to con-tinue her owneducation in grad-uate school, butbecause of the

cost, she didn’t think doing so waspossible. A visit to Morgan State Uni-versity’s School of Graduate Studieschanged her mind about that.

“The warmth, the encouragement thatI received just talking to faculty mem-bers, and the program that Morganoffers immediately grabbed my atten-tion,” she recalls.

Graham is now a full-time doctoralstudent in her second year of MSU’sUrban Education Leadership Program.A large part of her financial aidpackage consists of a fellowship thatcovers her tuition, courtesy of theMorris Goldseker Foundation.

“I’d applied to other places, but theydid not offer a scholarship like this.So there was no other place for me,”she says.

Graham is one of the hundreds of stu-dents who have received help infunding their graduate education fromthe Morgan State University Gold-seker Fellows Program.

Morgan’s Goldseker Fellowship waslaunched in the late 1970s, after thedeath of prominent Baltimore busi-nessman Morris Goldseker. ClaraAdams, Ph.D., special assistant toMSU President Dr. Earl S. Richardson,explains that in his will, Goldsekerleft the University 5 percent of theinterest from his investment portfolio.Dr. Adams was dean of MSU’s Schoolof Graduate Studies then and waswell aware that Morgan had a scarcityof financial aid for graduate students.So she suggested to Dr. AndrewBillingsley, then University president,that the Goldseker Foundation fundsbe used to provide help in that area.

“The initial grant was about $28,000,which for us was still a lot of money,”says Dr. Adams.

The program has grown considerablysince then. For the 2008–09 academicyear, the Goldseker Foundation grantto MSU was $250,000. The lion’s shareof that amount, $230,000, providedtuition fellowships for 74 full-time andpart-time graduate students. And, asalways, a small portion of the Gold-seker grant — $20,000 last year —went to a discretionary fund adminis-tered by Morgan’s president. Inrecent years, Dr. Richardson has usedsome of the discretionary funds topay the tuition for students from LakeClifton High School who take college-level finance courses at Morgan.

The Goldseker Fellows Program isMorgan’s largest privately sponsoredgrant program for graduate students,says Crystol Heidelberg, financialmanager for the School of GraduateStudies. The fellowships pay for sixcredits per semester for part-time stu-dents or nine credits per semester forthose attending full time. For manyGoldseker Fellowship recipients overthe past 30 years, the tuition grantshave made the difference betweenbeing able to get a graduate educa-tion and having to postpone it or do itat a slower pace, says Dr. Adams.

Christine Graham is a witness.

“I believe God led me here. I wasextremely ecstatic to receive the fel-lowship,” Graham says, “very, veryhappy, because it shows support. Itshows that Morgan is serious and thatthey have done what is necessary totry to maintain the students that theyhave.” �

The GoldsekerFellows Program

The Goldseker Foundation wascreated through the generosityand foresight of Morris Gold-seker (1898–1973). Mr. Gold-seker directed in his will that theFoundation be formed to supportprograms that directly benefit thepeople of the metropolitan areaof Baltimore.

Christine Graham

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Home-Grown SuccessWhat do “The Fresh

Prince of Bel-Air,” Tonyand Emmy Awards, a Guggen-heim Fellowship and MorganState University have incommon? His name is Samm-Art Williams, a 1968 graduateof Morgan who has made abig name for himself as aplaywright, scriptwriter, pro-

ducer, screenwriter, actor andteacher.

Williams, who was born in Philadelphia, Pa., isbetter known by his MSU classmates as SamuelArthur Williams, a political science/psychology

major. His parents took him to the small farmingtown of Burgaw, N.C., when he was an infant.

When his parents divorced, heremained in Burgaw with his mother

and visited his father in Philadel-phia during the summers.

A big kid, well over six feetby the time he was in

high school, Williamswas expected to be anathlete. “But I neverdid care much forsports,” he says. Tokeep him out oftrouble, his mother,a high school Eng-lish and dramateacher, “had meread the poetry ofLangston Hughesand Edgar AllanPoe, and that wasreally whatchanged me,”Williams told Sig-nature Edition. “Imust have beenabout 15 yearsold when I read‘The Raven.’

Writer and Actor Samm-Art Williams, MSU ’68

“The Montford Point Marine,” the newest play by Morgan grad Samm-Art Williams, ’68, was staged at the Intersections Play Festival, June 5–6, 2009, at CENTERSTAGE in Baltimore, Md. The play is about Williams’ father, who was a member of the legendary Montford Point Marinesof Camp Lejeune, N.C. This unit, which served from 1942 to 1949, was the first group of African Americans permitted to serve as U.S. Marines.

By Brenda Thompson Henderson, ’65

AlumniProfile

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When I finished that poem, I was soscared of that bird. I said, ‘Wait aminute. How can I be afraid of some-thing when I don’t even know what thehell it is? Which led me to believe hewas a wonderful writer. I said, ‘Hmm, Iwould like to do something like that!’ ”

Fame and AcclaimPoe hooked Williams on a career inwriting, but college is where he wasexposed to the theater. At Morgan,Williams fit well into campus life, wasmotivated to keep his grades up by hisOmega Psi Phi line brothers and gotinvolved in the theater department.After graduation, he was accepted tolaw school but decided not to go. Hegot married and moved to Philadel-phia, where he supported himself as asalesman and worked during off hoursat the Freedom Theater. But, soon theurge to write became too much, and hewent North, determined to try his handat the craft.

“Nobody down where I lived had everbeen a writer,” Williams recalls, “sothere was a lot of peer pressure not togo that way. Shoot. Going to the office,well, that just wasn’t for me. I wantedother people to see the world the way Isaw it.”

In New York, he joined the NegroEnsemble Company (NEC), whichallowed him to join as a playwright,and his creativity “took off,” he says.

It was “Home” — an NEC play thatWilliams began writing while riding aGreyhound bus from New York City toBurgaw — that earned him a 1980 TonyAward nomination and an NAACPImage Award. The next year, hereceived fellowships from the Guggen-heim Foundation and the NationalEndowment for the Arts.

For Williams, “Home,” was “a celebra-tion of the rural South. Usually peoplethere are shown with huge drawls andlong, loping walks, so I decided toshow the South I knew.” The three-person play concerns a young man whomoves from his country home to thebig city, where he encounters manyadventures and meets many charac-ters, all played by two women.

‘Brighter Day Ahead’After the Broadway run and nationaltour of “Home,” Williams moved to LosAngeles, where he continued to act andwrite for TV — “to pay the rent,” hesays — so he could afford to pursue hisreal love, playwriting. He has appearedin “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “TheWomen of Brewster Place” andnumerous other shows, and has a longlist of writing credits that include twoEmmy-nominated programs: “Frank’sPlace” and “Motown Returns to theApollo.” He has also worked as an actoron stage and in films (“A Rage inHarlem” and “Dressed to Kill,” amongothers) and has produced shows fortelevision.

“Home” was the 10th of Williams’ 25plays, many of which have been pro-duced by theaters throughout the U.S.and internationally. One of his earlyworks, “Panty Raid,” “was influenced bysome fun (that) friends and I had ourfreshman year,” Williams says with alaugh. “The play is about four old guyswho have been out of school 10 yearsand decide to return to the college forone last panty raid, only to discoverthe dorms are all coed. It’s a play aboutchanging values.”

Williams left Los Angeles and returnedto Burgaw 12 years ago, to care for hisailing mother. For the past two years,he has been an artist-in-residence atNorth Carolina Central University(NCCU), teaching playwriting andcomedy writing. His residency endedthis summer. While at NCCU, helearned his father had been a studentthere and a trained opera singer.

Now 63, Williams plans to focus on anorganization he has founded: TEE The-ater — Teach, Educate & Entertain —which will take plays to colleges andlocal theater groups.

“One of the things we are missing isteaching our young people theater,” hesays.

Williams is a lifetime member of theMSU National Alumni Association andhas received several awards for hisservice to the University, including the2005 Distinguished AchievementAward. From Oct. 11–13, 2005, he wasartist-in-residence at Morgan, meetingwith MSU administrators and faculty,conducting workshops with theatre artsmajors and other interested students,and directing the premiere of his then-latest play, “Last of the Line.”

He credits Morgan with teaching himpatience and perseverance — bothkeys to his success as an artist.

“I never met a professor at Morgan whodid not encourage me and assure methat no matter how dark thingsappeared,” he says, “there was abrighter day ahead.” �

(Left to right) Dr. Burney Hollis, Dean of MSU’sCollege of Liberal Arts; Samm-Art Williams andDr. Clara Adams, then-Vice President for Aca-demic Affairs, at a luncheon hosted by MSU Pres-ident Dr. Earl S. Richardson and other Morgandignitaries, on the first day of Williams’ residencyat Morgan in 2005

Student government president RobertThompson stood at the podium, wearing a big afro, adashiki and the attitude of a black man who knewexactly where he was headed. Next to Thompsonstood the SGA vice president, wearing a side-cockedberet and dark sunglasses. The year was 1975.

Incoming freshman Dudley M. Brooks sat in thecrowd, mesmerized. He’d grown up in a militaryhousehold right there in Baltimore, and both of hissisters had attended Morgan State, as had his father— the late Brig. Gen. George M. Brooks — and hisgodfather. But he’d never seen up close the exuber-ance of students in the black power movement.

“I thought that they were just so freaking cool,” saysBrooks, now 51, a father of three and the seniorphoto editor of Ebony and Jet magazines. “What theyhad on, the attitude of defiance, how they workedwithin the white power structure....”

That one moment, sitting in the audience andwatching how the University embraced a black manand allowed him to come into his own, has guidedBrooks to this day.

“I was coming in on the tail end of the movement,”says Brooks, who, for over a decade, took photos forThe Washington Post and later led the photo team atThe Baltimore Sun. “We were like the little kids, but wewanted to carry (the movement) on. And that wasvery significant for my point of view artistically,socially and politically.”

Brooks’ point of view, and the views he shared withhis friends at MSU, ultimately created the unique wayin which he sees things through the lens of a camera.He is now known for being able to zero in on a sub-ject before the subject even knows he is there. Hecan get deep into a story, hanging out with everyonefrom students running scared at Tiananmen Squarein China, to Catholic and Santerían Afro-Cubans inHavana. He’s not afraid to mix and mingle or togently teach and mentor. His quick wit and open atti-tude have led to Brooks’ being one of the popularguys in journalism today.

The Wonder YearsBrooks majored in business administration, but hecame into photography by the end of his sophomoreyear, after randomly taking a class called Photo-graphic Media. Sophomore year is also when Brooksfound his MSU family, discovered jazz and workedwith fellow artists to rent out a house that doubledas an art studio. While the painters painted, Brookstook pictures. He developed an eye for portraitureand for knowing just how to capture a beautifulphoto in the setting sun.

Brooks finally discovered he had artistic juice whenhe entered an art show during his sophomore year.He only put in four prints, but three of them gotwritten up in The Sun.

“So, I got known around campus as the photogra-pher,” he says.

Brooks became president of the student art organiza-tion in his junior year. He even saw his future wife,Diane Dyson, while trolling the campus. But shehadn’t yet noticed him.

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Perfect ExposurePhotojournalist for Ebony and Jet Began His Career at Morgan

By Adrienne Gibbs

Dudley M. Brooks, ’80, is senior photo editor ofEbony and Jet magazines

AlumniProfile

“Songs of My People.” In that project, he arranged for 50 photographersto document black life and publish their pictures in what became a crit-ically acclaimed book.

Brooks moved his family to Chicago after accepting a job with Ebonymagazine in 2007. The family now lives in a South Chicago suburb and isproud to say that son Dorian is matriculating through Morgan State. Andjust like his father, Dorian didn’t have to be convinced that MSU was thebest place for him.

“My grandfather, the brigadier general, George Brooks, before he passedaway, he said he wanted one of us to go to Morgan State,” says Dorian, apublic relations major who has also fallen in love with photography. “Iremember going to the homecomings with my dad, and it seemed like ahomey and nurturing environment. There was no pressure; it just feltattending Morgan was the right decision.”

Dorian Brooks has already published photos in both Ebony and Jet maga-zines.

“When I was little, I would see my dad travel all over the globe. And that’swhat really got me into photography, because of where it can take you,” hesays. “That’s why I like being behind the camera.”

Looks like the Morgan State fruit doesn’t fall too far from the tree. �

To view pictures from Dudley Brooks’ online photo studio, visithttp://www.ebonyjet.com/multimedia/gallery/DudleyBrooks/index.html.

Adrienne Gibbs is senior editor of Ebony magazine.

Brooks graduated in 1980 and, at the recommendationof MSU art professor James E. Lewis, became a pro-fessor of photography at Bowie State University. At thesame time, a short stint covering fashion photographyfor a now-defunct magazine led him to create a portfoliothat landed him his first full-time photography job at theRockford Register Star newspaper in central Illinois. Lewisalso recommended that Brooks speak to a photo depart-ment head, Matthew Lewis, at The Washington Post, whoeventually brought Brooks to work for the newspaper.

Fate and LoveBrooks ran into Dyson again in 1983, at his apartmentbuilding in Silver Spring, Md. It turned out they lived in thesame building. They married three years later, after he offereda rather romantic proposal at a restaurant in D.C.

After 21 years at The Post, Brooks went to The Sun, where he was assistant managing editor forphotographs, for two years. He also found time to codirect the book

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“WE WANTED TO CARRY (THEMOVEMENT) ON. AND THAT WASVERY SIGNIFICANT FOR MY POINTOF VIEW ARTISTICALLY, SOCIALLY

AND POLITICALLY.”— Dudley M. Brooks, ’80

A woman strokes her sleeping child inAfghanistan. (Photo by Dudley M. Brooks)

A Nicaraguan woman mourns her son, who was killed by a

mudslide in their rural village. (Photo by Dudley M. Brooks)

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In1872, four years after the 14th Amendment to the U.S.Constitution was ratified, the Rev. James Peck and thetrustees of Sharp Street Memorial United MethodistChurch secured 33 acres of land overlooking Baltimore’sInner Harbor. The plot, beingthe same size as King

Solomon’s Jerusalem, was a prom-ised land of sorts for a people ofhard labor and faith: the onlycemetery in Baltimore City not for-bidden by law from burying AfricanAmericans. It became known as“The City of the Dead for ColoredPeople,” a title it kept until 1894,when it was renamed MountAuburn Cemetery.

With Peck’s purchase of a“legitimate” and honorable burialground for his people, the histo-ries of Sharp Street MemorialUnited Methodist Church and Mt.Auburn Cemetery became inter-twined, forming a living, historiclegacy of African-American cul-ture, politics and education.Many of the citizens buried atMt. Auburn register high on thescale of greatness because oftheir contributions to the city,the state, and the nation. And itwas from Sharp Street Memo-rial United Methodist Churchthat the Centenary Biblical Institute, predecessorof Morgan State University, was established.

Today, Sharp Street Church is led by two Morgan gradu-ates: Dellyne I. Hinton, senior pastor, and her father, the Rev.Douglas B. Sands Sr., chairman of the Board of Directors of Mt.Auburn Cemetery. By the beginning of their tenure, the ceme-tery had fallen into a state of disrepair — overrun with vegeta-tion and inaccessible by visitors. But the church has now part-nered with its historic progeny, Morgan State University, to helprevive it and return it to its rightful place of honor, as an histor-ical visitor’s center. (continued on page 22)

History Lives in

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

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By Ferdinand Mehlinger

‘THE CITY OF THE DEAD’

“In bringing to life the truestories of some of the peoplewho are laid to rest at Mt.Auburn, the students gaineda greater appreciation fortheir own family history. Thisproject also reinforced thesacredness of the hallowedgrounds.”

— MSU professor Jan Short

Alexis Taylor plays the jimbe as the libation bearer in“Into the Future from Our Past.”

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(continued from page 20) “When I found the condition of thecemetery, I thought that, while we are looking to the future,we really need to honor our past,” says Senior PastorHinton, the first female pastor in Sharp Street Church’s 200-year history.

“The cemetery, even in its present condition, has this kindof spiritual sense. It has this ambience that has to berespected,” says Diane Jones, assistant professor of thegraduate program in Landscape Architecture at MorganState. Students in the program have worked at Mt. Auburn,planning the landscape and digitizing topographical andphysical data for input to a Geographic Information System(GIS).

With the partnership between Morgan State and SharpStreet Church, Mt. Auburn is turning to a new page in itshistory. One highlight of the new chapter was the staging of“Into the Future from Our Past,” an onsite theater perform-ance given by Morgan State theatre arts students who reen-acted the lives and times of famous people laid to rest atMt. Auburn; people such as “Baby” Joe Gans, who reignedas world lightweight champion from 1902 to 1908 and was“the first African American in Baltimore to own an automo-bile,” according to the late Eubie Blake, Baltimore nativeand celebrated jazz pioneer.

“By coming together in the performance venue, which wasthe actual cemetery, we were able to live side by side withthe people whose lives were highlighted in the perform-ance,” says Morgan State playwright and theatre arts pro-fessor Jan Short. “One of the most powerful moments forme was watching one of the students just prior to thebeginning of the performance. Amongst all of the move-ment and conversation, he stood quietly in front of theheadstone of his character with his head bowed reverently.”

“The goal of the departments at Morgan, (including) theCenter for Museums and Historical Preservation, School ofArchitecture and the School of Business, is to create a con-nection between the community and their history as itrelates to Mt. Auburn Cemetery,” says Robin Howard, MSUassociate director for Museums and Historical Preservation,“and to create an awareness of the significance of African-American cemeteries across the nation.

“The staff and students at Morgan State University havepaved a way using the cemetery as a laboratory andteaching tool, which is the ultimate goal of Sharp StreetChurch’s senior pastor, Rev. Dellyne Hinton,” Howard adds.

Realizing the church’s vision for Mt. Auburn remains vitalto the senior pastor’s mission.

“I was called to the ministry of the church and becamepastor of the church that has the primary responsibility forMt. Auburn,” Hinton says. “Morgan was instrumental in nur-turing that belief and making me know that I could beskilled enough to make a difference in my life and the livesof other people.” �

The performers: (l–r) Playwright and MSU professor JanShort; dance major Ashley Chapman, ’11; theatre artsmajor Grant E. Harvey, ’11; theatre arts major AlexisTaylor, ’11; theatre arts major Donine Gladden, ’11;theatre arts major Keisha Rosend Holmes, ’09; and MSUCoordinator of Theatre Arts Shirley Basfield-Dunlap.

Father and daughter visionaries for the revitalization of Mt.Auburn Cemetery: Senior Pastor Dellyne I. Hinton, ’80, andthe Rev. Douglas B. Sands Sr., ’56, both political sciencegraduates of Morgan. They gravitated toward the ministrywith the guiding principle that “We have to have faith insomething bigger than ourselves.”

‘Here rest former slaves, clergy, professionals, businessowners and thousands of African-American families.’

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Strong Coach,New CultureBring Success to

Morgan BasketballBy Wiley A. Hall 3rd

THE VICTORYOVER MARYLANDTURNED OUT TO

BE JUST ONEMILESTONE IN ANEXTRAORDINARY

SEASON.

Rodney Stokes#42

Winners!Winners!

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

VOLUME I 200924

Men’s basketball coach Todd Bozeman notes withpride that his players played it cool after they beat

the mighty Maryland Terrapins 66-65 on Jan. 8.

The upset marked Morgan’s first-ever victoryover Maryland, or any Atlantic Coast Conference(ACC) opponent, and provoked an agony of soul-

searching and finger-pointing at College Park.

But the Bears handled the victory withaplomb.

“You didn’t see my guys doing a lot of jumping up and downand dancing after the game,” Bozeman says. “Why? Becausethey believed they could win coming in.

“Don’t get me wrong; it was a significant victory,” Bozemancontinues. “Most of my guys are from Maryland. They grew upwatching the Terps on television. Playing them on their homecourt was significant enough; it was like playing your bigbrother. But then you beat him, too? That was prettyamazing.”

The victory over Maryland, the 2002 national champions and aperennial powerhouse, put Morgan on the map. But it turnedout to be just one milestone in an extraordinary season.

The Bears finished the season with 23 wins and 12 losses, forthe most wins since becoming a Division I school. They wontheir second straight regular season Mid-Eastern AthleticConference (MEAC) title and then beat Norfolk State for thetournament championship. They set a school record for three-point shots and fell just one short of the record for steals.They ranked 23rd among mid-major schools and enjoyed highprofile wins against non-conference teams such as DePaul,Marshall and Towson. They are believed to be the first histori-cally black school to beat an ACC team (Maryland) and a BigEast team (DePaul) in the same season. And the team gave agood account of itself in a heartbreaking 82-54 loss to second-ranked Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament South Regionals.

Inevitable SuccessFor Bozeman, the formula for success included hard work,preparation and, most important, getting his players tobelieve that they could be winners.

“When I first got here, my goal was to establish a winning atti-tude, a winning culture,” says Bozeman, who signed a five-year contract extension in April after winning 58 percent of hisgames over his first three years at Morgan. “I’m not cocky. ButI’m a firm believer that if you work hard and (are) prepared,success will be inevitable.”

The players not only came to believe in themselves; theybelieved in their coach, says Morgan student Ryan Marshall,who got to see the team up close as a reporter for TheSpokesman.

“Honestly, I think he was successful because of his past,” Mar-shall says. “Many tend to focus on what happened as a resultof him being banned from coaching. However, you could seethat the players immediately bought what he was selling.They understood that he has been successful on many dif-ferent levels with NBA-caliber players. And honestly, he letthe players be men but held them accountable for theiractions as men.”

New PrioritiesMorgan brought Bozeman in from a 10-year exile imposed bythe NCAA, after he was forced to resign as head coach at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. The issue back then: allegedimproper payments to the parents of a player, Jelani Gardner,and charges that the coach had given false and misleadinginformation during the NCAA investigation of the payments.

It was a precipitous fall for a man whose other Golden Bears— the ones at UC Berkeley — upset Duke University in the1993 NCAA tournament and who, at 29, had become theyoungest coach to lead a team to the NCAA tournament’sround of 16.

Reggie Holmes#11

Rogers Barnes #21goes up againstOklahoma

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

VOLUME I 2009

Bozeman says that when he first met with Morgan’s presi-dent, they agreed the goal would be to

build a solid, mid-major program.

“I can’t say we’ve achieved that, yet. Youhave to put one foot in front of theother, one step at a time,” he says. “But

we’re moving in that direction. Ithink the campus is beginning

to see that it’s anachievable goal.” �

Bozeman told The Washington Post he used the 10-year ban torearrange his priorities.

“I spent more time with my children. I spent more time withmy dad,” he told the paper after signing a three-year contractwith Morgan in 2006. “I was a workaholic then. I worked non-stop. And when you do that, you put yourself in situationswhere work becomes life and death. And it’s not.”

Today, he acknowledges that moving from a giant Pac-10school to the much smaller Morgan was a culture shock,like moving from a major corporation to a family-ownedbusiness. But, he adds that he finds several positivesin his current environment, positives he uses whenrecruiting.

“I look for people who are self-motivated, lookingfor opportunities, believe in themselves and arelooking for the challenge of building somethingunique,” he says. “I’ve been really appreciativeto have found guys that shared that vision.”

Goal in ReachBozeman’s arrival at Morgan was the crowning

touch on a decades-long transformationof the athletic program and the University,

says Morgan Athletic Director Floyd Kerr.

“Dr. Richardson had a vision 25 years agothat if you build a good-looking campus,you will attract quality people, and

although it took some time, that’s wherewe are,” says Kerr. “Right now, our facilities

are among the best in the conference. Coach Bozeman hashelped restore our competitive edge. We’re attracting a lot ofnational attention. And morale in the department among bothstaff and students couldn’t be higher. Hopefully, that willtranslate to our fans and our alumni.”

25

Jermaine“Itchy”Bolden

#3

ToddBozeman

givingdirection to

MarquiseKately#32

Morgan Bear

Coach Todd Bozeman

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

VOLUME I 200926

A New Yorker Writes…As a highly respected sports columnist for The New YorkTimes, Morgan alumnus Bill Rhoden has covered his shareof dream seasons, both in the college ranks and the pros.

But the success of his alma mater this year has given himparticular pleasure.

“I was so proud of what Morgan accomplished under Todd— this year, obviously, but really for the last three,” saysRhoden. “He put life back into the program. The irony isthat our success coincided with the death of Marvin Web-ster, ‘the Human Eraser,’ who carried Morgan basketball toits glory days.”

Rhoden, a columnist with The New York Times since 1983, isthe author of “Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall,and Redemption of the Black Athlete,” and “Third and aMile: From Fritz Pollard to Michael Vick — an Oral Historyof the Trials, Tears and Triumphs of the Black Quarter-back.”

The Chicago native attended Morgan from 1968 to 1973and played on the 1968 Bears football squad that beat theGrambling Tigers in Yankee Stadium. The annual matchlater became the Whitney Young Classic.

“This was a world of intercollegiate athletics few outsidethe circle knew existed,” Rhoden remembered in a 2007column written after Grambling coach Eddie Robinsondied, “a world of high-stepping bands and hard-hittingfootball at a time when many of the best black athleteswere concentrated in black colleges.”

Before joining The Times, Rhoden wrote for The BaltimoreSun and Ebony magazine.

“Of course, there’s a double edge to Morgan’s success:‘Will we be able to keep Todd?’ ” he says. But, he adds,“even if he leaves, Morgan will have served the role thatHBCUs often serve: (providing) opportunity and compas-sion to those who might not have otherwise received it.” �

Bozeman’s HonorsFor Morgan Head Coach Todd Bozeman, winning the 2009 HughDurham Award was more than just a personal victory. Voted onby a 20-member national selection panel that includes currentand former head coaches, the award is presented annually atthe NCAA Final Four to the top mid-major coach in the country.

Implied in the honor, Bozeman notes, is recognition thatMorgan is a mid-major school.

“That they said we were a mid-major, when for so long we wereviewed as a low-major or a no-major, was significant,” saysBozeman, whose goal was to build a nationally recognized pro-gram when he arrived at Morgan three years ago. “First of all,I’m humbled and honored. But also, I see the award as a reflec-tion of the team and the staff and their willingness and commit-ment to do the work.”

“Coach Bozeman did a phenomenal job,” says Joe Dwyer,cofounder of CollegeInsider.com and member of the Durham

Bill Rhoden, ‘73 Coach Todd Bozeman

Marvin Webster, a Baltimorenative who starred in theNBA and ranks as one of thegreatest basketball players inMorgan history, was laid torest April 17 at Greater HopeBaptist Church in West Balti-more. He was found deadApril 6 in a hotel in Tulsa,Okla., of coronary artery dis-ease. He was 56.

Gentle, good-natured andloving, Webster was knownon the court as “The HumanEraser” and “Marvin the Mag-nificent.” Off the court, hewas remembered as a manwho never cursed and oftencarried a Bible during his 10-year professional career withthe Seattle SuperSonics, theNew York Knicks and theDenver Nuggets.

The son of a Baptist minister,Webster attended Balti-more’s Edmondson HighSchool and played four yearsat Morgan, leading the Bearsto the NCAA Division IIchampionship in 1974,during his junior year.

He holds eight schoolrecords: 1,990 points, 2,267

rebounds, 19.5 rebounds per game, 785 field goalsmade, 424 free throws made, 644 free throwsattempted, 722 blocks and 110 games started. Hewas named to the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball50th Anniversary All-Elite Eight Team in 2006.

His best year in the NBA was 1978, when he led theSuperSonics to the NBA Finals, averaging 14 pointsand 12.6 rebounds a game, before the team fell tothe Washington Bullets in seven games.

“He had a great career,” says MSU Athletic DirectorFloyd Kerr. “He was a great player, a great person,and he leaves a great legacy.” �

Marvin Webster

Award selection committee. “He lost the MEAC Player of theYear, Defensive Player of the Year and his starting point guard,and he was still able to repeat as conference champion.”

“The job Coach Bozeman did this season went largely unno-ticed,” says committee chairman Hugh Durham, who saw theCollegeInsider.com Coach of the Year award named in his honorin 2005. “There were a lot of coaches that did great jobs thisseason, but nobody did a better job than Todd.”

Bozeman was also named Mid-Eastern Athletic ConferenceCoach of the Year in March, for the second consecutive season,with a 13-3 MEAC record and a 23-12 record overall. In threeseasons at Morgan, Bozeman has compiled 58 wins against 41losses, including a 37-13 record in the conference. His team haswon the last two MEAC season titles, went to the National Invi-tational Tournament last year and made its first-ever NCAA Divi-sion I tournament this year. Bozeman has a 121-76 careerrecord, including four seasons and three NCAA tournamentappearances at the University of California, Berkeley. �

MSU CheerleadersRemembering Marvin Webster

Support Our Defending Champion Morgan Bearsat the 2010 MEAC Basketball Tournament

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial ColiseumWinston Salem, N.C. • March 8–13Alumni and friends, please book your hotel rooms early! Thisyearʼs MEAC Tournament coincides with the ACC BasketballTournament in Greensboro, N.C. Hotel rooms will be scarce.For hotel information, please contact: MSU Office of AlumniRelations, 443.885.3015

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

VOLUME I 200928

Recognizing the devastating impacts of these severe health disparities on Mary-land communities, the university initiated its public health program in 1999.Formerly the School of Public Health and Policy, the school began operatingunder its new name in the 2006–07 academic year, with three departments:Behavioral Health Sciences; Public Health Analysis; and Health, Policy andManagement.

Specifically, the school has:

• Worked to increase the pool of minority public health professionals andleaders who have master’s and doctorate degrees.

• Collaborated with other organizations that are helping underserved commu-nities address health disparities and other health problems.

• Initiated a nursing education program to respond to the serious shortage ofnurses in minority communities.

• Worked to attract and maintain fac-ulty members with doctorates to

teach and mentor graduate stu-dents pursuing master’s degreesin public health and to assist inmentoring candidates for doc-torates in public health.

“We plan for the school to growinto a major resource for Balti-more and all urban communi-ties addressing the preventionof early death and disability incommunities of color,” Dr.Noonan says.

Public health practice is the cor-nerstone of Morgan’s School of

Community Health and Policy. Facultyand students work almost daily with com-

munity organizations — such as Communities Organized to Improve Life,Inc., a Southwest Baltimore-based not-for-profit — addressing issues such

as nutrition and obesity, diabetes, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS andthe health problems of individuals recently released from correctional facilitiesand their families. The school’s public health program, which is accredited bythe Council on Education for Public Health, has awarded 61 master of publichealth and 33 doctorate of public health degrees since its inception. The schoolnow has 75 students pursuing master’s and doctorates in public health, 140 innursing and 47 enrolled in the nutrition sciences baccalaureate program.

Morgan now ranks 14th in the nation in number of doctorates in health profes-sions awarded to African Americans and is the first doctorate-granting, urbanpractice-based public health program at an historically black college or university.

Improving Health inUrban America

MSU’s Schoolof CommunityHealth andPolicyBy Brenda Thompson Henderson, ’65

On average, Americans born today can expect to live more than30 years longer than those born in 1900, primarily because of advance-

ments in public health. However, the quality of life for many urban dwellers is dimin-ishing, as environmental and social forces create increased risks of disease, disabilityand premature death.

To turn things around in these urban communities, Morgan State University’s Schoolof Community Health and Policy has taken steps to realize its vision of communitypartnership and to lead the way to optimal health for the underserved, through edu-cation, research, service and practice.

“Our students must be made aware of the tremendous need for black, Latino andNative American health professionals in our cities, if we are to eliminate the healthdisparities due to ethnicity, poverty and social injustice,” says Allan S. Noonan, M.D.,Ph.D., dean of Morgan State University’s School of Community Health and Policy.

MORGAN MAGAZ INE

VOLUME I 2009 29

SCHOOL OF COMMUNITY HEALTHAND POLICY HIGHLIGHTS

• Research and policy efforts inHIV/AIDS resulted in the State ofMaryland’s declaration of a state ofemergency in Baltimore City, thusdirecting the deployment of addi-tional financial resources in the city.

• One of 12 institutions in the countryselected to participate in the Kel-logg Foundation’s Engaged Institu-tions Community Initiative.

• One of seven institutions fundedcompetitively by the Corporation forNational and Community Service tosupport development and enhance-ment of health strategies that areeffective in urban communities.

• One of four institutions — includingThe Johns Hopkins University, theUniversity of North Carolina–ChapelHill and the University of Michigan— selected as sites for the KelloggFoundation’s Scholars in HealthDisparities Community-Based Par-ticipatory Track.

• Has established internships as partof its core curriculum.

“WE PLAN FOR THE SCHOOL TO GROW INTO A MAJOR RESOURCE FORBALTIMORE AND ALL URBAN COMMUNITIES ADDRESSING THE PREVENTION

OF EARLY DEATH AND DISABILITY IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.”

— Allan S. Noonan, M.D., Ph.D., School of Community Health and Policy

• The U.S. now has an estimated 450,000 public healthprofessionals.

• 50 percent of the federal public health work force willretire in the next five years.1

• 25 percent of the state public health workers in theU.S. will retire in the next five years.1

• 80 percent of public health workers lack specificpublic health training.2

• Only 22 percent of chief executives of local healthdepartments have graduate degrees in public health.2

(1) American Public Health Association; (2) Institute of Medicine, 2003

Dean Noonan says that “support ofthe school’s programs is critical to thefuture good health of the people ofour state. Our graduates are pro-moting health improvement, espe-cially for poor and underservedpeople at the local, city, state,national and interna-tional levels. Theyare experts inthe researchnecessary todeterminehowblacks,Latinosandothercommu-nities ofcolor canbest preventillness, disabilityand early death. They areworking at all levels to develophealth policies which will supportthe elimination of health dispari-ties due to ethnicity, poverty andsocial injustice. They are workingwith community organizations inthe Baltimore region to makehealth improvement a reality forthose who need it most.

“And, finally, they are teaching otherhealth professionals and communitystakeholders how to provide the bestpreventive health services possible.”

Since its creation, the school, whichworks closely with the University’sPrevention Sciences Research Center,has been awarded more than $24 mil-lion to conduct research into sub-stance abuse and mental health.Other major research areas includeHIV prevention and control, comple-mentary and alternative medicine anddisaster preparedness. �

PUBLIC HEALTH WORK FORCE FACTS

Many deserving students want to continue their education at Morgan but are financiallychallenged to see their way through to graduation. With the help of donors like you,the dream of a better life can become an achievable goal and a reality.

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