The War at Morehouse

March 30, 2017 9:18 AM

"Founded in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War, Morehouse College is one of black America’s crown jewels.... Black America needs Morehouse. America needs Morehouse. But Morehouse is falling down." An in-depth look at the "yearslong slapfight for the steering wheel of one of black America’s most valuable institutions" from Michael Harriot at The Root.
posted by goatdog (8 comments total)

It's a single sex school. Would Morehouse save itself by opening enrollment to women?
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 9:55 AM on March 30, 2017

Would Morehouse save itself by opening enrollment to women?

More likely is a union with Spelman College (the women's HBCU that's literally a block down the street), but honestly, Spelman is in many ways an even better school than Morehouse and presumably doesn't want to lose its own identity (see Radcliffe College, which was one of the Seven Sisters and now does not exist because Harvard absorbed it).
posted by Etrigan at 10:21 AM on March 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Would Morehouse save itself by opening enrollment to women?

I can't see how that would make a difference in this situation which, at least according to this article, is basically a power struggle between the Board of Trustees and the President, who is backed by students and faculty.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:22 AM on March 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I don't think the problems at Morehouse have anything to do with the lack of women on campus.
posted by all about eevee at 10:24 AM on March 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Spellman is a much more wealthy school than Morehouse, in part due to donations from Camille Cosby. The vibe there is not one that would easily adjust to a merger, and neither would Morehouse's, I don't believe.

We really do need Morehouse, and the Board is probably (like the Board of my own employer, Stupid College), pretty stupid.

[Not yet read TFA]
posted by allthinky at 11:25 AM on March 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Thanks for posting the article. I found the discussion relating to the number of alumni on the board to be pretty interesting. I wouldn't have necessarily considered it to be a negative but after reading this I can see the drawbacks.
posted by nolnacs at 3:45 PM on March 30, 2017

Thanks for posting as well, I was about to when I got home from work.
The Board Director received blame from multiple review independent reviewers /consultants that he and the board were responsible for the situation: Christ, what an asshole.
My naive hope is that perhaps some of the more famous and influential alumni (Samuel Jackson, Spike Lee, Killer Mike, Julian Bond, Saul Williams) are on the same page as of the students and faculty and could pressure or (or fund legal support for the faculty/student govt in court although neither seem really healthy solutions) until the board president is removed...

Before reading this, I hadn't realized how high in regards that Morehouse (relative to other HBCUs, but maybe its just the article's bias) was in the Black American male consciousness.
posted by fizzix at 9:35 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

It would indeed be remarkable for Julian Bond to weigh in on this. Perhaps earthshaking.

I mean, since he's been dead since 2015.
posted by uberchet at 8:45 AM on April 4, 2017