Morehouse College 2023 Baccalaureate Program

baccalaureate 2023

Saturday, the Twentieth Day of May Two Thousand Twenty-Three Three o’clock in the Afternoon

the martin luther king jr. international chapel atlanta, georgia

The Reverend Michael Anthony Walrond Jr. ’93

Senior Pastor, First Corinthian Baptist Church (FCBC), Harlem, N.Y.

Michael A. Walrond Jr. is the senior pastor of First Corinthian Baptist Church (FCBC) in Harlem, New York. Walrond— affectionately known as Pastor Mike—is quickly rising as one of the most prolific and sought-after teachers and preachers in the country. Considered a visionary, cultural architect, and game-changer by his peers, Pastor Mike has not only catalytically changed the traditional perspective of the Black church, but he is also shifting the paradigm of Christian understanding and culture. Within two years of his leadership at FCBC, the church experienced exponential growth, tripling its membership. Over the past 19 years, membership at FCBC has grown from 300 to more than 10,000 members.

Pastor Mike is a board member of the National Action Network and was appointed the first national director of the Ministers Division. He currently serves as chair of the Duke Divinity School Board of Visitors. Pastor Mike has received numerous honors, accolades, and recognitions including induction into the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers as a “Distinguished Preacher.” In 2014, Pastor Mike was a recipient of The Root 100 Award, a list of the top 100 most influential African Americans under the age of 45. In July 2015 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio named Pastor Mike as the first chair of the NYC Clergy Advisory Council. In 2017, he was an honoree on the annual Ebony Power 100 list as a Community Crusader.

In 2012, Pastor Mike’s foresight and passion for the Harlem community shaped the vision for the FCBC Community Development Corp. (CDC). The most ambitious project to date of the FCBC CDC is The Dream Center, a transformative space designed to awaken community dreams. Focused on the creative arts, leadership development, and economic empowerment, The Dream Center offers over 25 free programs to the Harlem community for those of all ages, races, and backgrounds. In December 2016, with a desire to deeply engage the issues of the community, Pastor Mike opened the H.O.P.E. (Healing On Purpose and Evolving) Center—the first faith-based mental health facility in Harlem. The H.O.P.E. Center is a manifestation of Pastor Mike’s vision to effectively support the vast mental health needs of the community. Center workers, for example, seek to minimize the stigma that exists in many communities of color when someone seeks mental health services.

Pastor Mike is a graduate of Morehouse College, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy. He continued his studies at Duke Divinity School as a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar and earned a master of divinity degree with a focus in theology. He served Duke University as the university minister and director of the African American Campus Ministry for eight years. Pastor Mike also served as the senior pastor of Zion Temple United Church of Christ in Durham, North Carolina, for eight years. He is a proud member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. and the Morehouse College Alumni Association.

Pastor Mike is a native of Roosevelt, New York. He is married to the Rev. Dr. LaKeesha N. Walrond, who serves as president of New York Theological Seminary. They are the proud parents of two adult children, Michael III and Jasmyn Dominique.

OrderofBaccalaureate

presiding

The Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. , Dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel

Prelude

Processional

Call to Baccalaureate

Evocation

The Occasion

*†Hymn

Scripture

Anthem

Introduction of Preacher

Special Musical Presentation

Sermon

“Fantasia in G Major, BWV 572” “Improvisation on Great Is Thy Faithfulness” “Improvisation on Dear Old Morehouse”

“Trumpet Tune” by John Stanley

by Johann Sebastian Bach Arr. David Oliver Arr. David Oliver

Dr. David Oliver

The Reverend Dean Lawrence Carter Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel

The Reverend Kenneth James Flowers ’83 Senior Pastor, Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit, Mich.

Frederick Euclid Walker ’94 Chair, Morehouse College Chapel Trustee Committee Managing Partner, Parkway Investment Management LLC, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

Hymn Text: Thomas O. Chisholm Hymn Tune: FAITHFULNESS With Refrain: William M. Runyan

Psalm 139:1-18 (KJV)

“Evil Shall Not Prevail” by Wallingford Riegger

“Dear God” by Smokie Norful

“From Trauma to Triumph” Joshua 1:1-9 (NRSV)

Spiritual “John Was a Writer” arr. Uzee Brown Jr. ’72

Benediction

Morehouse College Hymn

Morehouse College Glee Club

Daryl Bodrick II ’23 Senior Class President

Morehouse College Glee Club

Dr. David Anthony Thomas President, Morehouse College

The Reverend W.R. “Smokie” Norful Jr. Pastor, Victory Cathedral Worship Center Bolingbrook, Ill.

Grammy Award-winning Gospel Singer and Pianist

The Reverend Michael Anthony Walrond Jr. ’93 Senior Pastor, First Corinthian Baptist Church Harlem, N.Y.

Morehouse College Glee Club Je’Vion Fluellen ’23, Baritone

The Reverend Dr. Otis Moss III ’92 Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Ill.

“Dear Old Morehouse” J.O.B. Moseley ’29 ALL

Recessional “Trumpet Voluntary” by Henry Purcell

Dr. David Edward Morrow ’80 Professor of Music and Director of the Morehouse College Glee Club

Dr. David Francis Oliver College Organist

Abandon Rank All Ye Who Enter Here

Dr. Oliver

SignatureAnniversary

100 years 100 years

CLASS OF 1923

Howard Washington Thurman

Valedictorian

November 18, 1889 – April 10, 1981

Howard Washington Thurman graduated from Morehouse College in 1923 as valedictorian. Thurman was an honors scholar and served as editor-in-chief of the Torch Yearbook and class president during his sophomore year. He was ordained in 1925 by the First Baptist Church of Roanoke, Virginia, while studying at Rochester Theological Seminary (now Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School) where he completed his Bachelor of Divinity degree in the Class of 1926 as valedictorian. Upon graduating, Thurman became pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Oberlin, Ohio, where he served until the fall of 1928 when he returned to Atlanta and his beloved alma mater, Morehouse College. He received a joint appointment at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in their respective Philosophy and Religion Departments and Chapels. From 1932 to 1944, Thurman served as the first dean of Rankin Chapel at Howard University. He met Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi while leading a “Negro Delegation of Friendship” to India, Burma, and Ceylon in 1936. In 1944, he helped to establish the first racially integrated, intercultural, and interfaith church in the United States, the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, in San Francisco, California. Thurman then served as the first African American dean in the American academy at Marsh Chapel, Boston University, from 1953 to 1965. He authored 23 books. Upon retirement from his post as dean of Marsh Chapel and professor in the School of Theology, he moved to San Francisco and was the director of the Howard Thurman Educational Trust until his death in 1989. He and his wife’s cremains are interred in the Howard Washington Thurman Memorial on the Morehouse Campus.

CLASS OF 1923

James Madison Nabrit

September 7, 1900 – December 27, 1997

James Madison Nabrit graduated from Morehouse College in 1923. Nabrit was an honors scholar and served as associate editor of the Torch Yearbook and class treasurer during his freshman year, Class Critic during his sophomore year, and class vice-president during his junior and senior years. Nabrit went on to earn his Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1927. In 1930, Nabrit began practicing law in Houston, Texas, where he remained until relocating to Washington, D.C., to join the faculty of Howard Law School. During his tenure, Nabrit established the first formal Civil Rights Law course in the United States in 1938. Nabrit worked with Dean Charles Hamilton Houston. Thurgood Marshall was their greatest student, and he served as the chief attorney of The NAACP Legal Defense Fund in several Civil Rights cases before the Supreme Court, most notably: Lane v. Wilson (1939), concerning the registration of Black voters in Oklahoma, Terry v. Adams (1953), and Bolling v. Sharpe (1953), a predecessor of Brown v. Board of Education. In 1958 Nabrit was made dean of Howard Law School and named president of Howard University in 1960. In 1965, Nabrit took a leave of absence to serve on the U. S. Delegation to the United Nations where he, in 1966, was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve as Deputy to the Chief Delegate Ambassador to the United Nations. He served there until 1967 when Nabrit returned to the presidency of Howard University, from which he retired in 1969.

SignatureAnniversary

75 years

CLASS OF 1948

Charles Vert Willie

October 8, 1927 – January 11, 2022

Charles Vert Willie graduated from Morehouse College in 1948. Willie went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan, and he was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Willie later became a professor of sociology at Syracuse University and Harvard University, where he taught for more than four decades and served as a leading voice in the field of urban sociology, holding Harvard’s most prestigious professorship, the Charles William Eliot Chair of Education. Willie’s research and writing focused on issues of race, inequality, and social justice, and he was a prominent advocate for affirmative action and equal access to education. He also authored numerous influential books and articles, including the landmark study, “The Negro in Urban Society,” which explored the impact of urbanization on African American communities. In addition to his academic work, Willie was an active participant in the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement and worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and other prominent leaders. Willie played a key role in the desegregation of schools in Boston and was a vocal opponent of racial discrimination in housing and employment. His contributions to the fields of sociology and civil rights activism were recognized through numerous awards and honors, including the American Sociological Association’s W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award.

75 years

CLASS OF 1948

Samuel DuBois Cook

November 21, 1928 – May 29, 2017

Samuel DuBois Cook graduated from Morehouse College in 1948. He was a passionate advocate for social justice and equality throughout his life. Cook earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University. He later became a professor of political science at Atlanta University, the University of Southern California, and Duke University, where he was the first Black professor and taught for more two decades, becoming a leading voice in the field of political theory. Cook’s research and writing focused on issues of race, democracy, and citizenship, and he was a prominent critic of racial inequality in American politics and society. He authored numerous influential books and articles. Cook became the first African American to be a trustee of Duke University. In addition to his academic work, Cook was also an active participant in the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement and worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other prominent leaders. He played a key role in the desegregation of public schools in Durham, North Carolina, and was a vocal advocate for equal access to education and employment. Cook’s contributions to the fields of political science and civil rights activism were recognized through numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Charles Merriam Award from the American Political Science Association. He served as president of Dillard University from 1975 to 1997, and was appointed to the National Council on the Humanities by President Jimmy Carter and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by President William Jefferson Clinton. He was also the first Black president of the Southern Political Science Association.

75 years

CLASS OF 1948

Martin Luther King Jr.

January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968

Martin Luther King Jr. graduated from Morehouse College in the Class of 1948. King is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in American history. After graduating from Morehouse, King went on to earn his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Crozer Theological Seminary and his doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University. He later became the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and played a key role in the American nonviolent Civil Rights Movement. King’s leadership and advocacy were marked by his commitment to nonviolent resistance and his unwavering belief in the power of love and justice to overcome hatred and oppression. He was a vocal opponent of racial discrimination and segregation and played a major role in many pivotal moments in the Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington in 1963, and the Selma to Montgomery march. He is credited with his work on the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And King was recognized through numerous awards and honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, a federal holiday, a statue on the National Mall, a statue in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol, and the most prominent religious memorial in the world at Morehouse College.

Alvin Holmes Wardlaw ’48

Webster Bernard Baker ’48

Wilfred R. Ball ’52

Bennie Frank Hawkins Sr. ’52

Robert L. Simmons ’53

Cleo Phillip Coles Jr. ’58

Griffin F. Day Jr. ’63

Johnny F. Thomas Sr. ’63

Calvin Bryson ’64

Clayton Lindsay Harleston ’68

** Henry A. Gore ’69

Marvin Collier Mangham Jr. ’69

Harvey B. Smith Jr. ’70 (Ahmad Abdul-Karim)

Torris Edward Bailey ’71

Calvin Otis Butts III ’71

Len L. Davis ’71

Sylvester Lindsey ’73

Jackie Murray ’73

Dwayne E. Heard ’76

James W. “Tod” Miles ’76

Clifford Ernest Becker ’77

Glenn Edward Smith ’78

Gregory Jones ’79

Roderick A. Weatherly Sr. ’84

John Wesley Parham III ’86

Byron H. Perkins ’86

Bertram E. “Buddy” Sears Jr. ’86

Kenneth Alan Brown ’91

Charles Edward McCrae ’96

Alexis M. Richburg ’98

Charles Elliott Thornton ’99

Brian DeQuincey Newman ’05

Turner James Cooper ’11

Jevon Ashman ’22

*** Tre’ Juan Elijah Raheem Byrd Ex.’23

*** Saadiq Aamir Morgan Ex.’23

* The College honors the lives of all alumni and matriculating students who have made their transition since last Commencement. The list above, however, reflects only the names that were reported to the College.

** Denotes a faculty member.

*** Denotes the expected graduation date.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not, As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness, To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Hymn Text Thomas O. Chisholm

Dear Old Morehouse

Dear old Morehouse, dear old Morehouse, We have pledged our lives to thee; And we’ll ever, yea forever, Give ourselves in loyalty.

True forever, true forever, To old Morehouse may we be; So to bind each son the other Into ties more brotherly.

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Make us steadfast, honest, true, To old Morehouse and her ideals And in all things that we do.

J. O. B. Moseley ’29