Alumni News Spring/Summer 2024

MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN MORGAN

YOUR VOICE WILL BE HEARD!

Thank you to everyone who submitted an article for Morgan State University Alumni News. As always, we welcome the opportunity to share your information with the Morgan family. However, because of space limitations, it was not possible to include all submissions in the printed publication. If your news does not appear in these pages, never fear: your voice will be heard! Articles not published in the printed newsletter may be viewed on the MSU Alumni Association website at alumni.morgan.edu

GIVE A GIFT TO MORGAN

We are always told, “It is better to give than receive.”

So, on your birthday, anniversary, graduation, holiday or any other significant day in your life, honor your alma mater by giving a gift to Morgan State University!

Visit www.givetomorgan.org, and click on “Give Now,” or make your check payable and mail it to:

MSU Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 64261, Baltimore, MD 21264-4261

MSU Alumni Association – Executive Officers

IT’S TIME TO PAY YOUR ANNUAL DUES!

Thanks to all who have paid their annual dues to the Association this year. Your annual dues not only support the Alumni Association, but $5 is directed to the MSU Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund, which supports students in need.

Annual MSUAA dues for 2024–25 are $35 and are due!

Annual dues payments can be made online at https://alumni.morgan.edu

Or mail your payment to:

Morgan State University Alumni House 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, MD 21251. Questions?

Please email them to the Alumni Relations team at alumni@morgan.edu.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Michael L. Bell, ’76, President

Monique Antoine, ’97, 1st Vice President

Debora Savoy, ’81, 2nd Vice President Eboneé Knight, ’20, Secretary

Oprah Martin, ’14, Treasurer

Michelle Angu, ’10, Financial Secretary

Heidi Bruce, ’95, Executive Director, MSUAA

Phyllis C. Davis, ’82, Immediate Past President

Morgan Pride – The Summer Olympians

“Dance on the World Stage” are words Morgan President David K. Wilson often uses to urge Morgan students to graduate from the University prepared to compete successfully with anyone, anywhere in their various fields of endeavor. As people around the globe anticipate the excitement and drama on the prestigious world stage of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, to be held this July and August, in Paris, France, we’ll take this opportunity to highlight a few of the 15 Bears Hall of Famers who have made Morgan and their nation proud with their appearances in the Summer Olympics.

1952

Although best known for leading one of the nation’s best college football teams from the 1930s through the 1950s, Edward P. (“Eddie”) Hurt was an outstanding track and field coach as well. George Rhoden, of Morgan’s Class of 1951, and brothers Samuel and Byron La Beach (Classes of 1951 and 1954, respectively), were raised in Jamaica and were recruited to the track and field team by Head Coach Hurt. At the 1952 Summer Olympics, Rhoden, representing Jamaica, won the 400-meter run in a time one-tenth of a second slower than his own world record and also took gold as anchor of his home country’s 1,600-meter relay team. Byron La Beach competed in sprint events for Jamaica in the 1952 Games but didn’t place, and Samuel, “Sam,” who represented his birth country, Panama, had to withdraw from the Games because of injury. The La Beach brothers, like Rhoden, had outstanding track careers, nonetheless, notably as members of Morgan’s Championship Penn Relays teams of the 1950s.

Samuel went on to earn master’s degrees from Howard University and The Catholic University of America and had a long, influential career in public service at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, the U.S. Department of the Interior and elsewhere.

1956

Hurdler and sprinter Joshua (“Josh”) Culbreath, from Norristown, Pennsylvania, kept Morgan State College in the spotlight at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, where he won a bronze medal in the 440-yard hurdles. But the peak of his stellar track career came earlier, before he earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science with honors from Morgan in 1955. Culbreath was a three-time Pan-American Games champion in the 400-meter and 440-yard hurdles and anchored a Morgan mile-relay team that won several indoor and outdoor championships. In 1955, he set a world record in the 440-yard hurdles at a meet in Oslo, Norway.

Culbreath had many achievements after his time as a world-class athlete, including service on the board of directors of numerous organizations and as an administrator with the Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action programs of the computer company Sperry-UNIVAC, in Pennsylvania.

A 1951 Morgan relay team: George Rhoden, Sam La Beach, Howard Morgan and John Triplett Legendary coach Edward P. Hurt with the MSU 1950 Championship Mile Relay Team: Bob Tyler, George Rhoden, Bill Brown and Sam La Beach

1984, 1988, 1992

Neville Hodge, from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, is an Olympian hiding in plain sight on Morgan’s campus. Hodge has served as head cross country and track and field coach for the University since 1994, but nearly two decades earlier, he dominated the track as a sprinter for Morgan, setting school records that still stand in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, capturing the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) 100-meter and 200-meter titles in 1979, setting a track record in the 200 during a meet at Howard and winning the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championship in the 200, among other accomplishments.

After graduating from Morgan with his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1980, Hodge competed in the Summer Olympics for the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1984, 1988 and 1992 and coached his home country’s teams at the Summer Games in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996. His coaching career at Morgan was stellar from the start, as he led the men’s team to its first MEAC indoor crown in his first year. The Lady Bears team won the 2005 outdoor title. In 2016, the men’s team captured its first-ever IC4A Outdoor championship, the first MEAC team to do so.

Coach Hodge is a three-time MEAC Coach of the Year and a two-time graduate of Morgan State University: he earned a master’s degree in education at Morgan in 1997.

…1992

Cherry Hill, New Jersey, native Jack Pierce began his Morgan track and field career as a walk-on, but he completed it as one of the alltime greats. Pierce is a member of the Class of 1985 at Morgan, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. During his junior year, he became the NCAA Division II champion in the 110-meter hurdles. Then, after repeating that feat in his senior year, he went with his Morgan teammates to the 1984 Penn Relays. There, he gave one of the best individual track and field performances in the University’s history, competing in 10 races over two days and helping secure Morgan’s first-ever win in the shuttle hurdles and a win in the 4 x 200-meter relay. He also took first place in the 110-meter hurdles, anchored the Bears’ second-place 4 x 100-meter and 4 x 400-meter relay teams and was named the Penn Relays’ outstanding performer that year.

In 1992, as Morgan graduate Neville Hodge was competing and coaching for the U.S. Virgin Islands at the Summer Olympics, Pierce

won a bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdles, becoming the first Bears track and field athlete to win an individual Olympic medal since Josh Culbreath in 1956.

…1992, 1996

But Pierce wasn’t the only Morgan all-time great competing and medaling in track and field in Barcelona that year. Memphis, Tennessee, native Rochelle Stevens made the first of her two Summer Olympics appearances in1992.

Stevens attended Morgan on a full track scholarship and compiled numerous athletic honors during her collegiate career, including NCAA All-American 11 times and NCAA Division II champion in the 400 meters. After earning her Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications in 1988, and a Master of Science in public relations from Columbus University, she stepped up her athletic achievements even further, taking the 400 meters in the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in multiple years and winning the event in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1992.

At the Barcelona Games that year, Stevens won silver in the women’s 4 x 400-meter relay. Four years later, at the 1996 Summer Olympics, in Atlanta, she won gold in the same event.

Retired from professional track since 2000, Stevens has served the community as an educator and nonprofit organization founder and leader. She has also been a business owner and has worked as a spokesperson for many Fortune 500 companies. A plaque in her honor stands outside Morgan’s Communications Building, in the School of Global Journalism and Communications’ Garden of Honor. n

Morgan Summer Olympians – More!

Phillipa Arnett, Class of 1997, Sprinter, The Bahamas, 2004 Games

Roberta Belle, Class of 1982, Sprinter, USA, 1984 Games

Ameerah Bello, Class of 1998, Sprinter, U.S. Virgin Islands, 2000 Games

Art Bragg, Class of 1955, Sprinter, USA, 1952 Games

Troy McIntosh, Class of 1996, Sprinter, The Bahamas, 1996 and 2000 Games

Jilma Patrick, M.D., Class of 2000, Sprinter, U.S. Virgin Islands, 1996 Games

Ethlyn Tate, Class of 1991, Sprinter, Jamaica, 1988 Games

Andrea Thomas, Class of 1994, Sprinter, Jamaica, 1988 Games

MORGAN LEGACIES

A Winning Team

As his football teammate Russ Young of Morgan’s Class of 1951 told it, James Mack arrived on campus as a freshman in 1948 with all his belongings in matching luggage: two grocery store shopping bags.

After his graduation from what was then Morgan College, in 1953, Mack’s friend and Morgan roommate, Roosevelt Brown, went on to a stellar career with the New York Giants of the National Football League. As for Mack, he learned to make a much stronger first impression during his nearly three decades as a faculty member and athletics coach at Morgan. He also made a lasting, beneficial impact on many people, including the next generation of Morgan students in his family.

James Franklin Mack came to Morgan from his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, recruited to play football for legendary

Head Coach Edward P. (“Eddie”) Hurt. Service in the U.S. Army in the Korean War interrupted Mack’s career as a scholar-athlete, and after he returned to Morgan and finished earning his bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, in 1957, he followed in Hurt’s footsteps, joining Morgan as an instructor and wrestling coach. He later coached Morgan’s men’s swimming team, which won the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championship in 1971 and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championships in 1972–1975. Mack also earned a master’s degree in Recreation at Morgan.

James Mack passed away in 2013, but his name still lives on Morgan’s campus, above the entrance of the Brooks-Jones-Mack Natatorium.

Mack wasn’t the first person in his family to graduate from Morgan. That achievement

belongs to his aunt, Austina (“Tina”) Mack, a multitalented writer and musician who came to the campus from Winston-Salem. During her married life and long career as an educator in Teaneck, New Jersey, Tina Palmer’s home became a waystation for members of her extended birth family who moved from other states.

Second Home

James Mack’s daughters, Joanne and Robin, were never far from his side during his early years of coaching, and they went on to become Morgan alum themselves. She and her older sister were “raised on the campus,” recalls Robin, who jokingly admits to being a “daddy’s girl.” “My mother (Inez) was a registered nurse, and she worked at night. So during the day when I wasn’t in school, I had to go with my dad, so my

mom could get some sleep.... And I would see Coach (Talmadge L.) Hill, Coach Hurt, Coach (Earl C.) Banks walking the campus.”

Morgan’s campus was a second home to them, but despite the good memories, neither she nor Joanne initially planned to attend their father’s alma mater, Robin says. In the end, their father’s preference was a major influence on their college choice.

“My father told us, ‘Y’all can apply for any school you want to, and you can be accepted by any school. But my money is going to Morgan,” Robin recalls with a laugh.

Joanne earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Morgan as a member of the Class of 1978, and Robin walked across the platform at Commencement to receive her bachelor’s in Business Administration in 1982. Her time at

James and Inez Mack

Joanne Mack

Morgan was “the best four years of my life, and my sister said the same thing,” Robin says. “If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way.”

Both sisters went on to successful careers. And many Morgan alumni know Joanne from her years as an executive officer of the MSU Alumni Association (MSUAA) and as an officer with the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter of the sorority she and Robin pledged as Morgan undergrads: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. At her untimely passing in 2022, Joanne was first vice president of the MSUAA and president of her sorority chapter.

No One Left Behind

His daughters weren’t the only members of his family influenced positively by Coach Mack. His niece Joanna Thomas, from Opelika,

Alabama, spent her summers and a junior high school year in his home. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education at Morgan in 1975, before returning to Alabama, where she had a long teaching career.

One of his cousins, Deborah Hoy Jones, of Morgan’s Class of 1976, is now an ordained minister and a neonatologist at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, in Washington, D.C. She says Coach Mack started her journey to Morgan and helped her realize her lifelong dream of becoming a physician.

“Coach Mack took things into his own hands and made sure that I got to school,” Dr. Hoy Jones says. “Of course, I’m convinced this is all God’s plan.”

James Mack’s cousin Renee Smith Carr, of Morgan’s Class of 1986, is another Morgan

success story he helped write.

“My cousin…had a huge influence on me, because I was like a mama’s baby,” Carr says.

“I didn’t want to leave home. And so moving (to Morgan) was great, because I had such strong family support. My cousin, who was just awesome, would always look out for me.”

Urged by her family members, Carr impressed Morgan’s choir director, the late Nathan Carter, D.M.A., with her audition performance, and she became a frequent soloist with the choir for the next four years, traveling across the U.S. and internationally and gaining self-confidence in the process. A Telecommunications major, she also served as a DJ with Morgan’s WEAA Radio, where she was mentored by the station’s director then, Kweisi Mfume (Morgan Class of 1976).

“I learned so much from being there (at

Morgan),” says Carr, who segued from the TV advertising industry to a career in finance, and now resides in California. “I have some lifelong friends that I’m still in touch with…. It was a great experience.”

It’s hard to know the origin of their embrace of Ujima, but James Mack and his extended family clearly mastered that African principle over generations. Dr. Deborah Hoy Jones gives the credit to Morgan.

“Morgan was very much, ‘We can all graduate. Nobody has to be left behind. We can help each other,’” she says. “And that working together is something that Coach Mack was always about, working together and reaching back. So I think that’s what is so powerful.” n

Robin Mack

Seeking Artifacts for Dr . Effietee Payne Commemoration

The Dr. Effietee Payne Commemoration Committee is in need of artifacts and memorabilia that can be used for a display to honor her memory. Dr. Payne was the first female head coach at Morgan, where she served from 1946 to 1973. She organized and coached the first Women’s Varsity Basketball

Team and Women’s Tennis Team. She was also instrumental in the development of women’s soccer, field hockey, majorettes and swimming at Morgan. If you have any items that could be used for the display, please contact Angela Gaither-Scott at acgaitherscott@msn.com or (410) 382-1704.

Alumni Day 2024

Morgan State University 121st Alumni Awards and Class Reunion Luncheon

Friday, May 17, 11 a.m., Calvin and Tina Tyler Ballroom, University Student Center

Celebrating Classes Ending in “4” or “9”

Tickets are $125 per person and can be purchased on the MSUAA website, at https://alumni.morgan.edu.

Effietie Payne, P.E.D.

Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients 2024

The Morgan family is filled with organizations and individuals who exemplify the University’s Core Values and mission. The Distinguished Alumni Awards provide a muchanticipated, annual opportunity to spotlight some of Morgan State University Alumni Association’s most outstanding leaders in service to alma mater and the broader community.

Please join us in celebrating the 2024 cohort of Distinguished Alumni, at Morgan State University’s 121st Alumni Awards and Class Reunion Luncheon! The awards will be presented on Friday, May 17, beginning at 11 a.m., in the Calvin and Tina Tyler Ballroom of the University Student Center.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS 2024

Distinguished Alumnus of the Year

Phyllis C. Davis, ’82

Outstanding Young Alumnus

Michael Ryan Faulkner, ’16

Chapter of the Year

Pi Alumni Chapter

Honorary Alumnus

Theodore “Ted” Colbert III

Alumni Volunteer of the Year

C. Sylvia Proctor, ’67

On Oct. 28, 1923, the Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., was chartered in Carnegie Hall on the campus of Morgan College, through the leadership of Judge Linwood Graves Koger, Sr., along with 11 other men from Morgan who made up the chapter’s charter line. More than a century later, the brothers of the Pi Chapter and the Pi Alumni Chapter of Morgan State University Alumni Association (MSUAA), along with friends and family, are celebrating 100 years of professional intellectuals setting the pace.

In honor of the centennial, Pi Alumni Chapter, led by Chapter President Salahudin M. Bin-Yusif, sponsored a weekend celebration last November. Centennial Chair Aaris Johnson and Gala Chair Joseph R. Harrison III led the effort, along with many other Pi Alumni Brothers who organized the outstanding series of events. Highlights included a Nice and Nasty Comedy Show headlined by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Brothers D.L. Hughley, Joe Torry and Nate Jackson, and a fundraising Gala attended by Ricky Lewis, 43rd Grand Basileus of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Eight Pi Alumni Chapter members, prominent in servant-leadership over seven decades, were recognized at the Gala for their contributions to Morgan and the broader community:

Clarence M. Dunnaville, Esq. – ’50s

Michael Cassell – ’60s

Dr. Charles Fletcher – ’70s

Gregory M. Jones – ’70s

Lt. Gen. Raymond Scott Dingle – ’80s

Dr. Delon Brennen – ’90s

Dr. Darren W. Jackson II – ’00s

Joseph R. Harrison III – ’10s

Pi Alumni member Edwin T. Johnson, Ph.D., a graduate of Morgan in 1992, 1996, 2003 and 2009 and the chair of the Maryland Commission for African American History and Culture, gave the Gala’s keynote address, about the chapters’ history.

Pi Alumni member Gregory Jones, of Morgan’s Class of 1979, concluded the Gala with the presentation of a check to the University for $250,000 and a promise from the chapter to donate another $750,000 to the University during Homecoming 2024, far exceeding the $100,000 goal of Pi Chapter’s “100 4 100” campaign.

The Rev. Dr. Charles Fletcher, a Pi Chapter brother and past MSUAA president, led the Gala’s Sunday Prayer Service, which was organized by chapter member Clarence Wayman, director of the University Memorial Chapel.

More information about the Pi Alumni Chapter is available at www.pialumnichapter.org.

Pi Chapter and Pi Alumni Chapter members prepare to sing their Fraternity Hymn.

(left to right) Pi Chapter President Salahudin Bin-Yusif, Gala Chair Joe Harrison, Morgan Vice President for Institutional Advancement Endia DeCordova and Pi Chapter “100 4 100” Chair Greg Jones

Greater Houston Chapter Sets New Goals for the New Year

Houston area alumni of Morgan, including members of the Greater Houston Area Alumni Chapter, traveled to Dallas, Texas, last Sept. 30 to attend the State Fair HBCU Classic football game and concert featuring CeeLo Green and Chrisette Michele. Members also visited the African American Museum of Dallas.

The Chapter closed out 2023 by participating in the Black College Expo, in Dallas on Nov. 11 and in Houston on Nov. 18. Morgan Office of Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment staff member Ciara Evans attended the Houston event and connected with local Morgan alum to engage with prospective students. The Dallas and Houston college fair teams did an excellent job promoting Morgan State University.

The Greater Houston Chapter meets regularly and is focused on recruitment and finding opportunities to engage members throughout Texas and meet newly accepted and current Texas area Morgan students. To learn more about joining the chapter, please email GreaterHoustonArea. chapter@alumni.morgan.edu.

Howard L. Cornish Chapter Awards $70,000 in Scholarships at MLK Scholarship Breakfast

Last year, Morgan State University Alumni Association’s (MSUAA’s) Howard L. Cornish Metropolitan Baltimore Alumni Chapter reached a major milestone: $1 million in scholarships awarded to Morgan students at its Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Breakfast, which is held perennially in January near the late civil rights leader’s birthday. During the 39th iteration of the event, held last Jan. 13, the chapter added $70,000 to that total, with 20 more scholarships to Morgan matriculants!

Amounts ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 provided significant contributions toward these students’ spring semester tuition. Three $1,200

scholarships were awarded as memorials to Howard L. Cornish Chapter members who made their eternal transitions during 2023: Judge Norman Johnson (Class of 1969), Wilbert Walker (Class of 1950) and Martin Cruise (Class of 1961).

Jericka Duncan, national correspondent and anchor for CBS News, was the keynote speaker. Sina Gebre-Ab, the morning news anchor for WJZ-TV 13, was the event’s mistress of ceremonies.

Anthony C. McPhail of Morgan’s Class of 1976 served as the event chairman for the 37th year. Erica Waters (Class of ’91) is the chapter president.

North Carolina Chapter Gives to Morgan on GivingTuesday

During its meeting last November, MSU Alumni Association’s North Carolina Chapter decided to donate to Morgan for GivingTuesday. The organizers of GivingTuesday, which takes place five days after Thanksgiving, tout the event as a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” Volunteer

service, acts of kindness and donations to nonprofit organizations are among the types of giving encouraged on the day.

The North Carolina Chapter donated $1,330 to Fair Morgan. The significance of this amount is that the University took the name Morgan College 133 years earlier, in 1890.

Northern Virginia Chapter Represents at High School’s HBCU Showcase

The MSUAA Northern Virginia Chapter represented Morgan, with pride, at Tuscarora High School’s Ninth Annual HBCUs College Showcase, last Oct. 17, in Leesburg, Virginia. Faculty and students of Morgan’s Actuarial Science Department also participated in the event, to educate the high school students about the wonderful opportunities available in this major at Morgan, which offers Maryland’s only Bachelor of Science in actuarial science.

The chapter also celebrated a fun-filled holiday celebration last December, sponsored by the chapter’s Membership Committee. A short business meeting was held followed by food and fun festivities that included chapter members and their families and friends.

Southern Maryland Chapter Honors Community Servants and Supports Morgan Scholars

The Morgan State University Southern Maryland Alumni Chapter (MSUSMAC) recognized four community leaders for their dedication and selfless acts of service, during the chapter’s 16th Annual Blue and Orange Scholarship Dinner Dance and Awards Program, last Sept. 9. The honorees at the event, held at the Greater Waldorf Jaycees Community Center, in Waldorf, Maryland, included the Rev. Dr. Johnsie W. Cogman, Washington East superintendent of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church; the Rev. Dr. Dana M. Jones, pastor of Mt. Olive United Methodist Church, in Prince Frederick, Maryland; Adrianne M. Mathis, who is an administrator in St. Mary’s County Public Schools, chair of the NAACP’s HBCU College and Career Fair, a member of the Historic St. Mary’s City Commission and owner/CEO of SIP Entertainment Network LLC; and Kesia Wheeler, a strategy consultant for the federal government with Booz Allen Hamilton who serves as a volunteer tutor for math students and is a member of charitable boards that support underprivileged youth. This year’s Blue and Orange event, a scholarship fundraiser, provided 15 scholarships for current and incoming Morgan students from Charles, Calvert, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s Counties. The proceeds from this annual event will also help the chapter support and engage with numerous community service projects.

South Hampton Roads Chapter Names Morgan’s Eighth President an Honorary Member

The South Hampton Roads Alumni Chapter has awarded its first Honorary Membership designation to Andrew Billingsley, Ph.D., eighth president of Morgan State University. Dr. Billingsley received the honor at the chapter’s Fall 2023 Scholarship Fundraiser Concert, in October.

The featured performers at the event were gospel violinist Eric Taylor and the Norfolk State Vocal Jazz Ensemble. The concert, held at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, in Norfolk, Virginia, had

an overflow audience and was a great success. Dr. Billingsley’s daughter, Bonita Billingsley Harris, a Dominion Energy executive, was mistress of ceremonies.

After the concert, Dr. Billingsley, who is 97 years old, signed copies of the book, “Andrew Billingsley: Scholar and Institution Builder, Essays and Tributes,” by Charles Jarmon. Dr. Billingsley served as Morgan’s president from 1975–85. A prolific author, he is finalizing another book.

Morgan’s Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Alumni Chapter celebrated its 75th anniversary last Nov. 13 by hosting a powerful symposium titled, “Reimagining HBCUs Beyond 2024.” The novel event, built on the University’s collaborative partnership with The Boeing Company, facilitated critically important discussions about the impact and future of Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the nation.

More than 200 individuals registered for the symposium, representing 28 HBCUs. University presidents and administrators, faculty members, board members, researchers, congressional staff, media, alumni and interested citizens gathered for the daylong event, which was held in Boeing’s corporate headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Among the speakers were U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, of North Carolina’s 12th District, chair of the HBCU Caucus in Congress; U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, of Virginia’s Third District; Dietra Trent, Ph.D., executive director of the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities; University Presidents Glenda Baskin Glover, Ph.D., of Tennessee State, Larry Robinson, Ph.D., of Florida A&M, and our own David K. Wilson, Ed.D., of Morgan; Tamara Thompson, interim chief program officer of Thurgood Marshall College Fund; Bruce Johnson, director of Federal Relations for The Boeing Company; E.R. Shipp, associate professor of Multimedia Journalism at Morgan; Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Alumni Chapter President

Richard Allen Moore, Esq. II, of Morgan’s Class of ’78; C. Sylvia Proctor (Morgan Class of 1967), chair of the chapter’s 75th Anniversary celebration; MSU Alumni Association President Mike Bell (Class of 1976); and Fields Communication, Inc. President Walter Fields, of Morgan’s Class of 1986, who presided over the symposium. Fields is a member of the staff of Morgan’s newly launched National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities.

Shirley Marcus Buckner (Class of 1970) was co-chair of the 75th Anniversary, serving with Proctor and 12 other committee members who met diligently every Wednesday evening via Zoom for seven months to plan and execute the symposium. Theodore (“Ted”) Colbert III, executive vice president of The Boeing Company, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security and son of Shirlene King Colbert of Morgan’s Class of 1970, facilitated vital support for the event from Boeing staff and a financial contribution from the company.

Congressman Bobby Scott (left), Representative of 3rd District, Virginia; Ranking Member, Committee on Education and Workforce Committee

Richard Allen Moore II, President, Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Chapter, Morgan State University Alumni Association

(left to right) Tamara Thompson, Interim Chief Program Officer, Thurgood Marshall College Fund; Dr. Larry Robinson, President, Florida A&M University; Dr. Glenda Baskin Glover, President, Tennessee State University; Dr. David K. Wilson, President, Morgan State University

Celebrate With the Class of 1949 at Their Diamond Anniversary Reunion

The 206 graduates of the Class of 1949 made a wealth of memories during their time as undergraduates at what was then Morgan State College: mandatory attendance at services held in Morgan’s chapel every Tuesday at 10 a.m.; Friday night bonfires behind the athletic facility nicknamed “the Dust Bowl,” in the area that is now the McKeldin Center patio under Welcome Bridge; entering the campus’ beautiful gated entrance, which was lined with tulips and cherry trees; the first commissioning of Morgan Bear Battalion ROTC officers; and many more.

Women were predominant in the class, which entered Morgan as first-year students just after the end of World War II. And although only eight members are still with us, they harbor a wealth of love for their alma mater. Gather with members of the Class of 1949 as they celebrate their 75th Anniversary Reunion at the 121st Alumni Awards and Class Reunion Luncheon on Friday, May 17, 11 a.m., in the University Student Center.

1974

Class of 1974 Prepares to Meet Its 50th Anniversary Endowment Goal

The Class of ’74 is close to its goal of contributing $100,000 to its class endowment by its 50th anniversary. The class motto, “Unity at Its Best,” can be realized with your donation. Please visit https://givetomorgan.org to make your online donation to the MSU Class of ’74 Endowment, or mail your check to MSUF, P.O. Box 64261, Baltimore, MD 21264-4261. Write “MSU Class of ’74 Endowment” in the memo section of the check. You can also bequest MSU in your will.

For more information about the endowment or your will gift, please contact Denise Smith, Morgan senior development officer, at denise.smith@morgan.edu or (410) 440-0281.

For 50th Anniversary Reunion information, please contact Angela Gaither-Scott at acgaitherscott@msn.com or (410) 382-1704, or Sharon Russell at sharonrussell.realtor@ gmail.com or (757) 291-6834.

Please update your contact information with the Alumni Relations Office to stay informed about the Class of ’74’s 50th anniversary plans.

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Homecoming 2024 Homecoming Football! Saturday, Oct. 5

Bears vs. Lions, Hughes Stadium

Tickets available at Ticketmaster at (410) 547-7328 or http://www.ticketmaster.com, or before the game at the Box Office, University Student Center first floor

HOMECOMING CALENDAR • ALUMNI EVENTS, FALL 2024

Homecoming Host Hotel

– Reserve Your Rooms Now!

The Hotel Indigo Baltimore 24 W. Franklin St., Baltimore, MD 21201

(410) 625-6200

$175 per night

Available Dates: Oct. 4–6, 2024

Make your room reservations by calling the Reservations Center at (855) 914-1370 and using the code MSU or Morgan State. Or use the following link to reserve your room online, today: https://tinyurl.com/4ad7twz2

The cutoff date for reserving rooms at the discounted Homecoming rate is Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

In case you miss getting a room at the Host Hotel, more hotels are listed on the MSU Alumni Association website. To reserve space at one of the additional properties, please visit www.alumni.morgan.edu and click “Events” then “Homecoming,” or click “Resources” then “Hotels.”

MSUAA Business Meeting ................................................. Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, 11 a.m. Meeting will begin promptly and will be held in the University Student Center Theater, first floor.

40th Annual Homecoming Gala ............................................. Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, 8 p.m.

MSUAA Candlelight Memorial Service Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, 11 a.m. University Student Center Theatre

Football

Bears Football 2024 Schedule

* Homecoming Game

Choir

MSU CHOIR PERFORMANCES

Spring/Summer 2024

Visit www.msuchoir.org for the latest information.

Annual Morgan Choir Spring Concert

Murphy Fine Arts Center, 2201 Argonne Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218

Performance at Morgan’s 147th Spring Commencement Exercises ............

Hughes Stadium

Tour of Greece

May 5, 4 p.m.

May 18, 2024, 9:30 a.m.

May 20–31, 2024

Arts

Events – Spring/Summer 2024

Calendar is subject to change. Visit www.murphyfineartscenter.org for the latest information.

May 5 ........... The Morgan State University Choir Spring Concert ............ Gilliam Concert Hall

May 11 .......... The Morgan State University Jazz Ensemble Big Band Concert .... Gilliam Concert Hall

May 16 Morgan State University Graduate Studies Commencement Gilliam Concert Hall

June 15 Ballet Nouveau spring performance Turpin-Lamb Theatre

June 21–22 Stage play: “Same Cast Different Script” Turpin-Lamb Theatre

June 23 .......... Studio A Dance Academy spring performance ............... Gilliam Concert Hall

CARL J. MURPHY FINE ARTS CENTER

Gilliam Concert Hall

Turpin-Lamb Theatre

James E. Lewis Museum of Art

Dr. Eric Conway, Director

Cedric Edward Atkins, ’73 . . . . .

James G . Barber (Staff)

. 2/18/2024

9/20/2023

Larry M Blizzard, ’71 3/7/2024

Blake Anthony Bozeman, ’14 and ’16 9/23/2023

Joanne Bracey, ’66 11/27/2023

Goodrich H . Brame, ’75

Dr Michael Brantley, ’67

2/1/2024

1/6/2024

Charles Bridges, ’68 6/26/2023

Will Everett Brooks, ’69 9/24/2023

Charles E Brown II, ’66 11/28/2023

Mattie Dell Martin Brownley, ’67

Karen Burroughs , ’92

12/3/2023

12/24/2023

Dr Eugene D Byrd, Jr , ’65 2/22/2024

William R Caltrider (Former Faculty) 7/15/2023

Herman Campbell, ’74 12/23/2023

Lutherine Coelho Bascom, ’65

Gary B . Coleman, ’68 and ’87

11/27/2023

1/30/2024

Virginia B Coleman, ’50 1/23/2024

Euphemia McKinley Collins, ’76 8/30/2023

John T Collins, ’56 8/13/2023

Lemuel W . Cousins, Jr , ’78

Dr Joanna Crosby (Faculty/Staff)

Dr Martin H . Cruise, Sr ., ’61

10/31/2023

11/27/2023

10/16/2023

Vanessa I D’Arville, ’81 2/21/2024

Dr Peter J (“Pete”) DaDalt (Former Faculty) 1/12/2024

The Hon . Arrie W Davis, ’63

Art Dean, ’57

11/28/2023

12/3/2023

Mose A Dean, ’57 12/3/2023

Chester E Dorsey Jr , ’64 1/22/2024

Sheri Eldridge, ’80 12/28/2023

Harriett E . Fentress, ’61

Ronald L Fletcher, ’87

Bernard E . Glover, ’59 . . . . . . . . . . . 10/7/2023

James L . Gray, ’67 . . .

2/11/2023

Donald B Gregg, ’75 3/12/2024

Meta C Hallpike, ’72 8/3/2023

Gerald Oliver Harrison, ’59 2/2/2024

Robert L . Hawkins, ’52

James E . Highsmith, Jr , ’67 . . . .

2/5/2024

11/20/2023

Stephen R Humphrey, Esq , ’68 9/9/2023

Triston T Irvin (Student) 10/13/2023

Lawrence McCraw Johns, ’65 2/17/2024

Barbara P . Johnson, ’62 and ’65

Daryl E Johnson, ’68

. 1/29/2024

11/25/2023

Elaine Dixon Johnson (Staff) 10/20/2022

Kayla R Johnson, ’20 1/26/2024

Maj (Ret ) Martin T Johnson, ’74 10/19/2023

Dwight H . Jones, ’74

Romualdas Rom Kalinauskas, ’73

3/7/2024

3/23/2024

Geraldine Alberta Lippman, ’66 1/7/2024

Stephen Meeks, Jr , ’79 1/9/2024

Jarrett D Miles, ’99 12/28/2023

Charles D Miller, ’75

Vernest C . Moore, ’84

Clarence R . Morton, ’62

11/2/2023

10/22/2023

1/9/2024

Regina L Nix, ’57 11/3/2023

James M Nixon, Sr , ’54 1/7/2024

Dr Patrick Adebayo Uzoma Opara (Former Faculty)

Tony R . Perry, 76

8/4/2023

9/15/2023

Cynthia Petion, ’82 9/22/2023

Quanta Lake Smith Pierce, ’64 7/22/2023

Col (Ret ) Kenneth W Polston, ’57 7/30/2023

Jean Elizabeth River, ’68 .

Marvis R . Robinson, Jr ., ’09

12/15/2023

8/4/2023

Marilyn H Royal, ’81 11/24/2023

Martha E Seabrooks, ’76 10/18/2023

Betty E Seawell, ’66 2/13/2023

Sang J . Shim, ’66

12/21/2023

Dr Richard R . Spencer, ’64 . . . . . . . 9/2/2023

Barbara J Spraglin, ’60 10/24/2023

Elise B Stewart (Former Staff) 9/13/2023

Shirley Noel Stills, ’57 1/1/2024

Albert A . Sturdivant, ’71 . . . . . . . . . . 8/4/2023

Dr Bala Subramanian (Former Faculty) 9/4/2023

James Thomas (Former Staff) 11/5/2023

Wayne Thompson (Former Staff) 2/6/2024

Robert W Tolson III 12/24/2023

Wilbert Lee Walker, ’50 . .

Tamara Patrice Wallace-Smith, ’80

David P Watson, ’73 8/24/2023

Jennifer Cooper Webster, ’69 and ’06 9/1/2023

Dr G Agnes Welch, ’47 12/26/2023

Cottrell Alberton Wesson, ’71

Sedral E . West, ’81 . . . . .

Janice Whelchel , ’73 .

2/15/2024

Carolyn M Williams (Faculty/Staff) 12/18/2023

The Rev Dr Maceo Merton Williams, ’66 10/26/2023

Dr Patricia A . Williams, ’73 .

Robert Lee Williams, ’54

1/5/2024

Dr Patricia Williams-Bennett, ’73 1/5/2024

Marguerite J Wood, ’58 11/15/2023

2/17/2024

9/20/2023

James A Frazier, ’79 8/1/2023

Nancy W Frazier, ’65 1/30/2024

Lt Col (Ret ) Walter H Fulcher, ’58 10/16/2023

Donald N . Powell, ’56 .

Gwendolyn M . Price, ’17

11/1/2023

2/29/2024

Myrna W Pugh, ’55 12/28/2023

Ralph A Ransone, ’85 10/19/2023

Ebielose M Richard-Ikediashi, ’23 11/1/2023

*This list includes notices received on or before April 1, 2024.

Any notices received after that date will be published in the next issue of Alumni News.

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Help Benny Get to Class

Morgan alumni, we have a problem. Our mascot and top scholar-athlete, Benny the Bear, just finished the first day of his internship in downtown Baltimore, and he can’t find his way back to the campus for a big exam. Poor Benny! He needs to ace his test to keep his 4.0.

Let’s solve this maze and show our athletics motivatorin-chief the Morgan Way to academic excellence. The first 10 readers to submit completed puzzles to alumni@morgan.edu will receive a prize. Submission must be received by May 31. Help

Tag @msualumniof cial #morganstate

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