Morgan Magazine 2010 Issue

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Morgan’s 12th President Dr. David Wilson

VOLUME I 2010 MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2010

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Contents

Morgan State University Magazine Volume I 2010

AWARDS Morgan Magazine Volume I 2009 Winner of the 2010 APEX Award for Publication Excellence and the 2010 Hermes Creative Gold Award

Morgan Magazine is published by the Division of Institutional Advancement of MSU for alumni, parents, faculty, students, prospective students and friends. Morgan Magazine is designed and edited by the Office of Public Relations and Communications. Opinions expressed in Morgan Magazine are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the University.

Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs are welcome but will be returned only if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Letters are also welcome.

Correspondence should be directed to: Morgan Magazine Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, 109 Truth Hall, Baltimore, MD 21251 443-885-3022 office • 443-885-8297 fax • public.relations@morgan.edu

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Commencement 2010

Chairman's Letter

Morgan’s 12th President

Morgan Graduates Rise to New Challenges

Regent Dallas R. Evans

Leaving One Legacy and Creating Another

Breaking Ground in Collaborative Research

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Defender Against Terrorism

Thankful Donors

Answering the Call

Repeat!

Bert & Joan Hash

The Consortium of Information and Telecommunications Executives (CITE)

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Bringing New Faces to Business

News Briefs

Morgan’s New School of Social Work

Morgan’s Ph.D. Program in Business Administration

Online Housing Assignments Coming to MSU

Morgan’s Legendary Swim Teams Broke Stereotypes, Gathered Wins

Alvin D. Thornton, MSU Class of ’81

MORGAN

HBCU Equity Case Moves Toward Trial

Doctoral Awards Up at Black Universities

MAGAZINE

Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Training ProblemSolvers for Urban Communities

New Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies

Morgan Men Top the MEAC in Basketball Again, Return to the NCAAs

STAFF

Publications Manager

Photographer (Magazine Cover)

Contributing Writers

Cheryl Y. Hitchcock

Ferdinand Mehlinger

P. A. Greene

cheryl.hitchcock@morgan.edu

ferdinand.mehlinger@morgan.edu

paul.greene@morgan.edu

Director of Public Relations and Communications

Art Director

Communications Assistant

Wiley A. Hall 3rd Christina Royster-Hemby

Jerry Bembry Adrienne Gibbs

(Magazine Design)

Clinton R. Coleman

David E. Ricardo

Kevin Nash

clinton.coleman@morgan.edu

david.ricardo@morgan.edu

kevin.nash@morgan.edu

Assistant Director of Public Relations and Communications

Sr. Graphic Designer

Contributing Editor

Kelvin Jenkins kelvin.jenkins@morgan.edu

Andre Barnett andre.barnett@morgan.edu

Eric Addison

Brenda Thompson Henderson Frank McCoy Roger Witherspoon

eric.addison@morgan.edu MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2010

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Commencement 2010 Morgan Graduates Rise to New Challenges The sky over Hughes Stadium matched the celebratory mood at Morgan State University’s 134th Commencement, held on May 15, 2010. More than 900 candidates for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees heard words of wisdom from Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor and assistant to President Barack Obama; outgoing MSU President Dr. Earl S. Richardson; Morgan Board of Regents Chairman Dallas R. Evans; MSU Senior Class President Brittney D. Jones and others, before receiving their degrees and diplomas. The MSU Choir and MSU Band performed.

For the poets in the group, the spate of beautiful weather during this year’s unseasonably cool, rainy spring would have made a good metaphor. The hard work of the members of Morgan’s Class of 2010 had afforded them a shining opportunity in the midst of difficult times.

“Let your well-deserved confidence carry you forward to the next phase of your life, because you are going to need that confidence,” said Jarrett, who delivered the Commencement address. “Unlike several decades of graduates who graduated before you, who inherited a world of

relative stability and a strong United States economy, what awaits you is really quite different. The economy has not yet fully emerged from one of the worst recessions in our nation’s history.”

Jarrett’s tone was upbeat, however, and her message to the graduates was relentlessly positive, as she told stories from her family and her own career about success against great odds. Her great grandfather was the first African American to graduate from MIT, and her father, a hematologist and pathologist, battled racism in becoming the first AfricanAmerican resident at Chicago’s St. Luke’s hospital.

“It takes each generation of Americans to achieve what the prior generation thought was impossible,” Jarrett said. “It will be your responsibility to write the next chapter in our nation’s history. I know that Morgan State prepared you well, and I am confident that you are up to the challenge.”

Jarrett and four others were awarded honorary degrees at the event. Linda Gooden, executive vice president for Information Technology and Global Services and officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation; MSU President Dr. Earl S. Richardson and Jarrett received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees. Honorary Doctor of Public Service degrees were awarded to MSU First Lady Dr. Sheila B. Richardson and H. DeWayne Whittington, ’52, pioneering educator on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Morgan Provost T. Joan Robinson recog-

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By Eric Addison

nized the 2010 senior honor graduates, and Lt. Col. Patrick Brundidge, U.S. Army, chair of Morgan’s Department of Military Science, recognized the newly commissioned officers from Morgan’s ROTC program. Gloria E. Wayman, president of Morgan’s National Alumni Association, presented the Alumnus of the Year Award to Lt. Col. Lawrence K. Mont-

Dallas R. Evans, chairman of MSU’s Board of Regents, presents an honorary doctorate to Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor and assistant to President Barack Obama.

gomery Sr., ’56, U.S. Army (Ret.) and inducted the 2010 graduates into the association.

Among those who enjoyed the ceremony from the audience was veteran White House Correspondent April Ryan, Morgan Class of 1989.

“It’s great that Valerie Jarrett spoke and that the White House is recognizing excellence at this university,” said Ryan, who was on site to celebrate with two 2010 graduates: Avon Prevoe-Lewis, who received a B.A. in theatre arts, and Patricia Denise Byrd Oliver, who received a Master of Social Work degree.

Office of the Chairman Board of Regents

Chairman’s Welcome

Greetings, MSU Alumni and Friends.

In the recently released movie “Facing Ali,” former opponents tell how their lives were changed by their struggles with the boxing great. For most, if not all, the decades since their title bouts have been a steep spiritual climb in which they waged successful battles against bitterness and disappointment.

In life, as in sports, it is often the time after leaving the arena that determines a fighter’s true character. Out of the public eye, away from the spotlight, does the man or woman remain true to self and mission?

From November 1984 until December 2009, Morgan State University was blessed to have a leader for whom the answer to that question was always, clearly in the affirmative. Dr. Earl S. Richardson’s tenure as president of Morgan State was indeed an Era of Great Progress, progress made possible because of Dr. Richardson’s unwavering focus on the prize. Steady, determined, forward-thinking, self-effacing, he made clear to all who worked with him that Morgan’s successes were not his but ours.

July 1, 2010 began a promising new era for the University, with the presidency of Dr. David Wilson, a man with a background very different from Dr. Richardson’s but who, in the ways most important to the Morgan family, seems cut from the same cloth. In a daylong conversation this past February with Ebony magazine Senior Editor Adrienne Gibbs — guest writer for Morgan Magazine — Dr. Wilson talked about his upbringing and values, as well as his priorities and goals for the University. In the article based on that interview session, published in this issue, we also hear from Dr. Wilson’s former colleagues about his skill, drive, dedication and transparency. And we learn, in the very first sentences, about the kind of fighter that Dr. Wilson is, after the bell has rung.

As we look forward with great anticipation to future achievements for the University, now is a proud time to be a Morganite. As you will see in the following pages, our academic programs continue to grow, with the establishment of the University’s new School of Social Work as a prime example. Morgan alumni such as Alvin D. Thornton, ’81, and graduates of the Ph.D. programs of Morgan’s School of Business and Management continue to succeed at higher and higher levels of government and academia. Our infrastructure improvements are continuing apace, with the recent groundbreaking for a new Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies building. And, of course, our men’s basketball team continued its championship ways last season, adding to the legacy of Morgan’s past athletic greats, such as Coaches Stewart Brooks, Ralph Jones and James Mack.

On behalf of Morgan’s Board of Regents, I encourage your continued support of our great institution, and I present you with this issue of Morgan Magazine.

Sincerely,

Dallas R. Evans Chairman, Morgan State University Board of Regents 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane • Truth Hall, Room 400 • Baltimore, MD 21251 (443) 885-3086 • Fax (443) 885-8296 MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2010

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Morgan’s 12th President

David Wilson, Ed.D. Leaving One Legacy and Creating Another

By Adrienne Gibbs

DR. DAVID WILSON COULD HAVE COASTED DURING THE LAST SIX MONTHS OF HIS EMPLOYMENT AS A CHANCELLOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. INSTEAD, HE DID SOMETHING UNEXPECTED. Dr. Wilson, now the president of Morgan State University, decided to use that time to follow through on plans to introduce a fouryear degree program to the campuses that are home to Wisconsin’s two-year colleges.

To be sure, these aren’t community colleges. Rather, they are institutions that essentially take students to their sophomore year, after which they can transfer to one of the four-year campuses. For the adult students who live near the 13 campuses in question, being able to stay put while finishing out their degrees was a godsend.

And that’s where Dr. Wilson came in. He’d been working this plan for three and a half years. During that time, he had cajoled everyone from the governor of Wisconsin to the business owners who employ the adult students. There was much resistance at first, and still more to be expected as the plan moved forward. But Dr. Wilson was determined to push it through before he traded Badger country for Bear country.

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To many, all of this commotion during the last leg of a soon-tobe-previous job may seem a bit odd. Who actually invites more work stress to themselves when they don’t have to?

Upon hearing the question, Dr. Wilson shrugged. It was just something he had to do.

“This has been a very arduous process,” he explained in Wisconsin in February, before his move to Morgan, “because I’m talking about a mission change for all of the institutions. And that’s not a decision to be made lightly. Along the way, I’ve worn out the rubber on a number of tires and met with a number of people like the governor and the lieutenant governor and the business community and the legislature, basically winning their support for this degree. At the time Morgan came knocking, I had this thing traveling down a pretty steep path.”

He paused and tapped a finger on his plainly decorated worktable.

“I want to cross the finish line with it,” he added.

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“... seemed like it rained every day.”

Dr. David Wilson – Career Timeline ’77—B.S. in Political Science, Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) ’79—M.S. in Education, Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) ’84—Ed.M. in Educational Planning & Administration, Harvard University ’87—Ed.D. in Administration, Planning & Social Policy, Harvard University 1975

1980

1985

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[’85–’88] Program Officer and Director of the Office of Minority Programs, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

Climbing Up, Reaching Back That’s just one example of Dr. Wilson at work. He’s a doer, a list maker, a guy who pledged Alpha and whose line name was “Juice.” At 55, he’s a completely down-to-earth personality, despite being in control of a $330million budget at UW, at the time this article was written. To really understand the man, you must start at the beginning: his very humble beginnings about four miles outside of teeny McKinley, Ala., which, when he was growing up there, had a population of about 30. Monday through Friday, he walked two and a half miles to a paved road where he might catch the school bus. Sometimes he’d walk

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[’88–’94] Associate Provost, Rutgers, the State University of NJ

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[’95–’06] Vice President for University Outreach, Auburn University

barefoot so as not to get mud on the only pair of shoes he owned. At that time, he says, it “seemed like it rained every day.”

David Wilson and his nine siblings grew up on a sharecropper farm. The family didn’t have a toaster; they browned bread in a wood-burning stove.

However, Dr. Wilson did have teachers who encouraged him to attend college. Through hard work, tenacity and will, he was admitted to Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, becoming the first person in his family to go to college. He says he’ll never forget what his now-deceased father, Henry Wilson, told him at 5

2005

[’06–’10] Chancellor, University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin–Extension

one morning, as the younger Wilson prepared to trade his wood-frame family home for college housing.

“He said, ‘You ’bout to do what no one from this family has ever done,’ Dr. Wilson recalls. ‘You about to go to college. I’ve been saving for this day, and I wanna give you this. I’m proud of you son. Don’t stop.’ Then he gave me five dollars. I’ve never, ever forgotten about that.”

Wilson took that gift and invested it in his education. Fast forward to now.

He has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Tuskegee University. He’s earned a master’s and a doctorate from Harvard University.

Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) “I wanted something from Tuskegee that I couldn’t get from Harvard.”

2010

With a five-dollar gift from his father (left) and words of encouragement, ‘Don’t stop,’ David Wilson invested in his education to shape his life.

Father and son: Dr. Wilson with his son, Nyere, at Auburn University He’s a father who shares custody of his 13-year-old son. He wears glasses and pin-striped suits. His office is adorned with just two or three pictures — of his son and his dad, because, he says, he doesn’t believe in hero worship. His bookshelf is lined with many volumes, including the works of renowned sociologist Jonathan Kozol, and the bottom shelf is stacked with many years’ worth of playbills from Broadway shows that he adores.

As a young adult in Tuskegee, Ala.: “I’m proud of who I am and how I struggled.”

And, of course, he now owns many more than one pair of shoes.

“I’m proud of who I am and how I struggled,” says Dr. Wilson, who is also on the books for assisting in the planning that created the University of Namibia. “I’ve traveled the world (including about 10 visits to South Africa) and been in the company of five United States presidents. What I have — and I’ll never lose — is the ability to reach back and reach up at the same time.”

Meshing with Morgan

Receiving his doctorate from Harvard University, 1987

It’s always interesting to see how a new college president is introduced to an existing system with a storied legacy. At Morgan, retired President Dr. Earl S. Richardson is as much an institution as is the University. But just how will the staff, the students, the state government and the alumni react to another strong leader whose motto could be “Follow through”?

Dallas R. Evans, chairman of the University’s Board of Regents, says it’s important to allow the new president to distinguish himself and to avoid saying that Dr. Wilson will step into Dr. Richardson’s shoes.

At the University of Namibia

“With the support of his team, (Dr. Richardson has) made strides in growing Morgan both in programs and infrastructure and really in the quality of programs,” says Evans. “In 26 years, he’s taken it to the pinnacle. And now with Dr. Wilson’s skill set, he can take Morgan to the next level, that next level being to resource the numerous graduate programs that we have and to continue to grow the student population at Morgan.”

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Evans and Wilson agree that the student population ought to swell to between 12,000 and 15,000 from the current number of 7,300. Dr. Wilson plans to bring about the growth by focusing on the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree programs that are touted by both politicians and scientists as critical to the future of the country. Dr. Wilson says running Morgan will be similar to his dual job of running both the UW two-year colleges and the UW–Extension system.

“I’m worried our majority institutions aren’t producing the next wave of minority innovators,” Dr. Wilson says. “But Morgan is already a leader in the state of Maryland for black engineers and in producing African Americans in certain scientific fields.

Morgan is a leader in producing four-star generals. I want Morgan to be the nation’s leader in educating blacks and other underrepresented groups in all STEM fields.”

He goes on.

“I know I have to go in and make a convincing case,” he says.

“I’m not about moving old furniture around in a new room. I will bring to the table what’s the best in the field.”

To that end, by March 2010, Dr. Wilson had already met with the governor of Maryland and was quietly determining his first steps at the university. One of those steps will be to expand student housing, to accommodate a growing student population. Immediately after Md. Gov. Martin O’Malley taking office, he also plans to discuss the possibility of adding more online degrees and distance education classes, with the goal of increasing the number of Morgan students.

That dedication to listening to others and to getting input from all stakeholders is why Dr. Wilson’s UW colleagues believe he will easily bring more students and new programs to the Morgan State mix, says James Perry, Ph.D., who is the dean of the University of Wisconsin's Fox Valley Campus.

“He’s been a very effective leader, particularly with the Board of Regents and the UW system of hierarchy and the community within which we reside,” Dr. Perry says. “I’d have to say that what people are going to learn is that David really, truly lives transparency. He is extremely consultative and does not make decisions quickly. My observation has been that he consults, consults and consults and then communicates to anybody that’s willing to listen the outcome of that consultation.”

Black College Trends Dr. Wilson was one of 11 persons appointed to President Barack Obama’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, on Feb. 26. It’s a prestigious and important position, not only because the 2011 presidential budget calls for $98 million in new money for HBCUs and some $850 million more over the next 10 years. As a member of this board, Dr. Wilson will have input into the allocation of these funds, as well as input into the ongoing conversation over whether HBCUs are still necessary.

Dr. Wilson is one of 11 persons appointed to President Barack Obama’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Values and Style

On that issue, Wilson is unequivocal.

The student experience is his No. 1 priority and always has been, he says. In fact, Dr. Wilson drove to each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties just to see what was there, how he could help and how the UW system could help with educational issues, he says. He plans to do the same at Morgan.

“The argument to me is no longer, ‘Are black colleges needed?’ It’s an inquiry that must be taken off the table,” he explains. “The argument is this: ‘Are our institutions critical to the eventual comeback of the U.S.? How can you be ultracompetitive as a nation if you are not educating your populations in the most elite way possible? If we don’t do it in abundance, who else is going to do it?’ ”

“I will do a lot of walking around. I might audit a course. I’ve done that before,” he relates. “I want to have a number of chats with the students. An effective president must evaluate the needs of the students. And that can’t happen in a vacuum.”

Dr. Wilson also plans to make himself available to students via Twitter and Facebook, to give them as many options as possible for communication.

The incoming president says he expects that not everyone will agree with his plans. And that’s healthy and OK, he says.

“I’ve gained a lot of tolerance for pushback,” he says. “I’ve come to understand that good ideas are not vested in just one, two or three people. It’s OK to disagree, because at the end of the discussion, we want the best ideas.”

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There’s been no extensive study of the education and path to presidency for the men and women who lead HBCUs. However, a cursory glance at presidential leaders shows a handful to be Harvard-educated. Many came to their current positions after a lifetime of HBCU and non-HBCU experiences. A great many HBCU presidents, according to an informal poll, came to their present status via a job at another HBCU. Florida A&M University’s president, for example, was educated at FAMU, became the chief administrator at North Carolina Central University and eventually returned to FAMU for his latest position. The president of Spelman College spent time at Mt. Holyoke College. The president of Fisk University was the former U.S. energy secretary under President Bill Clinton. On the other hand, before becoming the president of Alabama

A&M University, Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr. worked at South Carolina State University. And Xavier University of Louisiana’s president earned his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University School of Law, but he gained his administrative experience working his way up the Xavier ranks.

That Dr. Wilson comes to MSU from a Big 10 university, after a Harvard and a Tuskegee education, is somewhat of a rarity. But he doesn’t make a big deal of it.

“I went to Tuskegee and Harvard,” he says, brushing off the question of why he turned down the presidency of a large, majority white school for Morgan State. To him, it’s a moot point.

“If I had to do it all over again? I would,” he says. “I wanted something from Tuskegee that I couldn’t get from Harvard. The argument that one trumps the other is a false argument.”

Choosing Morgan University of Wisconsin President Kevin P. Reilly, Ph.D., says that from day one, Dr. Wilson was in danger of being poached by another system. Still, he says, he’d never begrudge Dr. Wilson a position of impact with another university system.

“We’ll miss him immensely, and I and the other chancellors with whom he’s worked think very, very highly of him…. We really are sorry to lose him,” says Dr. Reilly. “He ran a system within our system, so he really understands state politics….

He was sought after.”

Indeed.

Wilson turned down the opportunity to become president of his alma mater, Tuskegee University. He also decided against being considered by the University of Illinois. Then he turned down three other universities before saying yes to Morgan.

“Saying no to my alma mater was a very difficult decision,” says Dr. Wilson. “It was tough, and I’m honored that they presented themselves to me. But the bottom line is that I’ve made a conscious decision to go to MSU. I think the institution is sitting on a solid foundation.”

Dr. Wilson will miss much when he trades the pleasant summers and chilly winters of Wisconsin for a little less of the former and less of the latter in Maryland. He will have to leave his big old

house just outside of Madison, where he frequently hosts parties for his staffers. In fact, he says, it’s not uncommon for him to host 50 people for a dinner. But don’t worry: He doesn’t do the cooking.

He’ll also miss one of his favorite Madison restaurants, a Middle Eastern spot named Husnu’s. It’s just a short walk from his office, which is located in a beige-ish, industrial-looking office building.

As he walks down a chilly thoroughfare, administrators and students alike wave and say hi. When he’s seated at Husnu’s, the waitress knows him.

He then turns and FAREWELL HONORS identifies nearly half At its June 11, of the folk also eating 2010 meeting, the at the restaurant.

He won’t have Husnu’s in Maryland, but he will have access to much better seafood. He’ll have to sell the big old house in Madison and find new comforts on Morgan’s campus.

He’s trading a Big 10 university for an HBCU, but he feels that serving the HBCU is his true destiny.

“I’ve always tried to create an atmosphere where I work so people don’t see what they do as a job,” he says. “It’s a calling.”

Adrienne Gibbs is senior editor of Ebony and a contributing writer for Morgan Magazine.

Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System presented Dr. David Wilson with a resolution outlining his many accomplishments as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and UW– Extension, from May 2006 through June 2010. The board also unveiled a plaque dedicating the reading room of the new UW Center for Civic Engagement in Wausau, Wis., to Dr. Wilson.

In accepting these honors, Dr. Wilson’s voice choked with emotion: “To think that the son of a father who could not read his name if you wrote it across this building in 12-inch letters would have a reading room named after him, and a person who didn’t go to school full time until I was in the seventh grade would have a reading room named after him, and a person who grew up in a house with no books would have a reading room named after him is just, in my view, an extraordinary testament to the power of determination over the evils of weakness.”

The student experience is Dr. Wilson’s number one priority.

MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2010

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Breaking Ground in Collaborative Research Morgan’s New Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies

By Ferdinand Mehlinger

At the groundbreaking ceremony for CBEIS,April 2, 2010: (left to right) the Hon. Laurence Levitan, MSU Regent; Dr. David Wilson, who had been selected as Morgan’s next president; Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley; and thenMSU President Dr. Earl S. Richardson

The Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS) will be home to MSU's School of Architecture and Planning and the School of Engineering's Departments of Civil Engineering and Transportation Studies.

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By fall, Morgan will be “the only HBCU offering fully accredited degrees in city and regional planning, architecture and landscape architecture in one place.”

—Mary Anne Akers, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, MSU

ments of Civil Engineering and Transportation Studies of Morgan’s School of Engineering.

Dean Mary Anne Akers As science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have grown in importance to the global economy, Morgan State University has unveiled its most ambitious effort to prepare its graduates for the new, STEMdriven markets.

On April 2, 2010, a ceremony attended by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley marked the groundbreaking for Morgan’s Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS). CBEIS will be the shared home of Morgan’s School of Architecture and Planning and the Depart-

The 2.86-acre structure and grounds will become a gateway to Morgan’s campus. Positioned adjacent to the William Donald Schaefer Engineering Building on the northern-most edge of the campus, CBEIS will make a strong visual statement that the University is moving forward to create the next generation of globally competitive problem-solvers, innovators and inventors.

The 126,000-gross-square-foot building, complete with hanging gardens, will create a collaborative environment of classrooms, civil engineering labs, seminar rooms, architecture studios and faculty and administrative offices. The facility will incorporate resourceconserving and environmentally sustainable elements in its design.

The projected opening date for CBEIS is fall, 2012.

For more information about MSU’s School of Engineering and MSU’s School of Architecture and Planning, visit: www.morgan.edu.

MSU’S HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATION CBEIS is the 11th new construction project to come online in the last 25 years of Morgan State University’s campus expansion. Before the CBEIS groundbreaking, Morgan’s new library, communications center, pedestrian bridge, student center and parking garage all came online almost simultaneously, near the end of 2006.

MSU has seen improvements through the addition of 19 campus building and facility renovations, including Banneker Hall — the new home of the School of Education and Urban Studies — as well as the annexation of five properties for the University, including the Estuarine Center on the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Md.; the Portage Ave. building, home of the School of Community Health and Policy; Turner’s Armory, home of the MSU Bear Battalion; the Lillie Carroll Jackson Museum, in Baltimore City; and part of the Northwood Shopping Center, site of MSU’s new School of Business and Management building, which is scheduled to open in 2015.

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Defender Against Terrorism Alvin D. Thornton, MSU Class of ’81

By Roger Witherspoon

In his new position, Thornton is one of the nation’s chief watchmen against biological, chemical or nuclear terrorism.

As far as the Department of Defense was concerned, there were few projects more important to the nation’s defense than the Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance System (NBCRS).

On paper, the NBCRS would roam the countryside in advance of ground maneuver forces, detecting the presence of chemical, biological and radiological agent threats and contamination, and marking clear lanes of passage for battlefield units. In reality, such an anti-terrorism vehicle didn’t exist, and it was not clear that the massive program to develop one would succeed.

Which is why the Defense Department turned the demonstration and validation phase of the project over to Alvin D. Thornton, who had earned a reputation as Mr. Fix-It during two decades of increasingly challenging projects at the U.S. Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.

“It was the most difficult project I ever faced,” recalls Thornton. “…It was the largest, and (it) integrated all of the Nuclear Biological Chemical Defense equipment onto one mobile platform.

It was to be the Mercedes-Benz of reconnaissance systems. “…I was able to get this thing into the field two years ahead of schedule and under budget, which is rare,” he says. “I felt I’d never do anything else in my career that surpassed it.”

The Department of Defense expects a lot more of Thornton, however, and last December promoted the former Morgan 12

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State University fullback to the Senior Executive Service, the civilian equivalent of brigadier general. In his new position as director of the Engineering Directorate at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland, Thornton is one of the nation’s chief watchmen against biological, chemical or nuclear terrorism. It’s a step made possible by inspiration from home and motivation from Morgan State.

‘No and Heck No’ His parents worked in the tobacco industry in his hometown of Richmond, Va., and, “I always figured that was a pretty good life,” Thornton says. “My thought was to get a job at a tobacco company one day…. But my mom wasn’t having any part of that. ‘No and heck no’ is what she said. I was going to college.”

Thornton had been a standout fullback in high school and in 1977 was offered an athletic scholarship to Morgan State, where he had a declared major in physics.

“What got me to college was a relentless desire to play football,” he says. “I found out at Morgan State that there was more to life than athletics. There were doctors and professors who became mentors to me and took some interest in my future successes.”

And the students he met at Morgan shared a drive to excel.

“One of my homeboys, James Paige from Hampton (Va.), was in English class with me, and we started a competition to see

Alvin D. Thornton, ’81, is the new director of the Engineering Directorate at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland. who could get the best grades,” Thornton recalls. “I wasn’t the best at English, but I was always willing to take on a challenge.

When we would get papers back, we’d share grades and trash talk each other like we were playing bid whist.

“That would prove to pay great dividends down the road,” he says. “Working for the government requires a lot of written communication. You didn’t get out of Morgan State if you couldn’t write well.”

‘Thank You, Morgan’ Injuries ended Thornton’s football career after one season. But in the second half of his freshman year, the head of the physics department, Dr. Fred Oliver, asked Thornton to be his assistant.

In this job, he helped run the laboratory and oversaw lab experiments.

His job protecting the entire nation and its warfighters has taken him a long way from the football fields of Richmond.

“I live in Baltimore, across the street from Herring Run Park,” he muses. “Sometimes, I go down there and watch the kids play little league football and baseball, and I reflect back on when I was playing sandlot ball.

“And I wonder, ‘Who would ever have thought that I’d be in the situation I am in today with this level of responsibility, coming from where I came from?’ I never would have thought it, though I believe my parents did.

“I’m grateful to them,” Thornton adds. “And I say, ‘Thank you, Morgan.’ ”

In his junior year, Thornton changed his major to geography but continued working as Dr. Oliver’s lab assistant until he graduated in 1981. He returned to Richmond and taught middle school math for a year then was offered a new career choice between two government agencies: the CIA and Aberdeen Proving Ground.

He chose the latter, as a GS-5 physical science researcher, and that was the start of a 27-year rise in defense technology. Early in his career, he had a big success in Germany, coordinating a large research, development and demonstration project. He was invited to that job by Morgan State chemistry grad Andrew W. Davis, ’52, one of the few blacks in senior military research ranks at the time.

In his new post, Thornton oversees a staff of 800 engineers and scientists conducting defense-related research and manages an annual budget of $200 billion.

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Thankful Donors Bert & Joan Hash

By Brenda Thompson Henderson, ’65

Morgan alumni Bert and Joan Hash established a $25,000 endowed scholarship for MSU business students in 2003.

When it comes to Morgan, Bert J. Hash Jr., ’70, and Joan Smith Hash, ’69, husband and wife, believe in practicing the golden rule. And they encourage other alumni to do likewise.

“I believe in supporting the school that supported me,” Joan says, adding, “If alumni are financially able, they should make it their priority to help others become successful.” Bert is just as passionate about “giving back.”

In 2003, the Hashes chose to provide support in the form of a $25,000 endowed scholarship for business students. The interest from the endowment pays for the scholarships. The dollar amount and the number of scholarships granted depend on the annual performance of the investment. Fourteen students have been recipients of the endowed scholarship, to date. Joan Hash also provides scholarship assistance for chemistry students.

Joan was born in Howard County, Md. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Morgan, graduating second in her class. Her twin sister, Jean, was No. 1. Before graduation, Joan landed a job as a chemist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). There, she was chosen to participate in a new IBM Information Science Training Program leading to a career in computer science. She later moved on to employment at the Social Security Administration, where she won 14

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numerous awards for managing the agency-wide Information Security Program. Along the way, she also earned a master’s degree in computer science from The Johns Hopkins University. After 30 years at SSA, she returned to NIST, where she advanced to acting chief of the Computer Security Division and gained more recognition — including the 2004 Federal 100 Award — before her retirement in 2006.

Bert, a native of Jefferson, N.C., left Morgan with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. For the past 13 years, he has been president and CEO of Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore, Inc. (MECU), the third-largest credit union in Maryland. During his tenure, the credit union’s assets have grown by more than $600 million — now surpassing the $1-billion mark — and membership has increased from 55,000 to 95,000.

As vice chairman of the African-American Credit Union Coalition, Bert has demonstrated his commitment to MSU by making sure an average of 10 Morgan business majors are placed in the coalition’s internship program each year, at credit unions across the country. In 1980, Bert served on a business advisory group required for the accreditation of Morgan’s School of Business and Management. He was named MSU Alumnus of the Year in 1999 and was named CEO of the Year in 2007 by Credit Union Times

magazine, among the many honors he has received for his work with Morgan, in his industry and in the broader community.

“Morgan provided me a great education, a solid background,” notes Joan, who now works as a private consultant and is a writer for the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium’s Executive Writers Bureau.

She is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and a Certified Information Security Manager.

In addition to his leadership role at MECU, Bert is on the board of the MSU Foundation and is chairman of the Board of the Maryland/District of Columbia Credit Union Association.

The Hashes are members of Morgan’s Columbia/Howard County Alumni Chapter, lifelong members of Morgan’s Circle of Giving Club and regular attendees of the annual Morgan Gala.

Joan speaks passionately about how the “nurturing culture at Morgan” and her professors’ high expectations contributed to her success.

“We attribute our success, both personally and professionally, to Morgan,” Bert says. And he adds that he is most thankful to Morgan for bringing him and Joan together as freshmen.

The Hashes live in Ellicott City, Md.

(left to right) Former MSU President Dr. Earl S. Richardson; Tabb Bishop, Vice President of Government Affairs, Verizon Maryland and Verizon Washington, D.C.; Alan Rice, President of CITE–Maryland; CITE National President Leona Punzi; Sandra Arnette, Manager of Media Relations, Verizon Maryland and Verizon Washington, D.C.; and Rory Fisher, Past President of CITE–Maryland

Answering the Call The court-ordered breakup of the Bell System in 1984 brought about many changes in the U.S. Among those changes was the establishment of CITE — the Consortium of Information and Telecommunications Executives. CITE is a national nonprofit organization that represents more than 35,000 AfricanAmerican employees and retirees of Verizon. The consortium, which has local chapters across the nation, “is committed to industry excellence, community service, and personal and professional development,” according to its website.

In April, CITE brought its community service mission to Morgan State University, by donating $22,000 to a new endowed scholarship fund for students of the University.

“The organization has an annual gala where the leadership rallies its members to financially support historically black institutions,” says Erica Cryor, MSU’s director of development. “Morgan is grateful for CITE’s donation and for the opportunity to work together to make a

difference in the lives of Morgan students.”

“We’re trying to support HBCUs,” explains CITE National President Leona Punzi. “One of our missions is to support our youth, and where better than with historically black colleges or universities?”

In deciding which black college will receive its annual gift, CITE has no strict criteria, Punzi says. Rather, “we look at the academics of your school to make sure that you have an engineering department and a computer science department…. We’re hoping some of your students will come to Verizon one day and work in our organization. Some of us are not fortunate enough to have money and means. Everyone needs some help, and our goal is to help. That’s why we’re here.”

Punzi reports that Morgan is well represented in CITE’s membership.

The Consortium of Information and Telecommunications Executives (CITE) of Verizon for Maryland and the District of Columbia is an MSU grad. That’s Bill Roberts. He’s a good friend of CITE and a big supporter. We also have many members who have children who are attending Morgan, and many of those members attended Morgan themselves.”

CITE plans for its donation to MSU to be part of an ongoing relationship between Morgan and Verizon, Punzi reports.

“We’re hoping that our Verizon local president for Maryland, Alan Rice, will work with Morgan on initiatives that we can help support, whether that be sending Verizon employees to the school to speak, Verizon participation in Morgan’s Career Fair, providing internships for Morgan students at Verizon, or other programs,” she says.

William M. Carson, MSU director of Career Development, will be Morgan’s main liaison with Verizon beginning in Fall 2010.

“Many of our Verizon executives attended Morgan, and one or two are on CITE’s board,” she says. “The region president

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Morgan Men Top the MEAC Again, Return to the NCAAs

By Jerry Bembry Four years ago, as Head Coach Todd Bozeman tried to convince Reggie Holmes — one of the best basketball players in Baltimore — to commit to Morgan State, it was the equivalent of selling a house with little curb appeal.

Highlighting Morgan’s rich tradition, for Bozeman, was easy. What was difficult was convincing Holmes to play for a team that had won just four games the previous season, a school that had just one winning season since joining Division I in 1983.

“From a recent basketball tradition standpoint, I don’t have anything tangible to sell you,” Bozeman said, as he sat in Holmes’ living room in the Cherry Hill section of Baltimore. “I can tell you this: If you come to Morgan, you’re going to have a good chance of playing

Todd Bozeman earned his third straight MEAC Coach of the Year honor.

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in the NCAA tournament. And when you leave Morgan, you can be the leading scorer in the history of Morgan State.”

At the conclusion of the 2009–10 basketball season, all that Bozeman promised that day had been accomplished. On the last day of the regular season, Holmes passed the late, great Marvin Webster to become Morgan’s all-time leading scorer. And on the last day of his accomplished, four-year Morgan State career, Holmes was playing against West Virginia in the NCAA tournament, his third straight postseason trip.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but years from now I’ll be able to sit back and say, ‘I left Morgan as the all-time leading scorer,’ ” Holmes says. “And that’s all because I believed in Coach Bozeman.

To be honest, I believed in him from day one.”

Successful Strategy These days, there’s a tremendous amount of belief in the Morgan State basketball program. Morgan — a school that never went to a Division I NCAA tournament before Bozeman’s arrival — has made an appearance in March Madness for two straight years as champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

And this year’s MEAC basketball banquet should have been renamed the Morgan State Invitational: Bozeman was named MEAC Coach of the Year, his third straight year so honored; Holmes was named the MEAC Player of the Year; sophomore center Kevin Thompson was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Year; and freshman

(L to R) Charlene Johnson, S.C. State University (SCSU) Athletics Director; MEAC Tournament MVP Reggie Holmes of Morgan; MEAC All-Tournament Team members Jason Flagler of SCSU and Kevin Thompson of Morgan; and MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas

DeWayne Jackson was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year.

“Those honors say a lot about our program and where we can go in the future,” Bozeman says. “I know Reggie’s leaving, but now we’ve got some young players like Kevin and DeWayne who have gotten a chance to taste that NCAA experience. Once you get that initial taste, you commit yourself to getting that again.”

Just ask Bozeman about that commitment. In eight years as a college coach, Bozeman has taken teams to the NCAAs five times. He took Morgan to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in 2008. Long known as a masterful recruiter, he couldn’t wait to tap into the region’s rich basketball talent once he

took the Morgan job in 2006. A quick glance at Morgan’s team roster for the 2010 NCAA tournament tells you of his success: Of the 14 players, 10 were from the state of Maryland.

says of his homegrown talent. “This is a relationship business, and I’ve built those relationships in the high schools and recreation centers in this area for many, many years.”

“In terms of recruits, the Maryland/D.C. area is a mid-major heaven,” Bozeman

The importance of those relationships can be seen among Morgan’s top players. In the case of Kevin Thompson, Bozeman’s loyalty was vital. When Thompson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during his senior year at Baltimore’s Walbrook High School, the big-time schools that had recruited him disappeared.

Bozeman stayed interested, and his reward is a player who has emerged as the most dominant big man in the MEAC.

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Promise Kept In recruiting Holmes, Bozeman had the challenge of convincing the parents of the star shooting guard from Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy to allow their son to stay at home. Holmes grew up in a rugged neighborhood, and his family wanted him as far away from the city as possible.

“My mother was really concerned about the possible influences from friends that were still here,” Holmes says. “But Coach Bozeman promised her that he would take care of me. And he promised me that I would get a chance to play, something that might not have happened right away had I gone to a bigger school. He kept all of his promises. And for that reason, I’ll always believe in him.”

And for that reason, as Holmes left the court in the closing seconds of Morgan’s opening round NCAA tournament game against West Virginia, he and Bozeman embraced, and cried.

Four years earlier, a coach showed up at a player’s house with very little to sell.

And a player bought what the coach had to say, with very little to go on but faith.

Two NCAA tournaments and one berth in the NIT later, both walked away from the union enriched.

“I sold Reggie a dream, and for it to go down like that, I’m happy,” Bozeman says. “But I also sold that same dream to (retiring) Morgan President Dr. Earl Richardson when he hired me. I told him, ‘Doc, you give me this job, and I’ll get you to the tournament.’ It feels good to know that I’ve completed my promise with Morgan.”

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Bringing New Faces to Business Morgan’s Ph.D. Program in Business Administration

By Frank McCoy

Since its founding in 2000, Morgan State University’s Ph.D. program in Business Administration has shown that its students can do, as well as teach. All 19 of the program’s current students — average age about 27 — have industry experience that makes them conduits of practical information. And every one of the program’s eight alumni is a professor.

To Otis A. Thomas, Ph.D., dean of Morgan’s Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management, every student’s success is crucial. In 2008, the American Council on Education reported that 228 blacks received Ph.D.s in business that year. Whites and Hispanics received 1,004 and 66 degrees, respectively. The most recent data compiled by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools Dr. Otis A. Thomas of Business (AACSB), for its 510 member schools, show there were only about 5,670 minority business professors out of 27,158 total, in 2008–09. Only 7,564 of the professors were women, the association reports.

“We help fill that void while maintaining high standards, in a nurturing program, on a framework of stellar research and student teaching experience,” Dean Thomas says.

The Morgan Ph.D. program in business works in concert with the not-for-profit PhD Project. In 1994, approximately 300 blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans with business doctorates were teaching in the field. Since then, the PhD project has helped graduate more than 700 minorities with business doctorates. In 2010, the total number of project participants who have taken positions as business professors is 1,050, and 380 current participants are students in Ph.D. programs. To date, half of MSU’s business administration doctoral students, including the program’s director, Leyland Lucas, Ph.D., have come from the PhD Project.

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Micah Crump, Ph.D.

Writing the Book When Micah Crump finally decided to attend college, he blazed a path. After his time in the Navy as a petty officer, where he learned discipline, and after working in his family’s decades-old restaurant, where he practiced organization, Crump attended Coppin State University. Then the tenacious urging of Mildred Glover, Ed.D., who was assistant dean of MSU’s business and management school at the time, convinced him to turn down the M.B.A. programs at Johns Hopkins, Loyola and Temple Universities and enter MSU’s Graves School.

Crump shot through the two-year M.B.A. program in nine months and entered Morgan’s Ph.D. program in Business Administration. Dr. Crump, 45, received his Ph.D. in business management, with a concentration in entrepreneurship, in 2008. What inspired him, he says, was that regardless of their backgrounds, Morgan professors know and understand “the idiosyncrasies of the black community and how it views and does business.”

Dr. Crump remembers how MSU professor Robert P. Singh showed his class that their textbooks disregarded the unique circumstances that black entrepreneurs face. Soon, Crump began to gather, research and analyze thousand of texts on entrepreneurship, and he found that only 13 mentioned black entrepreneurs.

To begin filling the gap, Crump and Singh wrote a chapter on the black business ownership experience. It was a good start, but to write and publish a peer-reviewed textbook for black entrepreneurs will entail finding, or perhaps writing, hundreds of factbased case studies.

Dr. Crump, a Baltimorean, is now an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Howard University School of Business. There, he says, “I am devoting my career to get the story straight, so that black students who want to be entrepreneurs can experience the same success as everyone else.”

Mary K. Foster

Nana Amoah, Ph.D.

From Exec to Professor Doing business successfully, and teaching others how to do the same, require different skills. That’s why Mary K. Foster, the former president of Sylvan Learning, Inc. — a $500-million-per-year, 1,500employee company — chose Morgan’s Business Administration Ph.D. program over the programs of other schools.

She found that Morgan is the only place between Philadelphia and Virginia where business administration students must fulfill significant requirements related to teaching techniques, case writing and teaching at the university level. Foster says she learned about the program online and that its teaching practice emphasis is why she applied.

“I would feel arrogant and foolish if I would try to teach at a college level without any educational training that includes actual classroom experience,” she says.

Foster has had frequent “Aha!” moments at Morgan. For instance, the former General Electric Company and M&M/Mars exec says she learned in her organizational behavior class that conventional brainstorming, an accepted procedure, isn’t the best way to problem-solve. Instead the “nominal technique,” a structured way of eliciting multiple comments about a specific problem or issue from team members, has a more successful track record.

Making an Impression Nana Amoah, Ph.D., 39, is an assistant professor of accounting in the College of Business and Public Administration at Old Dominion University. He is also an electrical engineer, like his father in Ghana.

Since he began teaching, Dr. Amoah has been surprised by his impact on students. Every class has between 33 and 35 pupils, with perhaps three African Americans. Dr. Amoah says students are excited when he tells them his background: that he earned a bachelor’s in engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana (1994); an M.B.A. from Howard University (2004) and a Ph.D. from Morgan in Business Administration (2008).

The techies then know he understands their interests. The class as a whole realizes that his take on business is grounded in work. And his presence “is huge” for the African Americans who may have never had a black professor previously, he says.

Dr. Amoah says he pursued his Ph.D. at Morgan for specific reasons. The Graves School’s case study approach and teaching seminars create effective teachers, which is reflected in course evaluations, he says. And the school’s rigorous research seminars have made him a good investigator, he adds.

This delights the M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, who plans to teach organizational management after leaving Morgan.

Her goal is to help students make companies, teams and their work more innovative and successful.

Dr. Leyland Lucas directs Morgan’s Ph.D. program in Business Administration.

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News Briefs HBCU Equity Case Moves Toward Trial

Online Housing Assignments Coming to MSU

Years of work on behalf of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is leading to a big day in court for the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education, Inc. and several other plaintiffs. In Coalition v. Maryland Higher Education Commission, et al., the plaintiffs allege that the remnants of the illegal segregated system of higher education still exist in the state of Maryland, in violation of Brown v. Board of Education, Titles VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and a 2000 Partnership Agreement between the State of Maryland and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

The plaintiffs allege that Maryland has failed to dismantle its segregated system of higher education in a variety of ways, including its failure to stop the unnecessary duplication of HBCU programs at traditionally white institutions.

Jan. 1, 2011 is the scheduled launch date for Morgan’s new Residential Management Systems (RMS) Housing Assignment Module, a new system that will make selection of on-campus housing more convenient for students and give the University administration a powerful new communications and marketing tool, reports Douglas F. Gwynn, director of Morgan’s Office of Residence Life and Housing.

“The Supreme Court ruled years ago in U.S. v. Fordice that states must establish nonduplicated, unique, high-demand programs at HBCUs,” says David Burton, Morgan Class of 1967, who has played a major role in pushing forward the Coalition’s case.

“This case is probably on David Burton the magnitude of Brown v.

Board of Education, Adams (v. Richardson) and (United States v.) Fordice, in terms of its importance to dismantling segregated higher education systems in the nation.” He says the case is anticipated to go to trial in late 2010 or early 2011.

“I urge Maryland HBCU alumni and friends to contact their alumni chapter presidents to learn more about the case and to disseminate that information to others,” Burton says.

Additional information is available at the website of counsel for the Coalition. Go to http://www. lawyerscommittee.org/admin/education/documents/ files/0013.pdf for a copy of the complaint or to http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/projects/education for news related to the lawsuit.

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“This gives all students who are interested in living on campus the ability to apply online for their housing request, pay the required $200 application fee online and receive their housing confirmation by email, automatically,” says Gwynn.

The system analyzes students’ data from Admissions & Recruitment, Financial Aid and the Bursar’s Office, as well as the Office of Residence Life and Housing, Gwynn says.

Students whose housing applications are not accepted will receive automatic alerts that include the specific eligibility requirements they have not met.

Douglas F. Gwynn

“We’re also going to use this system to market to students much more in advance, with much more clarity and much more efficiency,” Gwynn says.

The online module will be located on www.morgan.edu and will run in tandem with the old manual housing assignment system until January 2012, at which time the manual system will be phased out.

Doctoral Awards Up at Black Universities Historically Black Colleges and Universities are making big gains in awarding doctoral degrees, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reported in its Jan. 21, 2010 Weekly Bulletin.

Data from the National Science Foundation show that HBCUs awarded 431 doctorates to students of all races and ethnicities in 2008, the latest year for which the statistics are available. The current figure represents a 19 percent increase

since 2004, when historically black institutions awarded 348 doctorates.

Morgan State University ranked fourth among HBCUs in number of doctorates awarded in 2008, with 42 doctoral degrees conferred. Howard University was first with 102, followed by Jackson State University (56) and Tennessee State University (49).

Morgan’s New School of Social Work Training Problem-Solvers for Urban Communities

By Christina Royster-Hemby, ’93

“We are preparing professionals who are committed to working in the inner city with children, with families, with the elderly….”

— Anna R. McPhatter, Ph.D., Dean, MSU School of Social Work

According to Advocates for Children and Youth, a not-for-profit organization promoting the interests of children in Maryland, many inequities face African-American youth in Baltimore. Black youth are suspended from school or arrested more often than other young people and are more severely punished. African-American youth account for 94 percent of juveniles in detention, whereas white youth account for only 6 percent.

To help meet the needs of people impacted by problems such as these in Baltimore and other similarly affected urban areas, Morgan State University is creating an army of professional helpers.

Last fall, Morgan established its School of Social Work, the second graduate social work school to be established in the city and the only school of social work run by an historically black college or university in the entire state.

“The need was clearly there for qualified social work professionals,” says Anna R. McPhatter, Ph.D., the school’s dean, “(people) who can really work in cities and neighborhoods, who don’t run from the people with the problems but move

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Anna R. McPhatter, Ph.D.

toward them in a collective way of helping individuals and families.”

“In all areas of health and well being, African Americans have the highest rate of everything — cardiovascular disease, diabetes, amputations from diabetes, and kidney disease," Dr. McPhatter adds.

“Health disparities are shocking in many ways. That’s the kind of information that we’re trying to get our students to know and understand, so they can (help) people who are experiencing these difficulties with a level of experience and confidence and bring some answers to the community.”

The social work program at Morgan State began in 1969 and has been accredited since 1974 by the Council on Social Work Education. The master’s program began in the fall of 2005, and the Ph.D. program

followed in fall 2006. Now serving 193 undergraduates, 158 master’s-level students and 28 doctoral students, the School of Social Work has the largest graduate program on campus and is experiencing tremendous growth.

Unique Focus, Committed Grads Dr. McPhatter says the school was born from a need to add graduate programs to Morgan’s social work program that have a unique focus on urban populations and problems. These include master’s degree and Ph.D.-level classes for activist scholars — students who can do the kind of research that provides answers to the problems many cities face.

“We are preparing professionals who are committed to working in the inner city with children, with families, with the elderly, in hospitals and health care centers,

Baltimore, Md.

Morgan’s new School of Social Work is focused on urban populations where the need for social work professionals is far greater than the supply.

in public schools, because those are all of the areas in which we specialize,” Dr. McPhatter says. “It’s really important that these students go back into their own neighborhoods and say, ‘l understand this at a higher, theoretical level, but let me translate it into language that people can use.’ ” George Randall is one exemplary graduate. Randall received his Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from Morgan and now is employed by the University. A member of the School of Social Work’s inaugural class, Randall is slated to begin the school’s Ph.D. program in the fall. He also serves as assistant director for the school’s Social Work, Title IV E, Education for Child Welfare program.

“When I started at Morgan, I did not have a clear picture of what I wanted to become,” Randall says. “But having the opportunity to be a part of (the social work) program back in 2002 literally changed my life.”

Randall explains that social workers have also changed his life for the better. “…Social workers have made a positive impact on my life,” he says. “And I

decided I wanted to become one of those special people who impacted lives in my community.”

The School of Social Work will hold an official celebration of its opening and 40year legacy on Nov. 12, 2010. Alumni, current students and local, state, national and international partners of the school will be invited. Call (443) 8853537 for more information.

Randall echoes Dr. McPhatter’s comments.

“The need (for social workers) is far beyond our supply, and we are continuing to try to produce as many urban social workers as we can, especially due to the current socioeconomic picture this country is faced with,” he says.

George Randall, doctoral student, graduate and employee of the School of Social Work.

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Morgan’s Legendary Swim Teams Broke Stereotypes, Gathered Wins

By Wiley A. Hall 3rd

At the dedication of MSU’s Brooks-Jones-Mack Natatorium in October 2009: (left to right) Coach James F. Mack; Linda Brooks, widow of Coach Stewart A. Brooks; Coach Mack’s wife, Inez; and Jesola Jones, widow of Coach Ralph W.E. Jones, Ph.D. The notion that black people can’t swim is so deeply rooted in America’s cultural mythology that it’s hard to figure out where the idea comes from.

You could make a movie about it — an aquatic version of “White Men Can’t Jump,” featuring a pair of hustlers touring the swimming pools of suburbia, challenging overconfident members of the country club set to races, for money.

If “Black Men Can’t Swim” ever did become a movie, the filmmakers might be well advised to take a look through the annals of Morgan State University, one of the first historically black institutions to make swimming a requirement for every undergraduate, and home to nine competitive swimming and diving championships and a host of individual awards during the 24-year run of the program. Thirteen swimmers have been inducted into Morgan’s Hall of Fame.

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The university honored that legacy last fall when it dedicated the Morgan natatorium to Stewart A. Brooks, Ralph W.E. Jones, Ph.D. and James F. Mack, the three coaches credited with building a campus of winners, in the pool and out. The Brooks-Jones-Mack Natatorium was unveiled on Oct. 9. (A natatorium, for those who’ve forgotten their Latin, is a fancy word for indoor swimming pool.)

Current and future generations should be made aware of the tremendous contributions and impact these three individuals had involving a sport that was nontraditional in the black community,” says David Thomas, Ed.D., associate professor of health, physical education and recreation at Morgan. Dr. Thomas, a member of Morgan’s Class of 1972, is working on a book about Morgan’s championship aquatic teams with fellow swim team member Ken Mosely, D.P.E., ’70. “Under their watchful eyes, many studentathletes excelled in a sport where blacks were not expected to be competitive. As such, it is essential that this story be told.”

All-Around Athletes Of course, Morgan’s campus has long been home to legendary athletic programs. Its football teams were so dominant that Morgan once was known as the Notre Dame of black college football. (This was during a period long ago, when Notre Dame had a domi-

nant football program.) Morgan’s track and basketball teams produced their share of victories. And in the nontraditional arena, Morgan’s lacrosse team shocked the sports world, as recounted in the book “Ten Bears,” by Miles Harrison Jr. and Chip Silverman.

“Morgan’s success during those golden years is really no surprise,” says Roy Fagin, ’76. “The campus just attracted skilled athletes. They came in to play football, but once they got on campus and saw opportunities to participate in something else, they just jumped in and excelled. We just had people who could play anything.”

But few traditions were so darned nontraditional as the campus’ swimming and diving teams.

“What tickled me more than anything else was to go to swim meets in the suburbs and beat the crap out of them,” says Fagin. “We knew what the stereotypes were. That just fueled the fire to compete, more than anything else.”

Bear Eras Morgan had three golden eras in competitive swimming, Dr. Thomas says.

During the Stewart Brooks era, 1952 to 1965, Morgan won the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) swimming and diving championships of 1955 and 1957.

Coach James F. Mack (third row, far right) with MSU’s 1970–71 CIAA Championship Swimming and Diving Team. MSU professor David Thomas, ’72 (first row, far left) and Ken Mosely, ’70 (third row, far left), were members of the team.

1971 Championship Team Brooks, a native of Washington, D.C., earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Howard University and a master’s degree from Springfield College.

He joined Morgan’s faculty in 1952 and formed the swim team the same year.

After taking a leave of absence in 1961 to pursue his doctorate degree at New York University, Brooks returned to Morgan as a member of the president’s administrative staff. He served as executive assistant to the president and director of development until his retirement in 1982. Among his many honors is recognition as a “Black Pioneer in Swimming” by the Washington, D.C. Department of Recreation.

Dr. Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones Jr. ushered in Morgan’s second golden era, 1966 to 1970, highlighted by CIAA championships in 1969 and 1970. Jones grew up in Grambling, La., where his father served as president of Grambling University for more than 40 years. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in recreation administration from Indiana University in Bloomington before joining Morgan as an instructor. Jones was one of the driving forces behind the annual football game between Morgan and Grambling in Yankee Stadium.

The third, and last, golden era occurred under the leadership of James Franklin

Coach Stewart A. Brooks (front row, center) with MSU’s 1955 CIAA Champion Swimming and Diving Team

1955 Championship Team Mack, from 1971 to 1976, when Morgan won the 1971 CIAA championship and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships of 1972 through 1975.

A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Mack earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Morgan in 1976 and two master’s degrees from the University. His tenure is marked by an unprecedented seven consecutive swimming and diving championships, including two as an assistant coach during the Jones era and five after taking over the program in 1971. As an assistant professor of health, physical education and recreation, Mack taught swimming, archery, riflery, basketball, softball, angling, health and intramural/extramural administration. As recreation and intramural director, Mack was a key figure in the recreational life of virtually every student on campus, Dr. Thomas says.

Lifetime Sport Budget cuts forced Morgan to drop its swim teams in the mid-’70s. Neither MEAC nor CIAA offer competitive swimming, although black schools such as Howard University, North Carolina A&T State University and Florida A&M University compete in the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association.

At about the same time, Morgan made swim class an elective, rather than a required course; much to the relief of countless undergraduates.

“However, during those times, when students received degrees from Morgan, they were very much familiar with swimming, water safety and survival techniques,” says Dr. Thomas.

Today, the university offers three levels of swimming, and every class, every semester is filled, Dr. Thomas says. “We call it one of the lifetime sports, something you can be active in for the rest of your life.” “There comes a time when you can’t play football or basketball, but you can always swim.”

Roy Fagin is a great example of this.

The native of Washington, D.C., recently took up competitive swimming at age 57, after taking a long hiatus after school to work and raise a family. He competed last summer in the senior nationals in Palo Alto, Calif., with the Washington Water Wizards swim club.

Was it hard to get back into the, er, swim of things, he was asked?

“Not at all,” Fagin replies. “It was like water off a duck’s back.”

MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2010

27

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