Photos by Ari Skin
As Morehouse College commenced New Student Orientation last week, faculty, student leaders, alumni, and a new president rallied together to welcome the freshman class of 2029.
“This is the time where leadership is needed,” said F. DuBois Bowman, a Morehouse alumnus and the 13th president of the all-male college, in his welcome video on July 16. “The role that young Black men play in the workforce and eventually in levels and positions of leadership is critical. To be able to have an institution focused specifically on the development and training of young Black men and to be at the helm of leading that as an honor.”
NSO is a special week for incoming students to get acclimated to the campus, embrace new traditions, prepare for academic success, and join a sacred brotherhood.
Founded on Feb. 14, 1867, Morehouse College’s original mission was to teach newly freed enslaved men how to read and write so they could become preachers and teachers and give back to the community. The college’s mission has now evolved into developing men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service. Their role in the Black community has always been powerful, producing such notable alumni as actor Samuel L. Jackson, director Spike Lee, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, and, of course, Martin Luther King Jr.
The Morehouse College Digital Operations team noted that roughly 6,600 applications were submitted and approximately 700 were admitted. Students from 38 states, as well as from Canada, Tunisia, and Ghana, have been invited to join the global Morehouse alumni network.
Morehouse attracts students from various walks of life with differing reasons for coming to the school. It is that ideological diversity that makes Morehouse such a special place.
Terrence Drew, a freshman majoring in political science from St. Kitts and Nevis, the dual-island nation located in the Caribbean Sea, came to build on his country’s own history of creating change.
“Growing up, I heard about Morehouse raising men who attack systems and dismantle barriers of inequality,” Drew said. “Looking at Morehouse’s vision, mission, aim, and what they have really stood for over the years, especially with the young men who they have raised and have now gone on to be some of the greatest Black men in history. That is something that aligns with what I want to do, especially as a son of St. Kitts and Nevis and now as a man of Morehouse.”
Illya Davis is a philosophy professor at Morehouse College, but any student on campus will tell you, he is so much more. Davis also serves as the director of freshman and senior academic success, and leads the yearlong Freshman Orientation course, which serves as an extension of NSO. This program ensures first year students have the necessary tools and mindset to excel.
“We colloquially refer to ourselves as a brotherhood,” said Davis, a Morehouse alumnus. “My responsibility is to acclimate these gentlemen as they come to our house. Assisting them as they focus on what’s the most primary interest, and that is their academic success and personal growth as human beings. Again, it’s not an ‘either or,’ it’s a ‘both and.’ Academic and social go hand in hand, but the brotherhood is always there, somehow, covering us to make sure that when we do this, we engage it with integrity, respect, and dignity.”
To strengthen the brotherly connection, NSO leaders are meticulously hand-selected to oversee the freshman experience. Their role is central to the successful induction of the incoming class.
“When we think about the new student orientation experience, it’s about welcoming these brothers into that new brotherhood and that rich culture that Morehouse has,” said Damaje Smith, a junior political science and sociology double major and communications minor from Newark, New Jersey, who serves as an NSO leader. “[They’re] joining something that’s been for Black men for hundreds of years … a culture that’s about success and esteem and legacy.”
The NSO leaders’ responsibilities were numerous, but one of their most important nights was the “Welcome to the House” ceremony held on Thursday which featured several inspiring speakers.
After hearing about how Black excellence was no longer the goal but the norm, the freshmen exited through a long line of upperclassmen and alumni singing them into the brotherhood. Flanking the line of young men on both sides, “I’ve got a feeling somebody’s trying to sneak in my house … Morehouse!” rang out in the summer night air.
Maxwell Pierre-Phillipe, a freshman from Howard County, Maryland, told Capital B Atlanta he came to Morehouse seeking something different after attending a predominantly white institution.
“Coming to Morehouse means finding brotherhood. I wasn’t able to find that in high school. I’m surrounded by a lot of people who look like me and have been through similar experiences as me. That just means a lot where I can grow and become my best self.”
A few freshmen felt like their new HBCU home could play an even greater role in the world amid the current political discourse and turmoil.
Read More: Billionaire who Paid off Morehouse Student Loans to Help Others.
“As we see with the current presidency, he is trying to erase some of our history,” said Joshua Meyers, a freshman political science major from Atlanta. “It is important to go to school like this so you are surrounded by people who look like you, people from all different walks of life and different parts of the country. Nothing can beat a group of educated Black men.”
The culmination of NSO activities was Friday’s moving parent-parting ceremony. Rooted in the ancient African tradition of sending a warrior away from home for battle, it represented the transition from a boy into a man of Morehouse.
Freshmen lined up in their residence halls in black slacks, a white dress shirt with the word “Morehouse” on the pocket, and a maroon tie. NSO leaders taught them chants about each of their dorms. From there, the students were given a penny. As they walked down the center of campus along Brown Street, they dropped their penny in the pool surrounding the Howard Washington Thurman Obelisk to wish for a good year.
“[They’re] joining … a culture that’s about success and esteem and legacy.”
Damaje Smith, Morehouse College junior and New Student Orientation leader
Named one of “the greatest preachers of the 20th century” by Life magazine, and a professor at both Morehouse and Spelman College from 1928 to 1931, Thurman’s words hold special significance during freshman week.
“The time and the place of a man’s life on the earth is the time and place of his body,” Thurman wrote. “But the meaning and significance of his life is as vast and far-reaching as his gifts, his times, and the passionate commitment of all his powers can make it.”
Inside King Chapel, Friday’s speakers were addressed in the program differently than their actual titles. Michael Gumm, director of admissions and recruitment, is the Academic and Admissions Elder. Illya Davis is the Freshman Elder, and President Bowman is Chief Elder of the Village. This illustrates the Morehouse mentality of community.
The ceremony also included a mix of artists like gospel singer Darius Devon Paulk and the Metropolitan Atlanta African Dancers and Drummers.
During an especially poignant moment, students turned to face their parents in the back of the auditorium for a symbolic parting of ways. As the parents reconciled with the fact that they have to let go, their sons had to also be ready to be let go.
Upon exiting the chapel, the line of freshmen were flanked by another long line of upperclassmen and alums singing them into the brotherhood.
Now officially Men of Morehouse after singing the college hymn Dear Old Morehouse, Davis led them through the gates of the college.
The end of the evening brought a bittersweet parting, but for parents like Ericca Tucker — whose son Randall is a freshman from Statesboro, Georgia, studying philosophy and political science — the moment was made easier after seeing how the college embraced the Class of 2029.
“We’ve been so inspired and excited to hear all of the wonderful things that he will receive this year,” Tucker told Capital B Atlanta. “I am grateful he made this choice. I was kind of on the fence, because I was telling him ‘Son, go for the money, go for the money,’ but he knew, ‘This is where I need to be.’ There are zero fears, only aspirations and excitement to see what he will become as a product of being a Morehouse man.”
Elijah Qualls is a junior political science and journalism major at Morehouse College. This article is part of Capital B Atlanta’s journalism partnership with HBCU reporters.
