The seniors of Benjamin E. Mays, a high school located in southwest Atlanta, GA, have a bright future ahead.
According to a report from WABE, a local PBS station, the class of 2024 consisting of 272 seniors (98% African American) had a surprise visitor during their assembly last Friday. Kevin James, the 19th President of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, gave a brief history lesson on the college.
He informed them that the college had lost its accreditation in 2002 due to challenges stemming from debt and financial mismanagement. However, after nearly two decades, it was announced in 2021 that the college had regained its accreditation, making it the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to do so.
“It’s so many HBCUs that have lost their accreditation that are still closed today,” James told the class of 2024, according to WABE. “That usually is a death sentence for an institution. Somehow, someway Morris Brown kept pushing on.”
He added, “When I started as president of Morris Brown five years I go… I felt like God sent me to do this life work… to restore Morris Brown College to its full restoration.”
James drew a comparison between Benjamin E. Mays, whom he considers a “historic institution,” and Morris Brown College, which he sees as a center for Black education.
He revealed to the students that their class would all receive admission to the college.
The only requirement to attend Morris Brown College is to maintain a 2.0 grade point average. “You have to show satisfactory academic progress, which means you have to at least have a C average,” Morris Brown President Kevin James told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“This was access, an opportunity moment for students, and I hope as many as possible will take advantage,” he added.
“I know they have a lot of options, but now Morris Brown is another option.”
Morris Brown College is a private Methodist historically black liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded on January 5, 1881, Morris Brown is the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Americans.