Morris Brown College’s "reemergence" under the school’s newest President, Dr. Stanley Pritchett, Sr.

I want to start by saying I am a proud Alumnus and will be a Brownite for life!!!
Here's a brief history of Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU’s.)

• There are currently 105 HBCU’s in the U.S. [Link]
• The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines an HBCU “as institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community.”
• Contrary to popular belief, these institutions were for the most part NOT started by the black community, just FOR the black community.
• WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, MOST OF THE INSTITUTIONS STARTED BY BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOW DEFUNCT.

One institution started by Blacks for Blacks is Morris Brown College located in the Vine City section of Atlanta, GA. It’s named for the second consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. MBC has been in existences since 1881. They survived a slew of external events, such as, the Great Depression, Jim Crow Laws, and countless other economic & cultural difficulties. The one thing that brought MBC to its knees was internal. MBC's History

Dr. Dolores Cross

In 1998 the school hired Dr. Dolores Cross as President. She took over a financially troubled school. During her tenure, she was accused of mishandling financials and was ousted by 2003. That same year, the school lost its accreditation for mishandling financials. In 2006 Dr. Cross pleaded guilty to embezzling millions of dollars from the school.

Since then the school has seen a steady decline in attendance, saw its credit rating drop because of late & non-payment to creditors and utility companies, and has had to auction off land and buildings to pay mounting bills. But now the school is finally seeing a reemergence. They hired a new President who has some lofty goals and an awe inspiring vision for the school similar to the founding roots of the school.

Here is the note that was posted to the social networking site Facebook on the school’s official “reemergence” fan page.

The "New" Morris Brown College Story ...by Dr. Stanley Pritchett, Sr.

Dr. Stanley Pritchett, Sr.

THE “NEW” MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE STORY

Morris Brown College has faced and endured difficult circumstances since the turn of the 21st century. Numerous financial and reputational issues – even the loss of accreditation – have added to the constant speculation about the school’s viability and ultimate demise. These challenges have been documented in numerous stories in the media and popular press. Our history, our brand, and our reputation have all been tarnished in the hearts and minds of many who may feel that our problems are beyond repair.

Yet, despite varied impressions about our struggles, Morris Brown College continues to weather these hard times and survive. Throughout this survival process, we have never wavered from our 1881 charter as an institution of higher learning, believing in the promise of our students and providing them a quality education. However, one key thing that we have learned is that the educational landscape has changed and requires new and reinvented academic enterprises. Morris Brown College is officially beginning to tell a “new story” about how we are reinventing ourselves to be a model of educational leadership, prepared to face the challenges of the decades ahead.

The “new” Morris Brown College will be armored to quickly and easily respond to and take advantage of economic cycles, demographic projections, job trends, and labor market shifts as we impact the future of higher education. We have deemed ourselves responsive to the following challenges:

• The need to educate both traditional and non-traditional students in fields that have high market value/demand and require flexible and timely educational attainment strategies;

• The imperative to develop new approaches for “academic innovation capacity” in the future;

• The requirement for new ways to source, recruit, and nurture the highest quality faculty, staff, and administrators using highly flexible models; and

• The need to balance, redevelop, and/or reconstruct curricula to teach and reinforce more than just “hard skills” but “soft skills” and entrepreneurial acumen.

These challenges are at the heart of our new story. We recognize that we will have to impress the best and brightest students in order to attract them, develop strong academic programs, manage the costs of getting a quality education, and offer competitive salaries/utilize effective recruitment strategies for faculty and staff, while building our financial stability and endowment.

In addition, the “new” Morris Brown will be based on five strategic themes to guide and dictate everything we do:

• Innovation – we will lead by introducing new ideas, solutions, and academic outcomes;

• Excellence – we will strive to be outstanding and set high expectations for our students and the college at large;

• Adaptability – we will be agile, flexible, and able to respond to trends and challenges; • Integrity – we will uphold the highest standards, using strong principles and powerful values; and

• Pride – we will reinvent ourselves into an institution of higher learning that learns from its mistakes, leverages opportunities, and sets new standards.

By using these strategic themes, we are setting very high expectations for how we conduct our business and how we build capabilities in our students. Innovation and civic, social, and business entrepreneurship will be hallmarks of our institution. We will embrace a “lifelong learning” framework and offer flexible programs in blended formats – whether on-campus or on-line, day, weekend, or evening – ready and able to meet the demands of our students and the ever-changing marketplace. We are exploring majors and courses of study that provide us with unique programs to re-invigorate the college and better align to the local, national, and global business climates, all while working with a cross-section of generations (Baby Boomers and Generations X, Y, and Z). In addition to traditional formats, we will heavily embrace relevant computer configurations, mobile devices, social networks, and other technological advancements. We are very excited about the possibilities for innovation while focusing on flexible faculty models that leverage the best and brightest minds available.

Moreover, the “new” Morris Brown College will focus on the quality and structure of the secondary/high school educational system, namely, the preparedness of high school students for their chosen futures beyond the high school diploma. We are very excited about creating an “Opportunity Academy”/Charter School that will target high promise high school students and mirror the creative approaches to learning and education that we will offer in the college. We feel strongly that, in order to meet the challenges of educational reform and institutional reinvention, we must reach beyond just the traditional offerings and look at the expected outcomes from high school to become a better college. While we see this as a civic entrepreneurial endeavor (a great way to practice what we preach), we also feel strongly that many students, particularly in the state of Georgia, can benefit from an academy that stresses mastery of both soft and hard skills and entrepreneurship and that allows them to construct an education experience that prepares them for the future.

So as you can see, there is a new and rich story to be told, and we, working towards reinvention, will continue to share this story. We are very excited about our future and are grateful to everyone who has supported and been patient as we have worked through our challenges. We can now clearly see our future…and we welcome these challenges and the continued involvement of all of our publics, for these can only result in further enrichment for our students, alumni, faculty, staff, and administrators – and, ultimately, the local, national, and international communities we serve, for the “new” MBC is designed to both bolster the institution and be an integral part of American education reform.


Dr. Stanley Pritchett, Sr.
18th President
Morris Brown College

Morris Brown College has been amongst many “1st” in education. (1st to give paptops to all of its students.”, 1st private institution to ensure the education of poor and less affluent people. {Morris Brown College has accepted all races of applicants and does not deny based on race or creed.} etc.) But again the goals that Dr. Pritchett, Sr. has set forth are lofty at best and would be the ultimate 1st. I as an Alumnus am Praying and doing whatever I can to help. First is bringing this mission to as many people as possible as to try to garner up some attention and as much financial help as possible.

To donate time or money click here.

Thanks again for your time. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below or email me at basimthedream@gmail.com.

In Respone to: The Black Church: How Black Churches Keep African American Women Single and Lonely

 
First if you haven't read the article and watched the video, please do so BEFORE you continue reading my response. The Black Church: How Black Churches Keep African American Women Single and Lonely

Welcome back... I can really sum my response up in 1 phrase.

"Faith without works is dead." James 2: 14 – 26

Ok, I'll go a little further. My last blog post was about not blaming women for being victims. (I am about to completely contradict that. Sorry.) If you look into the "Stats that were posted in the article, 55% of Black Americans interpret scripture literally.<<< HUGE problem!!! First you can't "interpret something literally." Because if you take something literally, its not an interpretation... This to me is the biggest issue as to why black women who attend black churches are single, their interpretation of the scriptures. If you read the Bible cover to cover and take everything literally, you'd be in jail before you finished reading the Old Testament. No explanation necessary. Now, to touch on the video of Pastor Ken Patterson, 1 thing he said is that women should strive to be the Wife in Proverbs 31. I agree, however, not even the prophets of the Bible (Not even Jesus Christ,) were perfect so why should women of today be held to a different standard??? But on the flip side, are there any women closer to that woman than our strong Black women??? If the stats prove anything, they prove this with almost 87% of them claiming a religious affiliation.

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." Proverbs 31: 26 - 30

Again, since you’ve read this whole thing, I know you have a comment. Whether you agree or disagree, I’d love to hear from you. Leave it hear or you can email me at basimthedream@gmail.com. Thanks for lending me your mind for a few seconds.

I am tired of men blaming women!!!

Let me start by being “honest.” I have robbed a lot of banks in my 29 years of life. Meaning I wronged a few women. In some cases, just for sport, in other cases, I really liked them but I was in another relationship when I met them. But either way, I, for lack of a better word, “dogged’ them out. I used them for what I wanted and nothing more. I lied, manipulated, toyed w/ their emotions, used their weaknesses against them, etc. I was good at it. I would seek out victims like a robber casing a bank. I knew more about them from 1 conversation than they knew they told me. I befriended them, made them trust me and I made them feel bad if they didn’t trust me. For all of these things, I apologize.

Blaming women for getting dogged out by men is like blaming banks when they get robbed.
I mean seriously, answer me this…
1. Did they leave the doors open too long? (Most banks are now open 7 days a week, 8 – 10 hours a day.)
2. Did they not have an armed security guard? (Most bank robbers don’t use guns, they merely pass a note to a teller.)
3. Did they have to many or not enough employees? (Employees are potential hostages and potential thieves. Hostages create an even more dangerous environment and they are great at robbing banks because they know it so well.)
4. Was there not enough or too much cash available? (The Great Depression started when a man walked into a bank and asked for all the money available in his account and the bank refused sighting the fact that they did not have enough cash on hand.)
5. Are their policies and procedures outdated? (Currently at most banks, if a robber asks an employee for money, they must comply. If not they are fired on the spot. Don’t be a hero, refusing can get you killed.)
6. Do they not have enough turnstiles or is the line to the teller too direct? (Turnstiles as well as other methods – metal detectors, 1 person at a time through door, etc. – are used for crowd control and to slow potential robbers.)

I likened women to banks for a few reasons.

1. They want men. So they open themselves up to being hurt.
Women have been fed for years that they should get married and have kids. If they weren’t taught that, the human race would not exist much longer. Women also enjoy sex, if not why would they do it? These are the primary reasons men can hurt women w/ little to no recourse.

2. The men who hurt them don’t all use the same tactics but all have the same endgame.
Human beings are like everything else in the world, we adapt. Women don’t get hurt by the same type of man every time she gets hurt. Nor does she get hurt the same way by the same man. On the surface it may look like if he cheated once he’ll do it again, but it’s really not that simple. The 1st time he blamed her for his infidelity. The 2nd time he blamed himself and promised never to do it again. The 3rd time he said she didn’t spend enough time with him. And soon and so on.

3. They either don’t trust their friends (male or female) or trust them too much.
OK, this is easy. The person who will most likely hurt a woman is her friend. Whether they tell her the truth, withhold potentially hurtful info, or use their friendship for personal gain. Men will use their friendship with a woman for lots of things, including and besides sex. Women will use their friendships for lots of things, including getting closer to their man or to just break up a good relationship because they aren’t happy.

4. They’re either too independent or not independent enough (too small or too big to fail.)
Whether a woman is independent or needy doesn’t really matter to most men. For 1, the women that raised them were either 1 or the other and that’s the traits they’re looking for. Either in a potential mate or just someone they want to just have sex with. But he’ll tell a woman that she’s too much of 1 or the other just to justify his own behavior and attitude toward her. For instance, If a man says a woman is too independent, he is more than likely the type of person that wants a women who clearly “needs” him. If he says a woman is too needy, he is probably the type of man who is a “momma’s boy.” He wants to be taken care of in some capacity. He either can’t cook, his fiscal responsibility sucks, or he just wants to be a “Toys-R-Us” man, and he doesn’t want to grow up.

5. If they change their “ways” there is no guarantee that they will stop getting hurt.
People always say, if you want to meet a 1 night stand go to the club, if you want to meet a wife, go to church. There is a fatal flaw in this logic; most young people (ages 13 – 50) go to both… So, is John from the club different than John from church??? He may treat you differently at first, but he is still the same person, capable of the same things. I men who are players in church and at the club, but most of them are players at both.

6. They have up “walls” or they use tactics to try to eliminate those who could potentially hurt them.
All women do it. They have certain criteria that a man must meet for them to date them. None of this matters; again, men adapt to conquer their prey. So if you start out a conversation by saying what you want in a man, he’s going to mirror that image. Most men make it easy for themselves by asking the women and her being eager to tell him, spills it out. Some women are protective and guarded of their feelings. Not all men can adapt to conquer this type of women, but the patient man can and will get through and can still hurt her and leave a more damaging wound because she “trust” him.

There is really no way to protect them against all the people wanting to do them harm. Not even from the people who want to blame them for getting hurt. Men are the reason women are they way they are. Whether it is her father, pastor, brother, step dad, or whoever, he is mandated to protect her and teach her what to expect from a man. If any of the men in a woman’s life fail at this while she is young and still learning, she can be doomed for life. If any man over steps by molesting, raping, or feeding a young girl’s fantasy of being with an older man, he can potentially ruin her psyche for life. There are lots more reasons as to why it’s not her fault but these are the main ones and we as men need to stop and look in the mirror before we start doling out advice to women that is just, in most all cases, an outright lie.
Now since you’ve read this whole thing, I know you have a comment. Whether you agree or disagree, I’d love to hear from you. Leave it hear or you can email me at basimthedream@gmail.com and I'll post your comment anonymously. Thanks for lending me your mind for a few seconds.