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Feedback, Thoughts, Comments, and More: |
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Thank you for this loving and incisive call to action, brother. As many have said, these are conversations that have stayed hushed or atomized too long.
- Jafari Sinclaire Allen, Morehouse ‘90 |
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You have made numerous valid points. Future Morehouse brothers will thank you one day.
- Regina Boone Mekasha, Spelman ‘92 |
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Brother @imarzipan’s letter is the beginning of a new day for our beloved institution. Let us walk hand in hand with him into the light.
- Paul Daniels II, Morehouse '12 |
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This is an EXCELLENT letter Imar. Thank you for writing it. I hope it is effective at creating change at Morehouse. Just today I shared with someone my fleeting disappointment of not having a girl to send to my precious alma mater, Spelman College, and she retorted I could send my 3 boys to Morehouse. It wasn't an obvious choice. I would love to put Morehouse back on the table because so many of the wonderful brothers I know now graduated from there in the 90s and before. But change must happen first. Thank you for being so vested and taking the time to assemble the thoughts of many.
- Kamari Alexander, Spelman ‘97 |
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I appreciate your leadership on many of these issues. In my opinion, we all need to stand firm on institutionalizing an IG [Inspector General]. I think many of the cultural issues will respond to that.
- Maurice Champagne, Morehouse ‘03 |
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Mr. Hutchins,
Thank you for your letter to the Board. I think you've been saying what many of us have been thinking but couldn't express as well as you have.
I've always felt that if Morehouse is going to be around for its bicentennial, the College must think out of the box and out of the gate. I went to Morehouse because of people like Dr. King who made a difference in the black community. There are many issues affecting the community that I feel Morehouse simply ignores. Black unemployment is at record levels, there are educational disparities that impact low-income families, a staggering amount of black men are incarcerated-these are all issues that can be solved. Morehouse, as well as other HBCUs, particularly those in urban areas like Atlanta, should be leaders in battling unemployment by offering extended learning classes, certification programs, etc. to those who live in the surrounding areas, adopt local elementary, middle, and high schools- in a sense Morehouse can no longer pretend as if we're not a part of the Atlanta community. We're not exempt from its problems. We should be a beacon of light. Opening Morehouse's doors to the community will not only generate new revenue, but it will send a resounding message that we're ready to be a 21st century school that responds to 21st century problems.
I hope that there will a be a strategic plan put in place to discuss internal, external growth of the College. I agree. We can't rest on the laurels of Martin Luther King, Jr. to keep the College's doors open. More needs to be done. You mentioned a myriad of issues, that I won't even begin to get into, but I think you hit the nail on the hammer. I hope the Board takes your letter into deep consideration. In all things that we do,
- Tori Griffin, Morehouse ‘03 |
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Imar:
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing simply to encourage your efforts at improving Morehouse and developing a system there that will propel the college forward. The concerns you raised are shared by many alumni and students. I can speak personally to frustration with administration over transparency when I was managing editor of The Maroon Tiger and a long list of student grievances can be found in the paper's archives.
I would hope that if/when you meet with the board of trustees, you can begin a serious conversation about elevating the value of the student experience at the college. It is important to make matriculation through Morehouse more enjoyable in very basic ways - this I believe, beyond anything else, is what resonates most in the minds of graduates when they decide whether or not to reinvest in the college. They wonder "Am I in a better place because of or despite Morehouse?"
I for example remember know of you because of a large photograph that hangs in Gloster Hall of you with Oprah Winfrey. I've waited so long on so many occasions that when I saw the MLF letter and Googled you, I recognized your face immediately. That shouldn't be so. It shouldn't be that I received my master's degree before a corrected copy of my Morehouse diploma (because my major had been incorrectly printed on the original at graduation.) These are a few disappointing incidences that sully my memory of Morehouse and complicate my relationship to the college. Let's work hard to correct this. I wish you the best of luck in your effort and hope that you will keep fellow alumni updated. Best,
- Donovan X. Ramsey, Morehouse ‘10 |
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Dear Mr. Hutchins,
I hope this email finds you well. I am a rising senior at Dillard University, and I am writing because I recently had the opportunity to read your letter on the Morehouse Legacy Fund website.
I would like to begin this letter by thanking you for your courage to ask important, difficult questions regarding your alma mater. I respect your effort to call your institution to face it's "800 pound gorillas", and to do so in a way that will enable the school to be in a better position in the long term.
The reason why your letter resonated with me was because of my personal experience at Dillard. Dillard is facing many of the same questions as Morehouse, and was recently in the same position of selecting a university president. As the student government association president during the 2011-2012 school year, I had the opportunity to serve on the search committee for that process. That experience has widened and informed my perception of the state of HBCUs in general, and more specifically, Dillard University.
I believe your questions regarding HBCU long term relevance, social justice, program investment, and academic rigor are extremely important for the future of most HBCUs. By providing public access of this letter, you have opened the door for other HBCUs to address their own challenges. This is so important. I am a firm believer that we can no longer rely on the HBCU family and feeling nor the laurels of noteworthy alumni. Platitudes will not serve as a defense for the protection of our beloved institutions.
In short, thank you for your substantive contribution to shaping the national debate and analysis of HBCUs. I wish you all the best with the next steps and initiatives.
Sincerely,
- Rachel Williams, Dillard Univ SGA President 2011-12 |
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