The new president of Morehouse College appointed by President Barack Obama recently announced a variety of adjustments to help rejuvenate the making of “Morehouse men.” Dr. John Silvanus doesn’t necessarily mean he will be implementing a new program, but instead strengthening the historically black college in renewed efforts to educate and support young, African-American men to help them succeed.
“Only 4 percent of African-American children coming out of high school in America are college ready in a wide range of courses,” Wilson said. “86 percent of African-American males are behind grade-level in reading and math by fourth grade… this is a scandal. It’s a crisis.”
After stating that one in three African-American males born today face imprisonment, Wilson said the function of a “greater” Morehouse is to capture the imagination of grade-school boys to let them know that there is a place made especially for them if they work hard and persevere. Although the approach to smaller class sizes yields a bigger embrace, the act of shrinking numbers is not financially feasible. However, there are ways in which the college can make learning and living environments smaller to better touch the lives of their students on campus.
“I graduated from Morehouse and I got a really, really character-centric education here. I loved it,” he said. “I went to graduate school at Harvard, and I saw all these great buildings, all this great infrastructure, this great endowment. I concluded then that Morehouse needs exactly what Harvard has, but Harvard needs exactly what Morehouse has.”
By referring to a “stronger” and “greater” Morehouse, Wilson capitalizes on a larger endowment for the school, better pay for faculty, improved facilities and more scholarships.
