OPENING CONVOCATION
celebrating the start of the 2023-2024 academic school year
Thursday, September 14, 2023 | 10:45 A.M. Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College
David A. Thomas, Ph.D. is the 12th president of Morehouse College. Since his installment in January 2018, he has led dynamic, purpose-driven advancement in Morehouse’s strategic and operational effectiveness, programmatic reach, and pedagogical innovation. Among other transformational successes, Dr. Thomas has overseen a fundraising acceleration which has generated approximately $190 million since his arrival—a giving total during his tenure that is higher than during any other presidential tenure in the history of the college. Under his leadership, Morehouse has extended its reach by launching its first online degree programs and has amplified its positioning as a center of intellectual discourse and social engagement in areas such as global leadership, professional equity, social justice, and innovation.
Dr. Thomas is internationally recognized for his expertise in organizational management and higher education leadership. Before becoming president of Morehouse, he served as the H. Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, as dean and William R. Berkley Chair at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and as an assistant professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. While at McDonough, Dr. Thomas led a successful $130 million capital campaign, a redesign of the MBA curriculum, and the launch of the school’s first online degree program. He has consulted on issues relating to organizational change, diversity, and inclusion for 100 of the Fortune 500 companies.
An award-winning author and contemporary thought leader in organizational management and executive development, Thomas co-wrote three books: Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience; Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America; and Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County. He has written or co-written almost eighty book chapters, cases, and teaching notes, along with more than two dozen scholarly articles, including “Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case,” which won the 2020 HBR McKinsey Award as the best Harvard Business Review article of the year. Atlanta Magazine named him one of “Atlanta’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders.” He is the recipient of Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader of the Year Award and the National Executive Forum’s 2020 Beacon Award, among other honors. He serves on the boards of DTE Energy, Commonfund, Vanguard, and Yale Corporation, where he is the alumni fellow. He is also a senior advisor for Grain Management.
Dr. Thomas earned a Ph.D. in organizational behavior studies and a Master of Philosophy in organizational behavior, both from Yale University. He also earned a Master of Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Administrative Sciences from Yale College.
Program
Presiding
Kendrick T. Brown, Ph.D.Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
PRELUDE
Gordon Youn
PRECESSIONAL rick
OPENING PRAYER rick
PRESENTATION OF COLORS rick
WELCOME rick
OCCASION AND INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER rick
MUSICAL SELECTION
r César Franck arr. Thomas Matthew
Ceremonial Marshals
CHIEF CEREMONIAL MARSHAL
Dr. John K. Haynes ’64
MACEBEARER
Dr. Lance Shipman Young ’95
MARSHALS OF THE FACULTY
Dr. Adria Welcher
Dr. Nina Gilbert
MARSHALS OF THE PLATFORM PARTY
Dr. Derrick Bryan ’04
Dr. Triscia Hendrickson
Dr. Aisha Meeks
Dr. Robert Tanner
LEAD MARSHALS OF STUDENTS
Professor Illya E. Davis ’89
Dr. Keith Hollingsworth
Dr. Brian Lawrence
MARSHALS OF THE STUDENTS
Dr. Jaime Chavez
Dr. Michael Douglas ’97
Dr. Alison Ligon
Dr. Yohance Murray ’96
Dr. Wallace Sharif ’94
Dr. Corey Stayton
Dr. Patrick Washington ’03
MARSHAL OF ALUMNI
Mr. Henry Goodgame ’84
MESSAGE CONVOCATION MESSAGE rick
“Chanson”
Gordon Young
“Trumpet Tune”
Frederick Swann
“Trumpet Tune”
Frederick Swann
Dr. David Francis Oliver College Organist
Dr. David Francis Oliver ge
The Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. Dean, Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel
“The Star Spangled Banner”
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”
“Trumpet Tune”
Frederick Swann
“Trumpet Tune”
Frederick Swann
“Psalm 150”
César Franck arr. Thomas Matthew
Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Dean, Martin Luther King J. International Chapel
Mr. Mekhi Perrin ’24 92nd President, Student Government Association
Provost Kendrick Brown, Ph.D. College Organist
Morehouse College Glee Club
César Franck arr. Thomas Matthew
President David Anthony Thomas
President David Anthony Thomas, Ph.D. 12th President, Morehouse College
CLOSING REMARKS rick
COLLEGE HYMN rick
RECESSIONAL rick
“Dear Old Morehouse”
“Rigaudon”
Composed by Andre Campra
Dr. David Edward Morrow ’80
Professor and Director of the Morehouse College Glee Club
Provost Kendrick Brown, Ph.D. J.O.B. Mosley 12th President, Morehouse Colleg
Dr. David Francis Oliver College Organist
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing
Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won.
Dear Old Morehouse
Dear old Morehouse, dear old Morehouse, We have pledged our lives to thee; And we’ll ever, yea forever Give ourselves in loyalty.
True forever, true forever, To old Morehouse may we be; So to bind each son the other Into ties more brotherly.
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Make us steadfast, honest, true, To old Morehouse, and her ideals, And in all things that we do.
