TheRoadTaken
By dorian joyner sr. ‘13
F
Dorian Joyner Sr. ’13 (left) graduates with his son Dorian Joyner Jr. ’13
MOREHOUSE MAGAZINE
40
Commencement 2013
I
Commemorative issue
rom the time I applied for admission to Morehouse College to the day this past May when I graduated, nothing about my Morehouse experience has seemed normal. First, after receiving scholarships to several institutions, I found out Arthur, my best friend, was going to apply for admission at Morehouse. So I applied, too. But Arthur never applied. His father, a Virginia Union University graduate, told Arthur that he could attend Morehouse, but a check to cover tuition would go to Virginia Union. I decided to come to Morehouse anyway. It was the first time I saw so many black students in one location, and all were upwardly mobile. I was at the top of my high school class, but now I was amongst others who were like me. I will never forget walking around the Atlanta University Center and seeing people whom I admired. My first month, I saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who had just finished his campaign for president. I attended a concert in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel with jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who had just won Grammy awards. I ate at Pascal’s Restaurant where I saw civil rights icon Andrew Young. I heard Julian Bond ’71 and Maynard Jackson ’56 speak. I knew I was in a special place. I majored in both religion and psychology and had a minor in business. Classes were challenging and the professors were so interesting as they gave information far beyond what was in books. I had the pleasure of taking music classes under Dr. Wendell P. Whalum and religion courses with Roswell F. Jackson. I got involved in student government every year and served on the SGA my sophomore through senior years. During the first Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday, Coretta Scott King asked me to serve as the co-chair for colleges/universities. I participated in anti-apartheid protests (my oldest son, Dorian Jr., was born five minutes after Nelson Mandela was eventually released from a South African prison). I even gave approval to an up-and-coming film director and alumnus, Spike Lee ’79, to place his posters on campus for the premiere of his first film, “She’s Gotta Have It.”