FOUNDER’S WEEK 2014
Morehouse Celebrates 147 Years and the Historic Inauguration of the 11th President By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
TWO SNOW AND ICE STORMS this February in Atlanta slowed down much of the city, but didn’t stop Morehouse from celebrating the College’s 147-year history. Two major events were affected: The White House/Morehouse College Black Male Summit was postponed and the Founder’s Day Convocation was canceled. But the historic inauguration of the College’s 11th president, John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79, and the “A Candle in the Dark” Gala went off without a hitch. The celebration began Friday, February 14, when Wilson stood in front of 1,800 people in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel and recalled a conversation he had with a classmate during their senior year at Morehouse. Wilson asked his friend whether the clouds in the Morehouse seal were blocking the sun or were being burned off to make way for sunlight. The friend told Wilson, “I’m quite certain, that is up to us!” “Ladies and gentlemen, I am quite certain, too,” Wilson said in his inaugural address “I am quite certain that realizing the world of our dreams on this campus and on this earth is, in God’s name, up to us.” That dream and how the College becomes the shining light in the development of not only Morehouse Men, but black men, was the theme of Wilson’s speech to a crowd of students, alumni, faculty, staff and Wilson’s family and friends. Additionally, delegates representing 209 colleges, universities and other organizations from across the nation joined the Morehouse family to formally usher in the Wilson era. That evening, gospel recording star and education advocate Marvin Sapp thrilled a King Chapel crowd during his Marvin Sapp School of Choice Concert Celebrating the Inauguration of John Silvanus Wilson Jr. ’79. On Saturday, five men were honored as the 2014 Bennie and Candle Award honorees: charter school pioneer Donald Hense ’70; U.S. Department of Education deputy secretary James Shelton ’89; Morehouse’s retired dean of Business Administration and Economics John Williams ’69; music icon Stevie Wonder; and former U.S. District Court judge Reginald Lindsay ’67, who was honored posthumously. The honorees told their life stories and gave advice to students, faculty and staff during
Reflections of Excellence in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center. “People who do, beat people who talk every time, and the world is full of talkers,” Shelton said. “I want to assure you that you are going to trip and you are going to fall,” Hense said later. “But you have got to get up and you’ve got to push every single day for what you believe is right.” That night, the audience for the 26th Annual “A Candle in the Dark” Gala heard speeches from the honorees. Wonder decried violence against black boys, particularly the mistrial on a murder charge against a Florida man who fatally shot a black teen over loud music. He said that the only way he will perform in Florida now is for benefits to fight the state’s “Stand Your Ground” laws. “We have to do a better job of protecting our Morehouse Men,” he said. “Not just Morehouse Men, but all black boys in America ... It is not the gun that makes a man. But it’s the gun that kills him. We must change the gun laws in America.” Then he surprised everyone by singing two songs, “Love’s In Need of Love Today” and “My Cherie Amour.” Sunday, during the Founder’s Day Worship Service, the Rev. Charles Gilchrist Adams, senior pastor at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, talked about the meaning of Adam as a human being and as a man. “So God is speaking to everyone, ‘Humanity, where are you?’” Gilchrist said. “God is asking man where are you in the church, the community, the vortex of community strife?” Afterwards, Charles Harvey, president of the Johnson Controls Foundation and a leader in the establishment of the College’s Wisconsin Scholars Program, was honored with an oil portrait. Founder’s Week ended with the 103rd Morehouse College Glee Club’s Spring Concert in King Chapel. While the music was the highlight, director David Morrow ’80 got a big surprise: an oil portrait of him was unveiled and will hang in the Chapel’s International Hall of Honor. “We just could not have asked for a more spectacular weekend to reflect on what it means to inaugurate the College’s 11th president and celebrate the College’s 147th anniversary,” said Henry Goodgame ’84, director of Alumni Relations, Special Events and Annual Giving. n COMMEMORATIVE INAUGURATION INAUGURATION ISSUE ISSUE 2014 2014 COMMEMORATIVE
MOREHOUSE MAGAZINE MAGAZINE 25 MOREHOUSE