insidethehouse Mock Trial Team Continues Morehouse Legacy of Great Debaters
T
he spirit of the movie, “The Great Debaters,” filled the African American Hall of Fame on Oct. 17, 2009, during a mock trial competition between Morehouse College and Howard University. The 2007 film focused on historically black Wiley College’s seemingly unlikely, Depression-era debate competition win over Harvard University. While the emotional hook of the movie was Wiley’s win over Harvard, the way young black men and women exhibited their verbal and argumentative skills is what Terry Mills, dean of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences and an adviser for the Morehouse mock trial team, said brought the film’s spirit into the room. “Morehouse College is ‘The Great Debaters,’” Mills said.“We see that as what Morehouse does. If nothing else, I would say we pride ourselves on our young men being very eloquent speakers and well-prepared and informed debaters. That’s what we do.” Morehouse edged a narrow victory over Howard in the October debate. But the event highlighted one of the College’s more talented teams over the years. From 2006 to 2009, the mock trial team won regional championship competitions and competed in the American Mock Trial Association’s national championship each year. The squad is one of only four historically black colleges that is
President Robert M. Franklin ’75 and members of the Morehouse Mock Trial Team
part of the AMTA and is the Association’s only all-male school. The team is coached by political science instructor Roger Cusick and English instructor Charles Walton. Members of the team are Kevin Morris, William Lawrence, Ahmad Cheers, Renaldo Pearson, Antoine Albert, Wesley Jackson and Tyler Bell. “I think the longstanding history of Morehouse being engaged in mock trial and forensics/debate is a torch that is really being carried on by these young men,” Mills said. “We are very proud of them.” ■
10th Annual Breast Cancer Walk Draws Record Crowd SANDRA WALKER PROMISED that the 10th Annual Morehouse College Breast Cancer Walk would be the biggest one so far. Her prediction came true. Walker, executive assistant to the vice president for Business and Finance who founded and has organized each walk with the Counseling Research Center’s Mary Peaks, said nearly 600 people took to the Atlanta University Center’s streets to raise money for breast cancer research on Sept. 26, 2009. “We had the most participants that we ever have had,” Walker said.“And the students, I can’t say enough about them. Some of them were out at 5:30 a.m. to prepare for the walk. They did a tremendous job.” The walk raises money for the American Cancer Society’s work in helping find a cure for breast cancer. Since Peaks and Walker started the walk in 2000, the College has raised more than $150,000. Among the record-breaking crowd were some of Walker’s family members from Texas and California, as well as First Lady Dr. Cheryl Franklin and her brother, Dr. Willie Goffney, a California sur-
Sandra Walker (left holding banner) and Mary Peaks (far right) lead the breast cancer awareness walk.
gical oncologist who is also a board member of the American Cancer Society. Franklin, in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, also hosted “Party With a Purpose”at Davidson House the night before to raise money for cancer research and to announce a new health care advocacy and collaboration between Morehouse and the American Cancer Society. ■ S P R I N G / S U M M E R
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