Director’s Message Greetings, Morgan Alumni. I am so looking forward to welcoming you back to campus for our Alumni/Commencement Weekend. As you might expect, excitement has been bustling in the air as time draws near for another reunion year. On May 20, 2016, we will host our 76th Annual Awards and Class Reunion Luncheon for classes ending in “1” or “6.” We extend to each one of you an invitation to join us for your special gathering as we celebrate you! Many Class Agents have been busy for months making sure their class is well represented. All of the effort they have put forth is to ensure that when they return to campus on that weekend, their class will have a reunion experience they will long remember. If you have not heard from your Class Agent, you need to contact him or her, or the Office of Alumni Relations, immediately, to find out what’s happening with your reunion. Please don’t be the only one to show up from your class. Place a call to your classmates, and tell them to meet you on the campus of Morgan State University on May 20. Whether it’s your five-year or 50year anniversary, you will not want to miss an opportunity to fellowship and rekindle those special memories with your classmates and friends. This will also be a special time to recognize alumni and chapters as our 2016 Alumni Day honorees for their civic and professional achievements at the local and national levels. If you have never attended this luncheon, know that it gives you an opportunity to connect with old friends, retie special bonds, talk about special events in your lives, or, if nothing else, visit your campus, which is forever evolving. Again, as we celebrate you, I am quite sure you have much to be grateful for since graduating from Morgan that you may be happy to share in conversation during your reunion: family, friends, retirement, your current profession, your accomplishments, marriage and even divorce. Whatever the case may be, it’s all about you! So, find that perfect suit or dress, shine up your favorite shoes, create that stylish hairdo or haircut, or just polish up your dome, and prepare yourself to adorn Morgan’s campus with your presence. Alumni Day 2016 will not be all we hope, without you! Hope to see you soon! Sincerely, Joyce A. Brown, ’86 and ’01 MSU Director of Alumni Relations
STAY CONNECTED, AND HELP US FILL IN OUR ALUMNI NETWORK We encourage you to log onto our Alumni Online Community on a regular basis to receive important alumni information and updates. This is an easy way to update your profile and contact information, including your address, phone number and e-mail address. Doing so will ensure that you will continue to receive your Morgan Magazine, the Alumni News, other Morgan publications and important e-mail messages. Help us reconnect lost alumni through family members and friends! Let us know who they are, and we will bridge the gap! Connect with us through www. alumni.morgan.edu, or call the Alumni Relations Office at (443) 885-3015. Sign up TODAY, and be informed.
Alumna of the Year Jacqueline L. Lawson, ’75 Jacqueline L. Lawson, MSU Class of 1975, earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology at Morgan State College and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland University College. From 2007 to 2011, she served as President of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area Chapter of the MSU Alumni Association (MSUAA). She served two consecutive terms as President of the MSUAA from 2011–2015. In 2011, she was appointed to the board of directors of the MSU Foundation, Inc., where she continues to serve. Under her leadership, the MSUAA chartered 10 alumni chapters and reactivated some alumni chapters, alumni giving increased 170 percent over 2010, the constitution and bylaws were revised, and alumni participation in student recruitment increased. Lawson created the Alumni Adopt-A-Game program
to increase alumni attendance at sporting events. She was instrumental in rallying alumni support for the legal case against the State of Maryland for additional funding for Maryland’s four HBCUs. In 2014, she was inducted into the MSU Psychology Department’s Hall of Fame. Lawson retired from her position as a senior analyst with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation in 2014, after working for 38 years for the federal government. She is married to Art “Hema” Lawson, Morgan Class of 1974, and both are Life Members of the MSUAA. The couple established an endowed scholarship fund to aid students attending MSU and have contributed to MSU’s student emergency assistance fund. For these and many other reasons, MSUAA is proud to recognize Jacqueline L. Lawson as Alumna of the Year.
Special Achievement Award Honoree Lonnie Liston Smith, ’61 Lonnie Liston Smith was born into a musical family in Richmond, Va., in 1940. His father was a member of the gospel music group The Harmonizing Four. Smith learned to play the piano, tuba and trumpet in high school and continued his education at Morgan State College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in music education. While attending Morgan, he became a popular back-up vocalist and pianist with Gary Bartz, Betty Carter, Ethel Ennis and others. After graduation from Morgan, Smith joined the house band at the Royal Theater in Baltimore, before moving to New York to play piano in Betty Carter’s Band. A partial list of musicians he has played with reads like a who’s who
in jazz and fusion jazz circles: Rahsaan Roland Kirk, AI Hibbler, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Pharoah Sanders, Leon Thomas, Gato Barbieri and Miles Davis. In 1973, Smith put together one of jazz fusion’s great bands, which recorded as Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes. Smith’s music has influenced countless musicians and has been sampled by many young artists of today. He is a recipient of the Soul Train Music Award, among other honors. Despite all of his travels and musical fame, Smith has never forgotten Morgan as his musical career has expanded. He is a life member of the MSU Alumni Association and a supporter of Morgan State University.
Chapter of the Year Morgan State University Southern Maryland Alumni Chapter Chartered in 2005 with 29 members, the MSU Southern Maryland Alumni Chapter (MSUSMAC) now has 47 active members, 75 percent of whom are Life Members. The chapter’s commitment to providing educational opportunities for students, as well as its promotion of academic excellence and achievement, are among the many reasons, too numerous to list here, that MSUSMAC is the 2016 Chapter of the Year. The Southern Maryland Chapter and/or its members actively and consistently support Morgan, its programs, departments and the MSU Alumni Association. The chapter participates in college fairs and Explore Morgan Day, and sup¬ports Morgan athletic and cultural events. Each year, the Chapter and/or its members make sizable financial contributions to the MSU Foundation, the University’s Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory (PEARL) and the University Memorial Chapel. The Chapter also supports Alumni Day and the annual MSU Gala. The
Chapter established the George DeFord Scholarship Fund in honor of its founding Chapter President. The scholarships, totaling more than $65,000, to date, are presented at the Annual Orange and Blue Dinner Dance and Awards Program, where Morgan alumni are also recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. The Southern Maryland community is better aware of the opportunities that Morgan provides because of the diligent work of the Chapter. The Chapter meets with its legislative representatives in Annapolis annually to update them on the successes and challenges of the Southern Maryland students who attend Morgan. The Southern Maryland Chapter’s newest endeavor is its inaugural mentoring program. Chapter members will meet with the scholarship recipients quarterly to discuss their experiences and needs while attending Morgan.
Welcome Back for Alumni Day, May 20, 2016
Are you excited about your upcoming reunion? Classes ending in “6” and “1” are gearing up to return for their anniversary reunions on Friday, May 20, 2016 at our 76th Annual Alumni Awards & Class Reunion Luncheon. The Luncheon will be held in the MSU Student Center, Calvin and Tina Tyler Ballroom. Special recognition will be given to our 50th Anniversary Class of 1966. Classes of 1965 and earlier will be recognized as the Emeritus Class. The Luncheon brings classmates and friends together to celebrate and reminisce about old memories at “Fair Morgan.” A
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“Welcome Back” Reception will begin at 11 a.m. in the lobby outside of the Calvin and Tina Tyler Ballroom, on the second floor. The luncheon will start at 12 noon in the ballroom. Morgan’s President David Wilson will give his “State of the University” address and will meet and greet alumni. The luncheon cost is $60 per person. You may purchase tickets online at the MSU Alumni Online Community by going to www.alumni.morgan.edu.Or you may call the Alumni Relations Office at (443) 885-3015 to purchase your ticket(s). Tickets go fast, so don’t delay!