morgan|
morgan|
President’s Message
Dear Morgan Family, Each year, the pages of Morgan Magazine tell a story far greater than the sum of its articles. These publications chronicle the resilience, creativity and commitment to a unifying mission that define our University and its people. This issue is no exception.
We begin by confronting a challenge long present in higher education as a whole and, more recently, at Morgan in particular: the decline in male student enrollment. Through the work of our dedicated task force, we are taking bold, evidence-based steps to close the gender gap and ensure that every young man who dreams of a Morgan education has the opportunity to achieve it.
Our alumni continue to inspire. From Charles F. Spicer Jr.’s unique connection to the legendary artist Prince, to David and Romica Brashear’s generosity in lightening the financial burdens of future Bears, to Vinnie Bagwell’s breathtaking sculptures preserving African American history, Morgan graduates demonstrate what it means to serve with distinction as conscientious stewards of the legacy entrusted to them.
Our University continues to make impacts far beyond campus borders, leading an HBCU initiative to address the Black maternal health crisis, expanding research with global potential in microelectronics and elevating educational tracks like Fashion Merchandising to regional powerhouse status. And of course, Morgan’s cultural ambassadors — our University Choir and Magnificent Marching Machine — continue to bring the excellence of the National Treasure to audiences around the world.
At the heart of it all are our students, like Electrical Engineering major Emmanuel Durojaiye, who seize the opportunities before them and, in doing so, shape the future of their fields.
The stories in this issue affirm that Morgan’s mission is not static: it grows as our community grows. We are building a legacy that will inspire generations to come.
Thank you for walking this rewarding path with us. With pride and purpose,
David K. Wilson, President david.wilson@morgan.edu
morgan|MAGAZINE
02
The Morgan Man and the Artist
Morgan graduate Charles F. Spicer Jr. has an enduring connection to the pop icon Prince.
12
In the Community
Morgan leads a broad HBCU effort in maternal health, addressing the Black birthing crisis in the U.S.
06
Closing the Gender Gap
A Morgan task force seeks solutions for the University’s decline in male student enrollment.
18
Donor Profile
The financial road to Commencement was rough for David and Romica Brashear of Morgan’s Class of 1997. Their giving has smoothed the path for many who have followed.
Contact: Morgan Magazine (443) 885-3022 office main PR@morgan.edu
COVER STORY
20
Morgan’s Musical Ambassadors
The University Choir and Magnificent Marching Machine showcase the National Treasure for the world.
Immortalizing African American History Through Legacy Art
Sculptor Vinnie Bagwell, Morgan Class of 1979, aspires for greatness in service to her community.
31
Student Success
Electrical engineering freshman Emmanuel Durojaiye seized the opportunities Morgan offered to become a force in sports media.
27
Growing the Future of Fashion
An elegant new space and stateof-the-art equipment have made Morgan a regional power in Fashion Merchandising education.
34 Research Spotlight
Morgan’s Center for Research and Education in Microelectronics is expanding, and empowering students and faculty to change the world with tiny technology.
Magazine has earned national honors for its Summer 2024 edition! Recognized for excellence in design and editorial content, the publication took home top honors at the Hermes Creative Awards and The Communicator Awards along with an APEX “Award of Excellence.” These accolades are a testament to the power of Morgan storytelling.
STEWARDSHIP
THE MORGAN MAN AND THE ARTIST
Charles F. Spicer Jr.’s Enduring Connection to Pop Icon Prince
BY JAMES MICHAEL BRODIE
“We kept it human. We kept it to us. I never fawned over him being this iconic talent. And I never worked with him. Prince once said that he knew who his friends were because they were not on his payroll.”
— Charles F. Spicer Jr., Morgan Class of 1989, Co-owner, Prince Legacy, LLC
Charles F. Spicer Jr. had no idea that meeting an aspiring teenaged musician from Minnesota would evolve into a lifelong friendship.
Spicer, of Morgan State University’s Class of 1986, was 12 when he met a young Prince Rogers Nelson in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1976. Prince’s half-sister Sharon, a family friend, who also lived in New Jersey, asked Spicer to look out for her younger brother as he attempted to navigate the New York cultural scene.
John Nelson, Prince’s father and a jazz musician in his own right, knew his son aspired to play in his own band but figured he would never reach his goals if he stayed in Minnesota.
“Prince was actually a little older than me, but Rahway is very different from Minneapolis, so Sharon asked me to make sure I kept an eye on him,” Spicer recalls. “He was 17, and I was 12. I remember looking at him the first day we met and noticed (that) although he was older, he was my height.”
Even at that early age, Prince demonstrated a talent that was like nothing Spicer had ever seen before: “I was a witness to a musical prodigy.”
Over the years, the friendship would grow as the two served as anchors for one another. But it wasn’t about the music.
“We kept it human. We kept it to us,” Spicer says. “I never fawned over him being this iconic talent. And I never worked with him. Prince once said that he knew who his friends were because they were not on his payroll.”
Today, Spicer is co-owner of Prince Legacy, LLC, a position that empowers him to protect Prince’s intellectual property and gives him access to the late, great artist’s vault of unreleased music.
Continued on page 4
“It was a calling. It was a job I was destined to do. I have never worked harder for someone who meant so much to my life.”
Continued from page 3
The Morgan Experience
Spicer learned about Morgan in the early 1970s when he attended the Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Football Classic between the Bears and the Grambling State University Tigers at Yankee Stadium with his family. He also got his first taste of the Battle of the Bands.
“I grew up in an integrated community, so being at Morgan was my first experience of Black excellence, of being part of a larger Black family,” he says. “I wanted to be inspired by people who wanted to be great who looked like me.”
As a student at Morgan in the mid-1980s, Spicer rarely mentioned his connection to Prince with classmates.
“No one was going to believe me anyway,” he says with a laugh.
Spicer, and his classmate David E. Talbert, did spend much of that time continuing the development of Morgan’s radio station, WEAA, a major force in Baltimore.
“Spice,” as he was called on campus, attended Morgan from 1982 to 1986, building his skills for radio and television as a telecommunications major. He was also the audio engineer for Talbert’s radio talk show, We Hold These Truths; hosted an overnight program, The Other Side of Midnight; and was a popular DJ in McKeldin Student Center, playing at campus parties.
“My whole reason for going to college was being on the radio. And at Morgan, David and I would just commandeer the station at night, because no one else was there to do it,” Spicer says.
Spicer and Talbert also became part of Morgan’s Delta Gentlemen of Quality, a male support group for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Talbert was the president.
“We became Morgan brothers for life,” Spicer says. “Every time I saw David on the road touring with his stage plays, it was like we never missed each other. In college, we were struggling kids, but look at us now.”
Talbert went on to success as a world-renowned playwright, filmmaker and author. Spicer’s journey
“Morgan Brothers for Life”: Charles F. Spicer Jr. (right) and David E. Talbert
took him in a different direction. He launched an independent recording label, producing rap and R&B artists, but the responsibilities of life and family made the venture short-lived.
“It really didn’t kick off the way I thought it would, but it gave me enough to know the business,” Spicer remembers.
His focus would shift to directing commercials for television. As a result, he garnered several Telly Awards, which honor excellence in video and television.
Preserving the Legacy
Prince died in 2016 without leaving a will, which led to a lengthy legal battle in Minnesota probate court over the division of his assets. In 2018, Spicer was named as a court-appointed advisor after Sharon once again asked for his help.
When probate concluded in August 2022, the estate’s assets were split between two companies, Prince Legacy and Primary Wave. Spicer was eventually named co-owner of Prince Legacy, LLC.
Spicer went on to curate and produce a Grammynominated compilation, “Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls Super Deluxe Box Set,” which was the No. 1 box set released in 2023, according to Classic Pop Magazine. The set included more than 75 audio tracks, 33 of them unreleased studio recordings from Prince’s vault. It
also included a 120-page hardcover book, more than two hours of video content and a neverbefore-shown, full-length 1992 concert. The work earned a Grammy nomination for Best Historical Album in 2025.
“It was a calling. It was a job I was destined to do. I have never worked harder for someone who meant so much to my life,” Spicer says. “I (did) these things so that they would be on the level (he would have wanted them). He was profilic. He was always determined to do things his way. He had that kind of energy, that kind of spirit.”
Morgan Forever
Today, Spicer is back at home in New Jersey. Even there, the connection to Morgan is strong. Recently, he ran into a fellow alum wearing Morgan gear at a local gym. The two struck up a conversation that led to Spicer’s meeting more Morgan alumni at the same gym. He is forever a Morgan man.
“I try to go back to every Homecoming at Morgan because of what it gave me,” Spicer says. “It was one of the most fulfilling times in my life. If I had to do it all again, I would. Morgan is my family.” n
CLOSING THE GENDER GAP
HIGHER EDUCATION
A Morgan Task Force Addresses the Troubling Decline in the University’s Male Student Enrollment
BY E.R. SHIPP
THE FUTURE OF BLACK MALES HAS BEEN A PRIMARY CONCERN AT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY since its founding in 1867 as the Methodist school known as Centenary Biblical Institute. Nine Black men made up that inaugural class, as the era of Reconstruction ushered in boundless hope following four years of civil war.
As Morgan approached its 150th anniversary, a young, male computer science student became its 50,000th graduate during the Fall Commencement on Dec. 16, 2016. The exuberant, confetti-laden, pop-up celebration that stunned Joseph L. Jones and his family marked a milestone not just for them but also for the institution whose motto is “Growing the Future, Leading the World.” However, this historic moment, during which Jones had to be encouraged to smile, belied what Mark Barnes, Ph.D., an associate professor in Morgan’s Department of History and Geography, had begun to notice: “a growing invisibility” of Black males in his classes. Associate Professor Michael Sinclair was noticing this, too, in the School of Social Work, where “a subtle but persistent decrease” led him to seek ways to attract males to his field.
Now Morgan is laying the groundwork for a possible enrollment of 15,000 students in the next five years, while also seeking to attain the coveted R1 ranking as one of the nation’s premier research institutions. As has been true since 1867, the status of Black males remains a paramount concern. In fact, so much so, that in the fall of 2024, Morgan President David K. Wilson established a task force whose name also reveals its mission: The State of Black Male Enrollment at Morgan: Causes and Recommendations. Professors Barnes and Sinclair are its co-chairs.
Around the nation, people are asking within education circles from HBCUs to the Ivys, from community colleges to graduate schools: Where are the men?
Continued on page 8
Morgan President David K. Wilson
Black men account for only 26% of the students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), down from 38% in 1976.
In fact, there are fewer Black men enrolled at HBCUs today than in 1976.”
Continued from page 7
Nearly 50-Year Trend
A declining enrollment of males — what The Chronicle of Higher Education describes as an “exodus of men away from college” — has been evident in higher education for nearly 50 years. In 1970, according to the U.S. Department of Education, male enrollment was 59%; by 2019, it was 43%. The Washington, DC-based American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM) puts a finer point on the situation, focusing on who is earning degrees. In 1971, it says, women earned 43.5% of bachelor’s degrees and by 1980 had reached parity with men. Since then, however, women have overtaken men, and the gap has continued to grow. By 2020, according to AIBM, women earned 58% of bachelor’s degrees in the U.S. Though the issue has been percolating for some time, a sense of urgency to address it has been spurred in part by an AIBM report focused on Black males that was released in the summer of 2024 and by the alarmist headlines it engendered.
Its key, headline-grabbing finding was summarized this way:
“Black men account for only 26% of the students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), down from 38% in 1976. In fact, there are fewer Black men enrolled at HBCUs today than in 1976. HBCUs have long served as valuable institutions for Black students, offering a unique environment that fosters academic achievement, mental well-being, and economic mobility.”
Many headlines associated the drop in Black male enrollment at HBCUs with declining admissions overall. That is hardly descriptive of Morgan, where admissions in recent years have been through the roof. Its fall 2024 enrollment of nearly 11,000 students made it the third largest HBCU, behind North Carolina A&T State University and Howard University.
President Wilson has observed that “only a few years ago, Morgan had one of the highest enrollments of Black males at HBCUs.” Under Morgan’s definition of “Black students” as “U.S. citizens of African descent,” the decline in enrollment of Black males at the National Treasure has been steady, though the Coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the situation. In 2009, Black males comprised 40% of
BLACK M E N AT MORGAN
Counting the Black undergraduate population alone, Black males were 38% in the fall of 2009 but dropped to by the fall of 2024.
44%
all undergraduates at Morgan. By the fall of 2024, they were 29% of all undergraduates. Counting the Black undergraduate population alone, Black males were 44% in the fall of 2009 but dropped to 38% by the fall of 2024. By comparison, the number at Howard University was around 19% at that time.
Richard V. Reeves, Ph.D., the founding president of AIBM and co-author of the Institute’s report, addressed the situation in April during his appearance, along with Morgan’s own Professor M.K. Asante Jr. of the English and Language Arts Department, in Morgan’s Presidential Distinguished Speaker Series. The topic was “The Silent Crisis of America’s Boys and Men.” Said Reeves: “It’s taken higher education, with honorable exceptions, quite a long time to wake up to this new reality, to wake up to the fact that the gender gaps in higher education now almost always are where we need to be paying more attention to men.”
Beyond ‘Either/Or’
Just as when President Barack Obama prioritized Black men with his My Brothers Keeper initiative in 2014, some women are wondering if Morgan’s — and higher education’s — emphasis on Black males will come at the expense of girls and women. Both Sinclair and Barnes insist that it will not.
“Supporting Black men does not mean you don’t support Black women. We can support Black women and their amazing achievements,” Dr. Sinclair said. “We know Black women are perhaps the most underappreciated group of people because they do so much for our communities, for our families. But Black men have been slowly falling behind.”
Dr. Reeves of AIBM has suggested that many institutions have been slow to act because of uncertainty about how to develop programs to recruit males, and provide the support they need to earn degrees, without undermining efforts that have been beneficial to females over the last half-century.
Continued on page 10
Mark Barnes, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of History and Geography
Michael Sinclair, Ph.D. Associate Professor, School of Social Work
‘‘
Supporting Black men does not mean you don’t support Black women. We can support Black women and their amazing achievements…. But Black men have been slowly falling behind.”
Continued from page 9
He and others have pointed to the developmental differences between males and females that shape their readiness to master skills that prepare them for college — or, as more than one person said, “Girls get their acts together earlier than boys.”
Edwin Johnson, Ph.D., a special assistant to the provost, and Morgan’s historian, offered a sweeping perspective of how “Black men have long been endangered” in the urban areas of the U.S. from which Morgan draws many of its students. Major factors, he said, were the so-called war on drugs that led to mass incarceration that disproportionately ensnared young Black males, and the loss of job opportunities in what were once major manufacturing hubs like Baltimore and cities in the Midwest.
Making the Case
At the inaugural meeting of Morgan’s task force in April 2025, faculty members, administrators and students shared research and their lived experiences as they considered competing influences that make college a low priority or not worth considering at all: K–12 schools with a dearth of male teachers, especially Black male teachers, as influencers; teachers telling Black males they are not college material — something that several tenured Morgan professors and an admissions officer said they were told in their
formative years; a longing to belong; the notion that sitting in a classroom and relying on grants, loans and family support is unmanly.
Also discussed were pressure to prove manhood by earning money now rather than later — and by any means necessary; and living proof provided by people who have been quite successful in tech fields or in traditional trades like plumbing and electrical work that can be more lucrative than an entry-level job available to a college graduate — and without the debt that many college graduates accrue.
To address the need to belong, Dr. Barnes says, Morgan must place greater emphasis on opportunities that already exist for males, from sports teams to fraternities, from the choir to social justice and mentoring projects.
But how does Morgan make the case to restless males that upward mobility that college graduates can usually count on is worth delayed gratification?
That’s a question the task force has begun wrestling with, and it intends to fine tune an answer rooted in Morgan’s history and mission.
“We have to sell what we’re selling, and what we’re selling is broader than just vocational skills,” Dr. Sinclair said in an interview after that inaugural meeting. He ticked off a list that included critical thinking, analysis and leadership.
As he shared the stage with Dr. Reeves in April, Professor Asante suggested making the connection between education and liberation.
Edwin Johnson, Ph.D., Special Assistant to the Provost, and Morgan’s Historian
— Michael Sinclair, Ph.D.
Michael Sinclair, Ph.D.
“How can we make this education emancipatory?” he asked. “How can what we’re learning help get you free? How can it help free others?”
Dr. Sinclair would make a similar connection: “We have a responsibility to our communities of color to get the education (and) to apply it to uplift our communities. That’s the purpose of true education and knowledge. It’s not just to get a job.”
If that aim sounds a bit lofty, one recruiter said he offers straight talk to young men who have an end goal but have not quite figured out how to get from here to there. They hope they will achieve overnight success by being discovered via social media. For those who, for instance, want to become Baltimore’s next superstar recording artist, he breaks down how they
are more likely to succeed by studying in Morgan’s music and business programs. He tells them, “The world we live in does not cater to us. If you don’t have credentials or contacts, you will likely go unnoticed.” Morgan, he says, can provide access to both.
The task force anticipates its work as a long-term institutional project, not something that will result in a report after several months of study.
“This can’t just be rhetoric,” Dr. Sinclair said. In the meantime, he said, he and Dr. Barnes have been hearing from the public, including parents, alumni and community-service organizations. “We have been inundated with a lot of people who simply want to help.” n
Morgan’s task force anticipates its work as a long-term institutional project, not something that will result in a report after several months of study.” ‘‘
Journalist-scholar E.R. Shipp is an associate professor of Multimedia Journalism at Morgan State University and a 1996 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Mark Barnes, Ph.D.
NATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN MATERNAL HEALTH
Morgan Research and Community Programs Address the Black Birthing Crisis in the U.S.
BY KENDRA OUTLER, M.D.
Morgan State University is playing a major role, as a leader in building research capacity, training a diverse maternal and child health workforce and engaging in innovative community-engaged research to improve maternal health.”
Black women in the U.S. continue to disproportionately suffer poor maternal outcomes that result in too many preventable deaths. Through increased awareness of some of the causes — lack of access to comprehensive prenatal care, systemic barriers and the need for more community-based support for pregnant and postpartum mothers — the work of decreasing the unacceptable Black maternal death rate has begun. Recognizing that Black women in pregnancy die at three times the rate of white women in this country is a major step toward finding solutions and saving lives.
Awareness and mitigation of the problem are occurring at all levels: within healthcare systems, in government, within communitybased organizations and through focused research in academic institutions across the country, including Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan State.
On the national scale, the comprehensive legislation dubbed the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act is enabling the medical community to implement data collection and quality improvement programs within their hospitals and networks. The Act also includes a bill that provides funding for programs that will grow and diversify the maternal health clinical and non-clinical workforce, increasing the number and diversity of trained birth workers, including doulas, who provide emotional, physical and emotional support to families during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.
Pregnancy-Related Mortality per 100,000 Births by Race and Ethnicity, 2020
Note: Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race but are categorized as Hispanic for this analysis; other groups are nonHispanic. AlAN refers to American Indian or Alaska Native. Data were not available for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people.
Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP); Division of Reproductive Health
Continued on page 14
(clockwise from top left) Dr. Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, Dr. Yvonne Bronner, Dr. Marilyn Berchie-Gialamas and Dr. Kim Dobson Sydnor
Continued from page 13
Locally, Baltimore City government officials are keenly aware of the sobering statistics indicating poor maternal outcomes for Black women who deliver in area hospitals. The Baltimore City Department of Health’s B’more for Healthy Babies supports the well-being of moms, infants and their families. This signature initiative houses multiple programs, one of which focuses on pregnancy support. The Maryland Department of Health has been aggressively funding programs to achieve birth equity by increasing access to quality birthing centers and increasing community and grassroots activation to reach moms.
Morgan State University, Maryland’s largest Historically Black College or University (HBCU), is playing a major role, as a leader in building research capacity, training a diverse maternal and child health workforce and engaging in innovative community-engaged research to improve maternal health. Morgan’s School of Community Health and Policy and its Center for Urban Health Equity have secured more than $15 million in federal grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) since 2023, to create a blueprint for improving maternal health for Black communities both locally and nationwide. The Maternal Health Research Collaborative (MHRC) is the expansive research initiative fueled by the success of the fundraising effort. The Collaborative consists of the Maternal Health Research Coordinating Center (MHRCC) at Morgan State University; 16 HRSA-funded research centers at HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions; and several community partners, i.e., community organizations working to improve maternal and child health indicators. Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, Ph.D., leads the MHRC research center at Morgan, which is dubbed the Center for Maternal and Family Health.
A Morgan Center, An HBCU Alliance
The building of any successful program starts with a passionate team and a visionary leader. Yvonne Bronner, Sc.D., professor in the Department of Public and Allied Health in Morgan’s School of Community Health and Policy (SCHP), and a veteran public health researcher in maternal and child health, conceived of an initiative to be the beacon for Black maternal health research led by a network of HBCUs. The HBCU Alliance Team for Maternal, Child and Family Health (HAT) was founded to address disparities in maternal, child and family health by contributing to innovation in training the 21st century workforce in these fields, with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion at all levels; developing competent leaders; and increasing
problem-solving research capacity of HBCUs and predominantly Black institutions.
Dr. Bronner, principal investigator of the MHRCC, collaborates with the 16 HRSA-funded research centers in Morgan’s maternal health initiative to increase their capacity to conduct high-quality, communityengaged research. MHRCC’s mentoring program staff are engaged in activities to support the professional development of MHRC faculty and students involved in the research. Dr. Bronner is very proud, for example, that several of the research centers have taken up the work of examining the role of doulas in solving the maternal health crisis, among them Morgan’s own Center for Maternal and Family Health (CMAFH).
“This is community-driven, will provide family stability and (will) lead to a new workforce,” she states.
Morgan has also collaborated with the Black Women’s Health Imperative, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving health equity for Black women in the United States, to pilot the N.O.U.R.I.S.H. program — New Opportunity to Uncover our Resources, Intuition, Spirit and Healing — in which 40 Morgan State students completed a 12-month comprehensive doula training program. In addition, a Doula BRIDGE Program (Building Resources for Improving Doula Growth and Excellence), slated to
Yvonne Bronner, Sc.D., Professor in Morgan’s Department of Public and Allied Health
begin soon, will provide comprehensive support to ensure that the research done with the HRSA funds is impactful to the community. The Bridge Program includes Cultural Humility and Trauma-Informed Care Training, Burnout Prevention and Well-Being Support, and Medicaid Enrollment training, with technical assistance and mentorship to support communitybased doulas in Maryland.
With the creation of the HAT, MHRC, CMAFH and the MHRCC, public health experts from underrepresented groups are leading research on Black maternal health and are collaborating extensively in an unprecedented way. Only two years since its launch, MHRC already has 10 manuscripts in progress. In June 2024 and 2025, all 16 of the institutions funded by Morgan’s HRSA grants convened on the University’s campus to amplify their research work and exchange ideas through informative panels and workshops.
Encouraging Service and Learning
Kim Dobson Sydnor, Ph.D., dean of Morgan’s School of Community Health and Policy, led the charge for the establishment of the Center for Urban Health Equity (CUHE) at Morgan State in 2019. The CUHE strategically positioned Morgan to become the host HBCU for the large HRSA maternal health grants obtained by the University, she explains, furthering Morgan’s work of researching and addressing the Black maternal health crisis for the State of Maryland.
“(Our Center for Urban Health Equity) can prioritize Black maternal health by funding multiple research programs, supporting esteemed researchers and giving students from across the University an opportunity to engage in learning opportunities about Black maternal health,” says Dean Sydnor, who has worked hard to support the Maternal Health Research Center and the many bold initiatives in health equity launched by Morgan over the last five years.
Dr. Sydnor is particularly proud of the enrollment of Morgan students in N.O.U.R.I.S.H., the pilot doulatraining program, which is funded by the Kellogg Foundation and was developed by Kanika Harris, Ph.D., who was then director of Maternal Child Health Programs at the Black Women’s Health Imperative. N.O.U.R.I.S.H. was the first program of its kind at an HBCU. Morgan senior Nevaeh Christy, a Health Education major with a focus in Community Health, completed her doula training through this program. Fueled with a passion for maternal health and advocacy, she acquired her first community doula job with the Mae organization while completing her studies at Morgan. Christy serves only two mothers
at a time, a caseload that allows her to focus on her clients’ questions and concerns while she manages her studies.
“I had one mother who did not have any support in the delivery room,” Christy recalls. “This can be hard, because you are their only source of support.” After delivery, she explains, “I do check on my moms, but I have not had any of them request postpartum doula support.” But as a full-service doula, she knows that moms continue to need support when they return home.
Christy says her experiences with N.O.U.R.I.S.H. — interacting with expectant moms at hospital maternity wards at Johns Hopkins, Franklin Square, Mercy and the University of Maryland — have sparked her aspiration to become a nurse midwife and earn a doctorate in public health.
‘‘
“(Our Center for Urban Health Equity) can prioritize Black maternal health by funding multiple research programs, supporting esteemed researchers and giving students from across the university an opportunity to engage in learning opportunities about Black maternal health.”
— Dr. Kim Dobson Sydnor
Continued on page 16
Kim Dobson Sydnor, Ph.D., Dean of Morgan’s School of Community Health and Policy
Continued from page 15
Expanding the Focus
“The effectiveness of doulas in helping to improve maternal outcomes through improved advocacy for expectant moms and assistance during the peripartum period is well documented,” states Assistant Professor of Nursing Marilyn Berchie-Gialamas, D.N.P., who has a deep commitment to women and holistic maternal health. In addition to her co-principal investigator role for the Center for Maternal and Family Health HRSA research center grant, Dr. Berchie-Gialamas leads her own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-funded research, examining factors that are facilitators of, or barriers to, the use of doula care. Based on data from expectant moms, her research uncovered that mothers in Baltimore City find challenges in three key areas: finding a community doula; lack of knowledge about doulas; and finding a doula who accepts Medicaid. In the focus groups with community doulas, barriers reported included low pay for the amount of time invested with the moms, especially moms with multiple health and social issues; burnout within the first year of work; and the need for career support.
This foundational work, in addition to the community needs assessment completed by the CMAFH, informed the development of the CMAFH’s Doula BRIDGE Program. The program’s goal is to increase the number of community-based, Medicaidcertified doulas in Baltimore City as well as support their work. Dr. Berchie-Gialamas’ team will help 25 community doula-trained women achieve
Medicaid certification and will hold workshops for the women about how to submit documentation for pay reimbursement, connect them with larger doula organizations and support them with burnout prevention and mentoring. This novel program is part of the capacity-building research that Dr. Bronner believes in so passionately.
Looking beyond the foundational information gathered about doula training and moms who use doulas, Dr. Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, associate professor and chair of Public and Allied Health at Morgan and Principal Investigator of the CMAFH, states, “The next area of focus for maternal outcomes research is developing innovative approaches to enhance preconception health.”
As an epidemiologist, Dr. Baptiste-Roberts sees preconception care as misunderstood, fragmented and underutilized, particularly in underserved communities.
“A holistic approach involving the integration of digital tools and ‘precision public health’ is needed,” she says. “It is important to think outside of the box and bridge population-level strategies with individuallevel tailoring, and also engage both males and females in targeted interventions.”
Beacon and Bridge
Morgan’s receipt of the HRSA grants to address the maternal health crisis solidified its role as the leading HBCU doing critical research in maternal
Kesha Baptiste-Roberts, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Public and Allied Health at Morgan
Marilyn Berchie-Gialamas, D.N.P., Assistant Professor of Nursing at Morgan
ALABAMA
Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL
CALIFORNIA
Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Howard University
FLORIDA
Albizu University Miami, FL
Florida International University Miami, FL
GEORGIA
Morehouse School of Medicine Atlanta, GA
HAWAII University of Hawaii Honolulu, HI
MARYLAND
Morgan State University Baltimore, MD
MISSISSIPPI Tougaloo College Jackson, MS
NEW YORK
Mercy University Dobbs Ferry, NY
OHIO
Ohio State University Columbus, OH
PUERTO RICO Albizu University San Juan, PR
MHRC Research Locations
MHRC consists of 16 Research Centers (RCs) and a Coordinating Center (CC), located where maternal health problems are more severe. These centers will encourage and support research, education, community engagement and collaborative partnership to positively address disparities in maternal health outcomes.
TENNESSEE
Meharry Medical College School of Graduate Studies Nashville, TN
Meharry Medical College School of Applied Computational Science Nashville, TN
Tennessee State University Nashville, TN
and child health. In creating the HBCU Alliance Team and leading the HRSA-funded Maternal Health Research Coordinating Center (MHRCC), Dr. Yvonne Bronner is keeping Morgan at the very forefront of maternal and child health improvement in our communities. The value of the MHRC, the MHRCC and the CMAFH comes from their building of capacity for research to develop communityinformed, evidence-based solutions. Holding true to this value, the MHRCC collaborates with multiple HBCUs and with Hispanic Serving Institutions that serve Black and other minority populations, to amplify the research and community programs being conducted by universities that often lack funding and staffing. The MHRCC at Morgan serves as a lighthouse for all the other institutions to navigate toward for guidance in research mentorship, expert advice on data collection, and community-focused programs like the MSU-CMAFH doula workforce training support that Morgan has spearheaded.
TEXAS
Texas A&M University College Station, TX
Texas Southern University Houston, TX
The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX
Stay Informed!
Our Vision
Healthy families producing healthy pregnancies resulting in healthy children within all communities across the US.
Our Mission
To positively impact the root causes of maternal health disparities through research, education, community engagement and collaborative partnerships.
Our Core Values
Advance Research and Innovation
MHRC is committed to building the capacity for research and a learning community for early-stage and new investigators interested in maternal health research. We seek to develop community-informed, evidencebased solutions that improve the overall wellbeing of pregnant women through research and innovation.
Collaborate for Impact
MHRC recognizes the importance of involving community and partners in the development and execution of research to facilitate bi-directional co-learning.
Cultivate a Culture of Respect
MHRC recognizes that maternal mortality affects all people. We consider the lived experiences of the communities where our research centers are in the development of their maternal health research capacity.
Drive Continuous Improvement
MHRC continuously evaluates our programs, interventions, and research initiatives to ensure effectiveness and relevance. We adapt our strategies based on emerging evidence, technological advancements, and the evolving needs of the populations we serve.
Doula programs across the United States continue to proliferate, as the preliminary research from Morgan State University’s School of Community Health and Policy illuminates the fact that Black women need more support in their maternal experience. In Dr. Marilyn Berchie-Gialamas’ words, “Moms need a bridge.” And Morgan is building that bridge toward birth equity. n
Kendra Outler, M.D., a graduate of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Texas, completed her residency in Anesthesia at J.H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and earned a Master of Public Health at Emory University. Now an anesthesiologist at Stroger Hospital, Dr. Outler is also a nationally recognized speaker and writer about health disparity and medicine. Through her digital platform, myuzima.org, her podcast, “What the Doctor Say,” and her writings on Medium, Dr. Outler critically examines race, medicine and health disparity with other thought leaders and activists in medicine and education.
Scan the QR code to learn more about MHRC.
MISSION
INVESTING IN OPPORTUNITY
BY CHRIS MURRAY, Morgan Class of 1987
“I feel like Morgan changed my life for the better. It opened my eyes to what Black excellence was in real life.” — Romica Brashear, Morgan Class of 1997
The vast contributions of Morgan Class of 1997 alums David and Romica Brashear flow from a longstanding love affair the couple has had with their university from the moment they set foot on the campus in the early 1990s.
s Those relationships include her lifelong connection with David, which began when they met while taking a calculus course during their sophomore year at Morgan. The couple fell in love that year, as they both crossed the burning sands of pledging their Divine Nine organizations. Romica became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., while David donned the royal purple and gold of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
They both speak about their time at Morgan in glowing terms, telling how the University has always cared about the growth and well-being of its students while also demanding excellence.
“Coming through an HBCU and Morgan specifically, (we gained from) the care we received from the professors (and) the experience of camaraderie amongst the students to make sure that we all succeeded together,” says David Brashear, who earned his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering.
Romica adds that her time at Morgan State University made a profound beneficial impact on her life.
“I feel like Morgan changed my life for the better,” says Romica, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. “It opened my eyes to what Black excellence was in real life. It was the care that my professors had for me as an individual, and the lifelong relationships, that were most impactful.”
The Brashears, who now reside in Severn, Maryland, have passed their love for their alma mater to their daughter, Selah, who just completed her freshman year at Morgan and is a member of the Lady Bears’ Volleyball Team. A Biology major with a minor in Spanish, she plans to become a doctor.
Attending an historically Black institution “was ingrained in her,” David says. “We would get information from different schools, and her first reaction was, ‘Is it an HBCU?’”
In her bio on Morgan Athletics’ website, Selah says she chose her parents’ alma mater “because of my legacy and the familial community that comes with Morgan State.”
David and Romica Brashear
Having gone through the challenging experience of financing their education with financial aid and student loans, the Brashears want to smooth the path for the young people coming after them.
‘Living Proof’
Since graduating from Morgan, the Brashears have leveraged their experiences at the National Treasure by obtaining master’s degrees in their fields from George Washington University and by becoming successful entrepreneurs. Since 2007, the couple have been the owners of Altus Technology Solutions, a defense contracting firm that specializes in engineering and professional services. David is the CEO and Romica is the director of Operations of the Hanover, Marylandbased company, which has more than 170 employees across eight states.
The Morgan State University Foundation has been a major beneficiary of the couple’s success. Over the last 16 years, the couple’s consistent giving to their alma mater through the Brashear Family Endowment has totaled $178,000.
The Brashears both come from humble beginnings growing up in the industrial region known as the “Rust Belt” — David in Cleveland, Ohio, and Romica in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — and both were firstgeneration college students. Having gone through the challenging experience of financing their education with financial aid and student loans, they want to smooth the path for the young people coming after them.
“We want to give other people the opportunity to get a life-changing experience and to be able to afford a quality education,” says Romica. “…Most of our philanthropy goes to Morgan, because we believe in the mission, and we’re living proof of (the possibilities).”
David and Romica take pride in how their alma mater has grown and evolved for the better since their collegiate days at Morgan.
“We’re extremely proud of where Morgan is today, seeing all the new infrastructure and the growth of the campus and how much it’s changed over the years. It’s a totally different campus,” says David. “We’re excited about the enrollment. We are excited about seeing that we now have state-of-the-art facilities that can be easily compared to any other university in the state and across the country.”
But even with its growth over the last 20 years or so, say the Brashears, Morgan, like other HBCUs, will probably have to rely much more on the generosity of its alumni.
“I think (with) what’s going on with the government right now and cutting funding, the way that we get past that is through private donations,” Romica says. “Unfortunately, with HBCUs, we’ve always been underfunded. We’ve always (had) to make a dollar out of 15 cents. But now it’s even more important for alumni to give back generously.… These students deserve to have an education.” n
To join the Brashears and other Morgan faithful in supporting the University’s scholars, visit GiveToMorgan.org.
Lasting Love: Romica and David at Commencement in 1997
Morgan Legacy: Selah Brashear and her parents embody Bear Pride
MORGAN’S MUSICAL AMBASSADORS
The Marching Band and University Choir Showcase the ‘National Treasure’ for the World
An Overture in Venice
s
BY CHRISTINA ROYSTER, Morgan Class of 1993
On a bright June morning in 2025, snare-drum rim shots echoed across stone in a centuries-old public garden along the Venetian waterfront. The commotion wasn’t a local festa; it was Morgan State University’s Magnificent Marching Machine marching band activating “ReCall & Response,” a sound-sculpture pavilion shaped like an African talking drum and designed by Professor Coleman A. Jordan of Morgan’s School of Architecture and Planning.
“It’s a flash mob but with spoken word, in Venice,” Morgan Bands Director Jorim E. Reid Sr., D.M.A., said before the trip, explaining how musicians and poets would animate the structure.
Horns rose, dancers swept through the arches, and one corner of the Venice Architecture Biennale pulsed with Baltimore swagger — proof that Morgan’s artists travel in perfect pitch.
Thousands of miles east, just weeks earlier, the Morgan State University Choir had filled Singapore’s Voices of Singapore Capital Studios Recital Hall with spirituals, African American art songs and gospel. One local guide, a self-described atheist, told Choir Director Eric Conway, D.M.A., she “felt something on the inside I’ve never felt before.” Dr. Conway calls that a reaction to the choir’s “sincerity of sound.”
Two ensembles, two conductors, one mission: grow the future, and lead the world.
The Magnificent Marching Machine
Dr. Reid took the baton from longtime Morgan Bands Director Melvin N. Miles Jr. in 2022, after winning Honda Battle of the Bands titles at North Carolina Central University. Reid aligns his program with President David K. Wilson’s quest for preeminence, through his leadership
of the band, which is simultaneously Morgan’s largest student organization and a credit-bearing course.
“It’s not about being in the band; it’s about what the band puts in you,” Reid says. “Engineering majors learn show production, physical therapy majors study biomechanics, and everyone learns character.”
That character has landed on impressive stages: the 80th anniversary D-Day commemorations in Normandy, France, in 2024; two NFL halftime shows; and an invitation to the 2026 Tournament of Roses Parade, to name a few. Dr. Wilson called the parade slot “an historic opportunity to showcase our students’ exceptional talent and spirit on an international stage.”
Innovation in 4/4 time: this past summer, portions of the band traveled to Venice, Italy, fusing African polyrhythms with spoken-word artistry in what Reid called “a living blueprint of historically Black colleges and universities culture.”
Funding is tougher today, when common grant keywords trigger political review, but Reid has secured recording grants and is pursuing additional funding — publicly and privately sourced — all in the interest of continuous quality improvement in education and performance.
“Every institution has its culture,” he says. “Excellence is nonnegotiable.”
The Morgan State University Choir
When Conway succeeded the late Nathan Carter, D.M.A., becoming Morgan’s choir director and chair of the University’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts, in 2004, well-wishers wondered how anyone could fill Dr. Carter’s musical shoes. However, within months, the choir sang in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as Rosa Parks lay in honor, and the pace has scarcely eased — with events ranging from a tour of Cuba during the first open-travel season from the U.S. to the island nation in more than five decades, in 2016, to a four-city tour of Southeast Asia in 2025, to frequent collaborations with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
At the White House gospel celebration in 2015, President Barack Obama summed up the choir’s impact: “Gospel music has evolved over time, but its heart stays true. It still has an unmatched power to strike the deepest chord in all of us.”
The choir’s pop-culture halo grew last October when Stevie Wonder welcomed the ensemble to his performance at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena. Greeting surprise attendees Barack and Michelle Obama, Wonder beamed, “We got friends!” then invited “Baltimore’s own Morgan State University Choir” to blaze through “The Blessing of Abraham” before closing the night with “Another Star.”
Conway also launched a graduate music track and revived an opera workshop for Morgan students, partnering this year with the Peabody Conservatory on Kurt Weill’s “Street Scene.” He measures success less by literacy than by artistry.
“I’d rather have great voices that can’t yet read music than perfect sight readers who can’t sing,” he says. “By performance night, everyone reads.”
Continued on page 22
CHOIR BAND
‘The World Stage’
The discipline, creativity and pride instilled by Reid and Conway prepare their students for “the world stage,” to use President Wilson ‘s pet phrase — classrooms, concert halls and stadiums around the globe. Each graduate, in turn, becomes an ambassador for the University, extending Morgan’s reach far beyond any single performance.
Band members already rehearse for Pasadena’s Rose Parade, while Conway prepares the choir’s
concert slated for the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore next February and a tour of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania next summer, among other high-profile engagements. Both ensembles are raising money for their cross-country or international journeys.
Different stages, same truth: whether marching in eight-to-five precision or singing Rachmaninoff in flawless Russian, Morgan State artists show the world — and themselves — that the jewels of Baltimore’s National Treasure are priceless. n
Jeremiah Washington graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Fine Arts with Morgan’s Class of 2024. A Denyce Graves Young Artist honoree, he was recently accepted into the Shenandoah Conservatory’s graduate school. “The choir gave me a real-world preview of a professional career featuring world-class travel — free.”
“Within one semester, I’d played the North Carolina governor’s mansion, the French ambassador’s residence and the White House. Dr. Reid insists talent is overrated; character lasts,” says saxophonist Shawn McNeill, a master’s candidate in Music at Morgan who followed Reid from Fayetteville State University.
To provide financial support for Morgan’s musical ambassadors, visit GiveToMorgan.org, click “Give Now,” and select “Choir Fund” and “MSU Band” from the drop-down menu.
IMMORTALIZING AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY THROUGH LEGACY ART
Sculptor Vinnie Bagwell, ’79, Creates Public Artwork to Inspire Her Community
BY FERDINAND MEHLINGER
s Before Vinnie Bagwell ever lifted a chisel or molded clay, she was already sculpting something far more enduring: a vision. Raised in Westchester County, New York, and educated at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Bagwell didn’t enter the art world through a classroom or a gallery. She came by way of intuition, determination and a fierce belief in the power of storytelling. Today, operating from a converted carriage house perched above the historic Hudson River in Yonkers, the celebrated sculptor shapes more than just bronze. She shapes memory, justice and cultural legacy.
A 1979 Morgan graduate, Bagwell majored not in art but in Psychology, with a minor in mathematics. It was at Maryland’s largest Historically Black College or University (HBCU) that her life’s purpose began to crystallize, guided by the mentorship of George Carter, Ph.D., who was then chair of the Psychology Department. Under his influence, Bagwell began to channel her drive for service and humanity into a creative force, one that would eventually earn her national acclaim through award-winning public art commissions. Her mission is to elevate collective consciousness through what she calls “legacy art.”
“Something we learned at Morgan was when we graduated, we should go out into the world and do something to help uplift the race,” Bagwell says. Answering that call to action has led her on a unique, creative, inspirational path, benefiting all who see her art.
The path has been winding at times. Bagwell worked in numerous industries, serving stints as a newspaper journalist, car salesperson, graphic designer and author — all before transforming an untapped passion into what would become a lifelong profession. At age 36, she began building skills to create some of the most compelling and emotionally affecting life-size sculptures in the modern African American repertoire.
Bagwell recalls the experience that crystallized her purpose in life. She attended an exhibit in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1993, where more than 200 sculptors presented their best bronze works, not one of which represented an African American. The event left her feeling like Black people were left out of mainstream visual narratives.
“I’m looking around. I’m not seeing any public artworks about Black people at all,” Bagwell says. “…I’m seeing dead presidents, and war heroes…. And equally important, I’m not seeing women.”
Thus began her quest to learn the art of
Vinnie Bagwell with Harriet Tubman plastilina maquette in progress
“I developed the techniques I use in sculpting through intuition and trial and error,” says Bagwell. “This was before the internet. There was no YouTube. There was no Google. If you wanted to learn something you had to go to the library and look it up.”
She continued: “So, you know you can do something, but the only question is what are your limitations? You start, and you invent things, and you move forward.”
Finding a Style
In 2021, Bagwell completed what is arguably her most complex artistic achievement to date: “The Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden,” which stands near the Hudson River, an urban heritage sculpture garden in the revitalized downtown waterfront district of Yonkers, New York. Five life-sized bronzes of enslaved Africans draw on the reallife horror story lived by the enslaved and the indentured servants at Philipse Manor Hall, very near Sleepy Hollow, the town made famous by Washington Irving’s 1820 fictional horror tale. The project, 13 years in the making, was unveiled on Juneteenth 2021 to commemorate the legacy of the first enslaved Africans to be manumitted by law in the United States, 64 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.
“The Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden,” one of Bagwell’s numerous completed works and works in progress, flowed from high recognition of her first public artwork, “The First Lady of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald.” The first public artwork of a contemporary African American in New York, the life-sized bronze sculpture of the music icon was commissioned by the City of Yonkers and was completed in 1996. It earned Bagwell a place in “Who’s Who in America for
Sculpture,” 2022–2024. In 2009, impressed by Bagwell’s work on the Fitzgerald likeness, Yonkers City Council Majority Leader Patricia McDow approached the artist at a Black History Month event in 2009, with the idea for the slave memorial.
By then, Bagwell had also completed her second public work, “Frederick Douglass Circle,” which was unveiled at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York, in 2008. The Douglass sculpture sits in the middle of an open plaza on
“People may approach him from every angle, so I wanted there to be something on the back of the chair. That was the first time that I tried using bas-relief techniques on the surface of the sculpture,” Bagwell recalls. “I liked it…. After that, I decided, ‘I’m going to make this my style.’ I’ve found it’s a really good way to tell stories, people respond to it, and not many
Auction,” The Rev. James Lawson Jr.
(bottom, left to right) Mary Burnett Talbert, Ella Fitzgerald, Sojourner Truth
Continued from page 25
Enduring Message
Vinnie Bagwell’s current projects include the creation of “Victory,” a 14-foot black angel to replace the sculpture of J. Marion Sims on Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street in Manhattan, outside Central Park; a 9-foot x 6-foot, 6-inch memorial to enslaved Africans titled, “The Breath of My Ancestors,” for the Henry Clay Plantation, in Lexington, Kentucky; a 6-foot, 6-inch monument to Black Civil War soldiers, for the Arkansas Central Library; a 7-foot Harriet Tubman for the Underground Railroad Heritage Museum in Niagara Falls, titled: “On the Road To Freedom: Harriet Tubman”; and a larger-than-life-size bust, “Frederick Douglass,” for the Cedar Hills George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC.
“These are human stories,” Bagwell says about her diverse oeuvre. “These are stories about resilience. These are stories about survival, struggle and achievement. (These) are the kinds of stories that inspire any and everyone. I don’t care how hard life is right now. You can survive adversity.”
“…This is why we make movies. This is why we make plays. This is why we do public art,” Bagwell
emphasizes. “You want to inspire people with other people’s stories.”
That purpose is reflected in her medium of choice, Bagwell says: “Art can convey what words cannot. I make art that speaks to the universal experiences of resilience and survival. Bronze is enduring, which enables those stories to be preserved.”
“Each sculpture, each story I immortalize, attempts to reflect our shared humanity,” Bagwell says.
Instructed to Serve
Bagwell continues to heed the charge she received as an undergraduate at Morgan.
“I was taught that we go to school so that we can serve our community, and that’s the purpose of my work,” the artist says. “I want to be remembered for making not just art but great art that served my community.”
And her commitment to service transcends the studio. She mentors other women in art, speaks regularly at K–12 schools and colleges in Westchester and was the guest speaker for the Parren J. MitchellBenjamin A. Quarles Black History Month Convocation at Morgan in 2023.
Art offers much more than a meaningful career for its practitioners and entertainment for its consumers, Bagwell emphasizes.
“Art can do more than just please the eye. It ignites discussions, challenges perceptions and inspires future generations,” the artist states. “As we forge ahead, we must harness the collective strength of our narratives and engage in the dialogues that truly matter. A brighter future is not just possible but achievable. And art is the compass that guides us towards it.” n
From “The Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden”: (left to right) Bibi, Sola & Olumide, Themba the Boatman
All photos courtesy of Dorinda Angelucci
Vinnie Bagwell and “The First Lady of Jazz: Ella Fitzgerald”
GROWING THE FUTURE OF FASHION
New Facility and Equipment Place Morgan at the High-Tech Vanguard
BY B. DENISE HAWKINS
s On a recent spring day inside the bright, modern and expansive fifth-floor learning labs, the whir of Juki industrial sewing machines and the buzz and churn of large pattern plotter printers fill the air, as students stitch, pin and hover with care over garments in the making.
Moving from a roomy cutting table to an ironing board, Alexander Edgecomb, a Morgan State University junior, spends several minutes pressing, with perfection, each leg of the men’s denim trousers he will assemble and sew.
“Creating clothes and designing are my passions. Being here at Morgan and having this opportunity to learn to create clothes and style others, and surround myself with peers who are doing the same thing, has been a blessing,” says Edgecomb, who is waiting eagerly to learn whether he will land a summer internship at one of the nearly dozen apparel companies he applied to, from the East Coast to the West Coast — including the owners of brands such as Balenciaga, Nike, Steve Madden and Baltimore’s Under Armour.
on page 28
3D BODY SCANNER
BODY SCAN MEASUREMENTS COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN
Photos below by B. Denise Hawkins
When he arrived at Morgan from his hometown, Washington, D.C., Edgecomb knew he wanted to “study fashion and learn to design clothes,” but finding the right degree program and opportunity at Morgan, he admits, “wasn’t easy at first. I had to ask around.” Edgecomb’s search led him to the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS), where he enrolled in the Fashion Merchandising Track. He expects to graduate in 2026.
Fashion Merchandising students earn bachelor’s degrees in FACS and graduate from Morgan prepared to enter careers in retail, wholesale and related fields, including buying, merchandising and marketing, says Jacqueline M. Holland, Ed.D., an associate professor and chair of FACS.
What’s in a Name
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, formerly the Department of Home Economics, was established at Morgan State College in 1939 and first accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 2020. The FACS Department enrolls 75 students, with most, 40, in Fashion Merchandising, adds Dr. Holland. The other 35 are in its General Family and Consumer Sciences Track.
Gone, says Holland, is “the little dark room” that for decades was the hub of Fashion Merchandising in the original Jenkins Building on the Academic Quad. The space was dotted with basic sewing machines “that needed to be tucked inside their cabinets at the end of the day, some mannequins, and a three-way mirror.”
Jacqueline M. Holland, Ed.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Family and Consumer Sciences at Morgan
Today, FACS has a stunning, new academic home on campus, inside the shared, six-story, 208,000-squarefoot Health and Human Services Center. The building, which still smells new in some places, opened in October 2024 on the bustling northeast corner of Argonne Drive and Hillen Road.
Cassandra Dickerson, Ph.D., a Fashion Merchandising lecturer at Morgan, hopes the new facility will serve as a calling card for students who want to pursue the fashion side of FACS while learning and creating with the fashion industry’s state-of-theart design equipment and software.
Whether in the General or Fashion Merchandising Track, FACS students take courses that prepare them for careers in the human sciences, focusing on the needs of individuals, families and communities where they serve. Often, graduates become FACS teachers in public schools across Maryland and the nation. But with a FACS degree, “Our graduates are well-rounded and able to do so many things in the world,” says Dickerson, who came to the department’s faculty in 2012 bearing costume design and wardrobe credits in the Spike Lee movies “Malcolm X” and “Get on the Bus.”
Kennedy Davis is a junior studying Fashion Merchandising. She first learned about FACS when she stumbled upon an old YouTube video posted by one of its 2014 graduates. At the time, Davis was a sophomore Business Administration major at Morgan. But after watching the video and exploring the FACS curriculum, she decided to pivot. Getting her mother’s buy-in on changing her major, Davis recalls, meant first explaining the department’s unfamiliar name: Family and Consumer Sciences.
Cassandra Dickerson, Ph.D., Fashion Merchandising Lecturer at Morgan
“When I told (my mother) FACS used to be called Home Economics, she said, ‘Oh, OK,’” Davis says. The name Home Economics resonated.
Miya Graham, a junior from Prince George’s County, Maryland, sounds seasoned and is certain about what inspires the fashionforward look she wants to create one day as a designer. Graham, a FACS student ambassador and president of Phi Upsilon Omicron, the family and consumer sciences honor society, draws on the genius of “Black creatives in fashion” — and on the past. “I take inspiration from 1930s Chanel and Dior and the 1990s when Karl Lagerfeld was really doing his thing with Chanel,” says Graham. “Each era is recycled and evolves.”
Now, in the classroom, she sits down to a Juki brand sewing machine, used by many in the apparel industry.
“It’s so important that Morgan is giving us access to these kinds of machines and other technology used in the fashion industry,” says Graham. “At Morgan, we’re getting a head start on our careers.”
In Morgan’s Fashion Merchandising Track, what’s learned in the classroom is only part of the picture. There are internships, industry collaborations and travel, among other forms of learning. “A promising partner,” says Dickerson, has been Baltimore’s Under Armour.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Dr. Holland, Dr. Dickerson and their students in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences,” says Adam Bayer, Under Armour’s senior director of Product Solutions & Athlete Intelligence.
“Our relationship with and support of Morgan State University goes beyond athletics,” Bayer adds. “We have proudly supported the program with career shadowing opportunities, equipment gifts, maintenance assistance, training in the sewing lab and by providing materials for design students to use in their projects. We look forward to continuing this partnership and exploring new ways to connect and collaborate.”
Fashion Meets Technology
As the afternoon sun beams through wide windows along the fifth- and sixth-floor corridors, Holland is proud and beams, too. “We have the best site view from
here,” she says, as she points south. In the distance, Baltimore’s downtown and skyline are in view.
And what she sees inside is “10 times the space that we had before,” says Holland of the sleek, airy FACS classrooms, offices, labs and other creative spaces. As her Fashion Merchandising students learn about things like millinery, apparel design, footwear, printing, textiles, manufacturing and the science of it all, fashion intersects with technology. As in industry, technology and state-of-the-art equipment are what Morgan students are using to ensure an apparel product’s best fit, quality, use, strength and feel — not just its good appearance.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, say industry leaders, there has been a significant increase in the use of technology among designers and merchandisers in the fashion world. And at Morgan, the Fashion Merchandising Track is keeping pace, says Dickerson, an expert in textile technology management.
Continued on page 30
Thomas Netterville, senior in Morgan’s FACS program
Kasaan Kirby, FACS junior (left), with Department Lecturer Najma Jamaludeen
Morgan students at FACS partner Under Armour in Baltimore
Equipment like this has made Morgan’s FACS Department one of the most advanced fashion design labs in the region.
Continued from page 29
Dickerson shows off an electronic yarn scanner, which is playing an increasingly important role in the fashion industry by improving quality control and streamlining production. Practically speaking, one way a designer can use the scanner is to make informed decisions about the strength, density and suitability of fabric and yarn to construct a garment worn by someone who may need the ease of accessible clothing, for example, or garments that are breathable and warm. In another lab, two long and large pattern plotter printers flank a wall. In the fashion industry, plotters are used to create designs, patterns and templates for clothing production. The Fashion Merchandising students are gaining experience using pattern plotters in Dickerson’s Flat Pattern class and for creating fashions for the upcoming Department fashion show.
But the quiet showstopper and centerpiece of the new fashion equipment in the department, a German-made, 3D body scanner, stands more than 7 feet tall in a clinical-looking room that adjoins one of the labs.
On this day, Dickerson programs the scanner from a desktop computer in the room. Davis, her student-model, is dressed in black footless leggings and a matching T-shirt and has her hair pulled up. Minutes after Davis steps inside and closes the scanner’s doors, Dickerson’s computer screen shows an exact three-dimensional avatar of the student, created using a combination of cameras positioned around Davis’ body.
High-tech body scanners like the one at Morgan hold the key to creating — and selling — bespoke apparel. This technology captures a person’s body type and more than two dozen measurements, which can be converted into a digital pattern that serves as a blueprint for a garment that will fit Davis
perfectly, says Dickerson. Having equipment like this has made Morgan’s FACS Department one of the most advanced fashion design labs in the region.
The opportunity the body scanner provides to collaborate with engineering, architecture, nursing and other departments is one of the reasons Holland is so excited about the future of FACS at Morgan.
“It’s about how we use our research in supporting individuals and families to successfully navigate life,” says Holland. “This is what propels our work in FACS.” n
Junior FACS major Janaya Hines (seated) with Geetika Jaiswal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of FACS
Student Success
THROUGH THE LENS OF AN ENGINEER
Emmanuel Durojaiye’s Journey From Freshman Explorer to Sports Media Trailblazer
BY DELL JACKSON
When Emmanuel Durojaiye stepped onto Morgan State University’s campus as a freshman, he had one goal: excel in engineering. But in his search to adjust to college life and explore something new, he stumbled upon a passion that would redefine his journey. Today, he’s a proud Morgan alumnus with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Like many other newly minted Morgan grads, Durojaiye had a path far from the norm — and his future is shaping to be no different.
Durojaiye pursued academics with discipline and rigor while also discovering a talent for sports photography and content creation. With a keen eye, and fueled by a relentless work ethic, he soon became a seminal figure transforming Morgan’s athletics coverage while earning national recognition.
From starting MSU Creatives, Morgan’s first-ever student-led content creator suite, to covering Major League Baseball’s HBCU Swingman Classic for Getty Images and participating in the Super Bowl LIX HBCU Experienceship, Durojaiye’s story is a testament to the power of curiosity, initiative and the courage to step into the unknown.
“I came to Morgan with the only goal of going to the engineering building, studying and sticking to that path,”
Durojaiye recalls. “But the beautiful thing about coming here is that there are so many opportunities just waiting to be tapped into.” INITIATIVE
Continued on page 32
“We’re a team of 30 creatives now. And what started as borrowing cameras has turned into something sustainable that will outlive my time at Morgan.”
— Emmanuel Durojaiye, Morgan Electrical Engineering Graduate, Class of 2025
Continued from page 31
Leap of Faith
His first encounter with sports media was purely incidental. While walking through Hill Field House, he noticed the sports marketing team recruiting students for game-day operations. Initially, the roles advertised were for fan engagement and logistics, but Durojaiye had something else in mind: “I had a creative passion for drawing and art that had fizzled out, and I was looking for something new to channel that into.”
That inquiry led him to Randolph (“Randy”) Brent, Morgan’s sole sports photographer at the time and now MEAC’s director of digital media. Brent, himself a 2020 engineering major, saw promise in the student.
Taking a leap of faith, Brent handed Durojaiye his old Canon T7 camera and encouraged him to experiment. “He told me, ‘Run around, figure it out, and we’ll see where it goes,’” Durojaiye recalls.
“He showed determination, professionalism and just the utmost respect for his craft. He knew that whatever he put his name on, he wanted it to (reflect) his high energy and character,” adds Brent.
That single act of mentorship sparked a journey that would take Durojaiye from being a curious novice tinkering with photography to leading an entire team of creatives dedicated to elevating Morgan State’s athletic storytelling.
What began as a three-person operation became MSU Creatives, a structured, student-led team
delivering photography, videography, social media and logistics services while providing hands-on experience to student creators.
“We’re a team of 30 creatives now,” Durojaiye says. “And what started as borrowing cameras has turned into something sustainable that will outlive my time at Morgan.”
High Recognition
Kenedi Canteen, a 2023 Morgan graduate and current Morgan MBA student who serves as Morgan Athletics’ director of marketing and fan engagement, witnessed the evolution.
“It is without a doubt that he leaves a memorable impression on the team,” Canteen says. “As he transitioned into a ‘director role,’ he had the opportunity to mentor younger members on the team (who) will continue to build.”
Durojaiye’s leadership earned him the 2025 President’s Second Mile Award for outstanding participation in student affairs. It was the perfect capstone to a college experience defined by impact, not titles.
It was this approach and its result that earned his work the attention of industry giants. Through the HBCU Photographer Mentorship Program, Getty Images selected Durojaiye to cover the 2024 HBCU Swingman Classic, held during the All-Star Game. With
Emmanuel Durojaiye/MSU Creatives
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Emmanuel Durojaiye/MSU Creatives
high-end gear in tow and full access, he documented the action with the same passion he brought to Morgan.
That opportunity opened even more doors. He was named an AT&T Rising Future Maker, an honor awarded to just 25 HBCU students nationwide.
“I’m grateful to be part of something that uplifts HBCU students and gives us access to professional development and resources that set us up for success,” he says.
Perhaps the most prestigious recognition came when he was selected for the Super Bowl LIX HBCU Experienceship, an exclusive program that immerses students in the behind-the-scenes operations of the biggest sporting event in the country. Durojaiye’s selection stemmed from a prior project with NBCU Academy, where his visual storytelling caught the attention of key decision-makers.
“Sandy Sharp, our program manager, saw potential in me and decided to invest in me,” Durojaiye explains. “She said, ‘There are a lot of people who say they’re ready, and then there are those who show themselves to be ready.’ That stuck with me.”
Tools for Success
Despite his meteoric rise in sports media, Durojaiye never lost touch with his engineering foundation. In fact, he credits it as essential, a perfect complement to photography.
“A skill that’s been very transferable from engineering to the creative side is the ability to analyze and process systems,” he says. “If you think about photography like a system, you have inputs, a process and an output. The camera is the system, I’m the user inputting settings and making creative decisions, and the output is the images that tell a story.”
This analytical approach also helped him thrive in case study competitions, designing campus engagement strategies for the University California, Davis, or creating visual campaigns for Under Armour. His mix of creativity and structured problem-solving set him apart from many peers.
Now enrolled at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, Durojaiye is pursuing a Master of Management (MM) degree. Even in grad school, his desire to give back hasn’t waned. He now mentors high school students in technology and engineering through the Apple Maker Academy Program.
As he reflects on his years at Morgan, Durojaiye has simple advice for future students.
“Get involved. Say yes. Try new things, whether you think you’re good at them or not,” he says. “I had no experience with a camera, and now I can confidently say I’m a sports photographer for Getty Images. That wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t take that first step.”
Beyond just personal growth, he emphasizes the importance of legacy building: “MSU Creatives is bigger than me now. It’s about creating opportunities for others, the way opportunities were created for me.”
With an engineering degree and a thriving creative career, Durojaiye enters the world with a unique edge.
“I (graduated) with two skill sets that will elevate me in any direction I choose,” he says. “I don’t know exactly where life will take me next, but I know that whatever it is, I have the tools to succeed.”
From curious freshman to nationally recognized sports photographer and MM candidate, Emmanuel Durojaiye is proof that taking a chance can open doors one never imagined. And for the next generation of Morgan students, he’s left more than a legacy; he’s left a blueprint: a blueprint for success. n
Super Bowl LIX HBCU Experienceship
Emmanuel Durojaiye/MSU Creatives
Research Spotlight
THE TINY TECH POWERING BIG DREAMS AT MORGAN
BY T. SHAWN TAYLOR
Conceptual rendering of Morgan’s future microelectronics lab “clean room.” Design and image courtesy of Hord Coplan Macht
It’s 6 a.m. Kristian Sellers is alone in the lab at Morgan State’s Center for Research and Education in Microelectronics. She comes early to set up her experiments then returns after 8 in the evening to resume taking measurements. In between, the returning, nontraditional student, a mother of two boys, aged 5 and 11, holds down a full load of classes. The flexibility is priceless, but so is the prospect of designing biomedical microelectronic devices aimed at eliminating health disparities in the African American community.
“Realizing that I could manipulate and design these devices based on teeny tiny particles controlled by physics led me to microelectronics,” says Sellers, a senior majoring in Electrical Engineering. “If you don’t have people in the room these issues would affect, a lot of the times, these issues get stuck under the rug and they are not factored into the design.”
Today’s “microelectronics revolution” has captured the fascination of individuals and industry alike. Prominent in the movement are students like Sellers and institutions like Morgan that are clamoring to the field, which involves the study, design and fabrication of the miniature circuits at the heart of many wondrous tools transforming industry and daily life. Personal computers, smartphones, industrial robots, MRI and CT scanners, smart home appliances, video games and advanced entertainment s
and safety features for autos are just a few of the countless products and processes made possible by the microchips and other components that make up the family of microelectronic devices.
Since opening in 2023, with the support of a $3.1-million annual allocation from the State of Maryland, the Center — located in the Mitchell Engineering Building of Morgan’s School of Engineering — has allowed Morgan students to examine numerous ways to apply microelectronics technology to improve lives, develop world-class products and solve complex problems.
Foundation for Research
“As we enter the Information Age, microelectronics becomes the building block of everything,” says Michael Spencer, Ph.D., director of the Center and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Now, with the construction of a 4,000-square-foot, stateof-the-art “clean room” set to begin in the fall, the Center is advancing the University’s strategic goal — strongly promoted by Morgan President David K. Wilson — of earning Carnegie’s esteemed R1 designation by 2030. R1 status applies to institutions that have achieved the highest level of research activity.
The room “will be a show piece, not just hidden behind some computer,” says M.V.S. Chandrashekhar, Ph.D., professor of Microelectronics in Morgan’s Department of Electrical and
Kristian Sellers, senior Electrical Engineering major
Computer Engineering. “It makes (the Center) physical and tangible.”
A clean room is a controlled environment designed to mitigate dust, hazardous gases, chemicals and microbes to protect the integrity of high-quality microelectronic components and semiconductors. Morgan’s clean room will have an estimated cost between $6 million and $8 million and will include a liquid nitrogen tank. The University has already secured $4 million of equipment.
Spencer explains that the clean room will also be the basis for facilitating interactions between Morgan and other research organizations. So far, the Center has led to what he describes as “wonderful interactions” between Morgan and Johns Hopkins University and the Army Research Laboratory. This advancement comes as the Center finalizes its partnership with the Smart USA Institute, a program of the Manufacturing USA network that focuses on advancing semiconductor manufacturing through digital twin technology.
The Center provides a foundation for microelectronics research at Morgan, as the United States, the original innovator of microelectronics, fights to regain ground lost to overseas competition in the 1990s.
“The whole ecosystem gradually shifted over time,” Spencer says. “Rather late in the day, we’re starting to reverse that trend. For many reasons — homeland security, defense, economic security — we’re trying to get it back. That’s the origin of the CHIPS Act.”
The CHIPS and Science Act, passed by Congress in 2022, provides $52.7 billion in funding to revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry to increase U.S. competitiveness in semiconductor research.
‘Powerful Synergy’
“As part of getting that back, we want to win the hearts and minds of young engineers,” Spencer says, adding that from
the point of view of workforce participation by people of color in the industry, it’s critical that HBCUs like Morgan have a leadership role.
“So not only do you create a research impact and workforce development, but you take part in the legacy of scientists and engineers who make contributions to the field, and you make sure that legacy includes people of color,” he says.
The State’s funding has enabled the Center to hire four new faculty members who lead a research cohort that includes two postdoctoral associates and 17 undergraduate and graduate students. Joshua Burrow, Ph.D., a Baltimore native and assistant professor in Morgan’s Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering, says the Center allows students to translate the theoretical concepts learned in the classroom into hands-on experience with state-of-the-art fabrication processes and characterization techniques.
“Morgan has a diverse campus, racially and ethnically and in terms of the background and expertise that lies within our faculty members in the Center,” Burrow says. “In order to do research in this field, we need people with different backgrounds, including engineering, physics, chemistry, material science and optics. Bringing everyone together creates a powerful synergy that positions Morgan to make a strong impact in innovation and scientific discovery.”
Baltimore native Monte Hendrix, an Air Force veteran and former helicopter mechanic who has spent a third of his career in the mental health field, says he wasn’t initially drawn to engineering. Now, he spends most of his time in the Center simulating devices to measure their performance and improve efficiencies.
“In 2023, I started thinking about the world at a molecular level, about particles and how they operate, and how we’ve been able to manipulate that knowledge to create the products around us,” says Hendrix, a senior majoring in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Computer Engineering. “It teeters between physics and engineering. That’s what piques my interest the most.”
Continued on page 36
Michael Spencer, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Microelectronics Center at Morgan Students and faculty converse in Morgan’s Center for Research and Education in Microelectronics.
M.V.S. Chandrashekhar, Ph.D., Professor of Microelectronics at Morgan
Continued from page 35
Broad Impact
Ph.D., Morgan Assistant Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering
Conducting research at the intersection of physics and engineering
When faculty members aren’t mentoring students, they are conducting a range of research experiments themselves, from building crystals, to making microchips for power electronics, to running clinical trials, to quantum computing and quantum sensing, which describes the utilization of quantum processes that are highly sensitive to their environment for sensitive measurement of physical parameters such as magnetic field intensity.
“For now, we’ve got our hands full,” Dr. Chandrashekhar says.
Because microelectronics is interdisciplinary, Morgan’s coursework draws heavily on the Chemistry program, the Ph.D. program in Electrical and Computer Engineering and the new doctoral physics program in Integrative Materials Science. Kishak Cinfwat, a doctoral candidate in Computer and Electrical Systems Engineering, from Nigeria, says his dissertation is primarily focused on modeling and simulation of nuclear batteries.
“Nuclear batteries have applications spanning health care, military and research. They tend to be very robust, and their operational life is roughly equal to the half-life of the nuclear material used. They are not affected by extreme temperatures like other batteries.” says Cinfwat, who plans to teach and continue researching after graduation.
Spencer stressed a Ph.D. isn’t needed to work in microelectronics. Morgan is working with Cornell University to develop certificate programs for community colleges that can be geared toward veterans who are leaving the service. He added Morgan is looking to create qualification programs and coursework so graduates can enter the workplace at the professional master’s level and at the bachelor’s level. Finding students won’t be difficult.
“Once you create an excitement around a research topic like this and provide them with the equipment, the students find you,” Spencer says. “That’s happening so fast and so much, it’s difficult to accommodate them all. I’m happy that Dr. Chandrashekhar and Dr. Burrow are here. It’s simply impossible for me to mentor the number of students who are interested.” n
Joshua Burrow,
Morgan’s Magnificent Marching Machine Is Headed to the Rose Parade
Help Us Make History — Again!
Give today at givetomorgan.org.
Morgan State University’s Magnificent Marching Machine has achieved another marquee milestone in band history. Fresh off an international performance in Italy during the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, your Magnificent Marching Machine now sets its sights on representing the National Treasure and the entire HBCU community on one of the world’s grandest stages: the 137th Tournament of Roses Parade, January 2026.
This marks the University’s first-ever appearance in America’s iconic New Year’s Day celebration, watched by 50 million viewers worldwide. Only an elite lineup of marching bands has stepped proudly down the Rose Parade’s famed Colorado Boulevard, but none like Morgan’s high-stepping marching brigade.
Join the Movement. Support the Band Fund Today!
The Rose Parade isn’t just any performance; it is an event! Opportunities like this are once-in-a-lifetime, but they require significant resources to get our students, instruments and program to Pasadena.
Every gift makes a difference. Your generosity ensures that the Magnificent Marching Machine will march proudly, drums beating and horns blazing, as a symbol of HBCU pride, Morgan excellence and Baltimore brilliance.
