Suggestion for Morris Brown

My local newspaper in central Georgia published an editorial speculating on Morris Brown College’s end as if this was something to be accepted with finality.

As the president of one of Georgia’s historically black colleges and universities and as someone devoted to the cause of minority education, these reports are sad and disturbing.

My wish, first and foremost, is for Morris Brown to continue an independent existence served by financial underpinnings that permit it to accomplish and surpass its traditional mission and goals.

But if this future is not to be, does it mean that Morris Brown College must cease to exist? I do not believe so.

The great John Hope speculated in 1904 that the future of all the schools of what became the Atlanta University consortium would require cooperation and change. He spoke about the need for “a better guarantee of progress and permanency” and dared to suggest that a happy future was not too “Utopian to forecast.”

Permit me to suggest a possibility that could guarantee Morris Brown’s progress and permanency, one that is not too Utopian to forecast.

Consider the incorporation of Morris Brown College into Fort Valley State University, my alma mater and the institution that I head.

This is not so wild a suggestion. Fort Valley for the past two years has evidenced its dynamism as the fastest-growing comprehensive university within the University System of Georgia.

A majority of our leading centers for student recruitment are high schools in the metro Atlanta area. To serve the growing need, an Atlanta recruitment office was established.

We also maintain many similarities and areas of common interest with Morris Brown. Both schools are rooted deeply in the late 19th-century yearning of black Americans for educational opportunities. Both committed themselves early to quality teacher education, keen athletic competition and community service.

Among many other things, both schools have offered a home to and benefited deeply from involvement by top academic and race leaders. Bishop Henry McNeal Turner touched Morris Brown meaningfully, as did Henry A. Hunt and Horace Mann Bond at Fort Valley.

Morris Brown traditions could survive and prosper as a college within Fort Valley, one that enjoys public support and stability as an integral part of a public HBCU. Meanwhile, Morris Brown College of FVSU could introduce within Atlanta’s diverse community and society the strength of public minority-based higher education coupled with a mentoring approach to learning.

Many questions obviously must be answered before such a union could occur. Approval of the Chancellor and Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia would be an essential prerequisite, as would agreement from the governor and Legislature.

Meanwhile, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Morris Brown trustees would face the question of contributing Morris Brown’s facilities to the university system. Not to be forgotten, the Atlanta business and philanthropic community would be asked to step forward to aid our enterprise.

Still, if our goal is to maintain and brighten the flame of learning lit at Morris Brown in 1881, then this possibility is worth exploring. At Fort Valley State we proudly proclaim our desire to provide “A Light for Your Path.” We can help to ensure that Morris Brown’s light continues to illuminate Atlanta and the nation.

It is not too Utopian a vision to forecast.

• Larry E. Rivers is president of Fort Valley State University.