Morris Brown College

Establishment The Morris Brown Colored College (its original name) was founded on January 5, 1881, by African Americans affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church , the first independent black denomination in the United States. It was named to honor the denomination's second bishop, Morris Brown , originally from Charleston, South Carolina . After the end of the American Civil war, the AME Church sent numerous missionaries to the South to find new churches. They planted many new AME congregations in Georgia and other states, where hundreds of thousands of freedmen joined this independent black denomination. On January 5, 1881, the North Georgia Annual Conference of the AME Church passed a resolution to establish an educational institution in Atlanta for the moral, spiritual, and intellectual growth of Negro boys and girls. The school chartered and opened October 15, 1885, with 107 students and nine teachers. Morris Brown was the first educational institution in Georgia to be owned and operated entirely by African Americans. [ 6 ] By 1898 the school had 14 faculty, 422 students, and 18 graduates. [ 7 ] For more than a century, the college enrolled many students from poor backgrounds, large numbers of whom returned to their hometowns as teachers, as education was a mission of high priority. Fountain Hall , originally known as Stone Hall when occupied by Atlanta University , was completed in 1882. After Atlanta University consolidated its facilities, it leased the building to Morris Brown College, which renamed it as Fountain Hall. It is closely associated with the history of Morris Brown College and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark . [ 8 ] Morris Brown College's Herndon Stadium was the site of the field hockey competitions during the 1996 Summer Olympics . [ 9 ] The stadium is designed to seat 15,000 spectators. [ 3 ] In 1950, the President of Georgia Tech and civil rights lecturer Blake R Van Leer delivered the commencement address.

Van Leer would later be involved in a local battle against a racist Governor at the time. [ 10 ]

By the early 2000s, Morris Brown College had become heavily reliant on federal financial aid to sustain its enrollment of 2,500 students. Approximately $8 million in federal funds was disbursed to the college annually. To qualify for these funds, the college was obligated to accurately report student enrollment figures to the Department of Education . However, a fraudulent scheme was orchestrated by former president Dolores Cross and financial aid director Parvesh Singh. They knowingly falsified enrollment data, inflating the number of students receiving financial aid. The millions of dollars fraudulently obtained were diverted from designated student accounts to cover the college's escalating operational costs, including payroll expenses. The misuse of federal funds led to the revocation of the college's accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 2002. The loss of accreditation precipitated a financial crisis, ultimately forcing the college to the brink of closure. Cross and Singh were subsequently indicted, convicted, and sentenced for their roles in the scheme. Their actions inflicted substantial damage to the college's reputation and left a lasting impact on the institution and its students. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ]

Founders Wesley John Gaines Steward Wylie Principals Mary McGree, 1885–1886 Alice D. Carey, 1886–1887 E.W. Lee, 1887–1888 Presidents James Henderson, 1896–1904 J.S. Flipper, 1904–1908 E.W. Lee, 1908–1911 W.A. Fountain, 1911–1920 J.H. Lewis, 1920–1928 William A. Fountain, 1928–1950 Edward C. Mitchell (interim), 1950–1951 John H. Lewis, 1951–1958 Frank Cunningham, 1958–1965 John A. Middleton, 1965–1973 Robert Threatt, 1973–1984 Calvert H. Smith, 1984–1992 Gloria C. Anderson (interim), 1992–1993 Samuel D. Jolley, Jr., 1993–1998 Gloria C. Anderson (interim), 1998 Delores Cross, 1999–2002 Charles E. Taylor, 2002–2003 Samuel D. Jolley, Jr. 2004–2006 Stanley J. Pritchett, 2010–2018 Kevin E. James, 2019–present