For many years, the only news coming out of Morris Brown College in Atlanta was negative. The HBCU institution steadily lost students, staff, faculty, and accreditation over the past two decades. Today, however, all the news has been positive.  The college regained its accreditation in 2022 and recently had it extended through 2031. On Saturday (May 15) the college will hold commencement exercises for 93 students at Saint Phillips AME Church, 240 Candler Road. The students will receive degrees in Business, Psychology, Music, General Studies, Hospitality Management, Organizational Management and Leadership and Global Management and Applied Leadership.  Former Atlanta Falcons player and philanthropist Warrick Dunn is the scheduled Commencement speaker. Now a limited partner owner of the team, Dunn will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of his outstanding contributions to community service, philanthropy and leadership.  “These are truly exciting times at Morris Brown College,” said MBC President Dr. Kevin James. “We’re recognizing the anniversary of our 145th year while also celebrating both our reaffirmation of accreditation and our largest graduating class since our 2022 reaccreditation. This Restoration Class reflects a dedicated group of scholars who set their eyes on Morris Brown College and stayed committed all the way through.” Being a college president has long been a goal of his, James said. Once he got on that pathway, he heard about the opening at Morris Brown, sent in his resume to the AME Church, got an interview, and subsequently was hired. Although some of his peers questioned why he would want to take on the leadership of the troubled four-year liberal arts institution, he felt confident that he could turn MBC around. ‘I felt that I could do it. I believe that God sent me to do it, and here we are seven years later, and we have done it,” James said.  When James became president, enrollment at the college stood at 20 students. Seven years later, enrollment stands at 513, which he says is on track with their plan to increase enrollment. Before the busy graduation season began, James took some time to talk with The Atlanta Voice about some of the “exciting” changes that are occurring at the college. Below are edited comments from that conversation.  Atlanta Voice: What sets today’s Morris Brown apart from other HBCUs?  Kevin James: Now, everyone says they love their HBCU. I understand that, but I have never seen people give their lives to their college. When I came to Morris Brown, there were faculty and staff who literally were paying to keep the lights on. Now, when I first came to the school, I asked them to bring me all of the bills. They were seven paychecks behind. Many were alumni. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t work somewhere for free, no matter how much I loved it. What really sets Morris Brown apart is this culture of how we were founded – doing more with less, being resilient and not taking no for an answer. That culture has permeated for 145 years throughout every class. These relationships are not normal relationships with these people. What sets MBC  apart is the culture, the small family environment, the togetherness of what a Brownite really means, and getting a quality education with support that lasts a lifetime.   AV: What are some of the courses MBC offers that you feel will prepare students for the workforce in the 21st century?  KJ: Under the business discipline, we have some programs that only we are the only HBCU in Georgia to have a hospitality management degree. The Arthur Blank Family Foundation found our program interesting, and they donated $3 million for us to scale our hospitality program. We have a four-year degree program in hospitality. We want to be the premier HBCU for folks who want to work in restaurants, hotels, and other aspects of the hospitality industry.  Another unique program we have is e-sports. When I became president seven years ago, I kept hearing about e-sports. I had never heard of it before. E-sports stand for Electronic Sports, which has been around for decades. I just saw something recently that E-sports will become a trillion-dollar industry. So we put it under our business category. We want our students to learn about the business of gaming. The business of social media and streaming. The business of content creation. People aren’t buying cable anymore; they are streaming. We’ve also added a drone technology component to our esports program, where our students can become licensed certified drone pilots. That is a big industry. We offer psychology, several genres of music education, including church music and production. You know Morris Brown is known for music.  We have a competitive esports team that plays other colleges’ esports teams. We are very excited about that as well. If our students enter a tournament and the top prize is $1000, if the student wins, they get to keep 90 percent of that, and 10 percent goes back to support the program.  AV: Nowadays, it’s difficult for a working student or adult to go back to school at a four-year college to get a degree.  KJ: We found that not everyone, especially working adults don’t want to go to school for four years. They want to come and get a quick credential so they can go to work. What we did was create stackable credits. We have four certificate programs: Business Entrepreneurship, Nonprofit Management. Esports and Hospitality.  You can take 24 credits and go straight to work. When the Arthur Black Family Foundation was enamored of our one-year certificate, because they need people now. They don’t want to wait four years. With the stackable credits, you can take those eight credits and go straight to work, or you can continue into the bachelor’s program, and you don’t lose any time.  AV: In general, attendance at four-year liberal arts colleges is trending down (except for HBCUs). Why are they missing out with so many young people today? KJ: I am learning that a lot of students don’t have the social skills, the people skills, those skills that the Internet/social media has disrupted. For example, a lot of my fraternity brothers of 2025-26 don’t know how to sit and have a conversation with a stranger. They are uncomfortable with that. They are more comfortable sending a text. A lot of those things we took for granted when we were growing up, we considered normal. Many of these students not only in how they interact with each other, but they don’t know how to interact on the job, a handshake, walking into a room and not having the sense to say Good Morning or Good Afternoon or How are y’all doing or whatever greeting. A lot of our college students struggle with that.  AV: Looking down the road 5 to 10 years from now, what do you think we as African Americans need to prepare for now?  KJ: We have to get ready for these technology changes, i.e., AI, etc. Morris Brown is in the process of looking at what new program we are going to add within the next 12 to 15 months. The conversation is leaning towards we need to add an AI degree and some unique technology information field. There are so many changes happening that we really need to get ready for them.  (For more information about Morris Brown College: www.morrisbrown.edu.) The post The Future Is Looking Bright for Morris Brown College appeared first on The Atlanta Voice. ...read more read less