Morris Brown College Surprises Benjamin E. Mays High School’s Class Of 2024 With College Acceptance
A bright future in education awaits the students of Benjamin E. Mays High School in southwest Atlanta, GA.
WABE, a local PBS station, reports that on Friday, April 19, 2024, the class of 2024, made up of 272 seniors, gathered for assembly and were surprised with a visit by Kevin James, the 19th president of Morris Brown College in Atlanta. James, who has maintained the post since 2020, per 11Alive, had good news for them.
He began by giving a brief history lesson on the college, which had lost its accreditation in 2002 due to challenges stemming from debt and financial mismanagement, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. Nearly two decades following the defeat, it had announced in 2021 that the college had regained its accreditation, becoming the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to do so.
“It’s so many HBCUs that have lost their accreditation that are still closed today,” James told the class of 2024, according to WABE. “That usually is a death sentence for an institution. Somehow, someway Morris Brown kept pushing on.”
He added, “When I started as president of Morris Brown five years I go… I felt like God sent me to do this life work… to restore Morris Brown College to its full restoration.”
Drawing parallels, James shared that he views Benjamin E. Mays as “a historic institution” in the same light as Morris Brown College with it serving as a center for Black education. Today, 98% of its senior class is composed of Black students. He then surprised students revealing that their class would all receive admission to the college.
The requirement to attend Morris Brown College will be to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average.
“You have to show satisfactory academic progress, which means you have to at least have a C average,” Morris Brown President Kevin James told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This was access, an opportunity moment for students, and I hope as many as possible will take advantage.”
He added, “I know they have a lot of options, but now Morris Brown is another option.”
