As debaters from �ֲ���ý and Morehouse colleges made clear on MLK Day, discussing Martin Luther King’s dream raises more questions than it answers.

Debater Shannon Griffin ’16, left, listens to an objection Monday during the Reverend Benjamin Elijah Mays Debate between �ֲ���ý and Morehouse colleges in the Olin Arts Center. (Sarah Crosby/�ֲ���ý College)

“King didn’t want to change people, he wanted a better society,” said Morehouse sophomore Rami Blair, who went on to quote King’s own words: “The law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me.”

Representing the opposition, Blair and Morehouse junior Curtis O’Neal argued against the day’s motion: “This house believes King’s Dream is unattainable.”

Yet the core of the Jan. 20 debate was not so much whether King’s dream was unattainable, but what the dream was to begin with. The teams sparred over the definition of the dream and what King meant when he wished that his children “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The Morehouse debaters pointed out that King was, in Blair’s words, a “practical optimist,” not the radical idealist many perceive him to be. The dream was to create equality of opportunity under the law — not a color-blind utopia.

�ֲ���ý’ Brooks Quimby Debate Council team supported the motion, arguing that the oppression within U.S. education, economic and criminal justice systems makes true equality impossible.

Benjamin Elijah Mays ’20.

Represented by Stephanie Wesson ’14 of Mount Vernon, N.H., and Shannon Griffin ’16 of Philadelphia, the �ֲ���ý team maintained that the dream was an idealized vision of a U.S. in which race no longer matters.

The annual tradition of the Reverend Benjamin Elijah Mays Debate honors the man who is at the center of the historic friendship between �ֲ���ý and Morehouse.

Former captain of �ֲ���ý’ debate team, Mays ’20 became the president of Atlanta’s historically black Morehouse College in 1940. He was a national figure in the civil rights movement as a theorist and as spiritual adviser and friend to King, who graduated from Morehouse in 1948.

Jan Hovden, �ֲ���ý professor of rhetoric and director of debate, explained that the day’s motion was intentionally provocative in order to illustrate the power of “the spoken word above that of violent revolution.”

Professor Kenneth Newby, director of Morehouse’s forensics program, emphasized the importance of such cultural and intellectual exchange. “We consider �ֲ���ý College a true friend of Morehouse College.”

The debate was in keeping with themes presented by that morning’s keynote speaker Gary Younge. An award-winning journalist and author, Younge argued that King was far more complex and polarizing than history tends to remember.

Environmental policy expert Julian Agyeman delivers his keynote MLK Day address in the �ֲ���ý College Chapel. (Photographs by Phyllis Graber Jensen)

“Environmental quality and human equality are inextricably linked,” environmental policy expert Julian Agyeman stated in his keynote address for �ֲ���ý’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances Jan. 16.

“True environmental well-being will only exist when there is human well-being.”

Environmental justice, a human-centered approach to environmentalism, was the theme of 2012 King Day activities at �ֲ���ý. The �ֲ���ý organizers proceeded upon the premise that, had he lived, civil-rights icon King’s attention to environmental justice wouldn’t have stopped with the Memphis sanitation workers and their demands for equality.

�ֲ���ý and Morehouse debaters trade arguments before a packed Olin Arts Center Concert Hall audience.

As Agyeman and others made clear, environmental justice is no synonym for sustainability. Instead, it posits that true sustainability isn’t possible without human equality. The concept unified several days’ worth of events at �ֲ���ý, including a Friday evening performance by environmental justice activist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, a weekend environmental film festival, and on Monday, in addition to Agyeman’s keynote, a full slate of workshops exploring the concept.

The theme may have gotten its most spirited treatment Monday afternoon during the annual Rev. Benjamin Elijah Mays ’20 Debate, in which debaters from �ֲ���ý and Morehouse College, in a machine-gun battle of rhetoric before a packed Olin Concert Hall, explored the compatibility of environmental sustainability and social justice.

More about King Weekend events at �ֲ���ý:
Performances by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
The King Memorial Service
Video: Agyeman delivers King Memorial Service Homily
MLK Slide Show on Flickr

Interim President Nancy Cable, Dean of the Faculty Pamela Baker ’70 and King Day Committee chair Charles Nero, professor of rhetoric and African American studies, also spoke during Monday morning’s keynote gathering in a filled-to-capacity College Chapel.

Cable introduced Agyeman, professor and chair of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University, as “one of the world’s leading voices for environmental stewardship and justice.”

Agyeman started out by distinguishing between the sustainability and the environmental-justice movements. He characterized the former as focused on threats to the natural world, largely white and middle-class, deliberative and exclusive, in fact if not by design, because its privileging of expertise.

From left, Assistant Professor of African American and American Cultural Studies Myron Beasley and Professor of Spanish Balthazar Fra-Molinero discuss the MLK Day program while awaiting the keynote address.

Focusing on threats to human health and dignity, the latter is multicultural, disadvantaged, inclusive — and angry, as the poorest people continue to bear the brunt of environmental degradation.

The speaker plotted out a middle course between the two. The concept of “just sustainability,” which Agyeman originated with Robert D. Bullard and Bob Evans, calls for the establishment of a better quality of life for all, in a just and equitable manner, and respecting the limits of the ecosystems that support us.

He offered six examples of approaches to just sustainability:

• Urban design that fosters meaningful interaction between diverse cultural groups, as exemplified by the cities of London and Toronto. The field of urban planning, Agyeman said, does not now emphasize “cultural competence” — the understanding of diversity — in its education and practice. If our planners are not culturally competent, he asked, what hope is there for the creation of effectively intercultural cities?
• Enforceable levels of resource consumption that ensure a fair share for all — the tenet most likely to raise an outcry in the U.S., whose citizens represent only 4 percent of the world’s population but consume 25 percent of the world’s resources. “This is the most dangerous statistic on Earth,” said Agyeman. Unfair now, this disproportion will become a recipe for disaster as nations like China and India seek to emulate American standards of living.
• Basing the measurement of progress on factors like happiness and well-being, rather than economic metrics like gross national product. At the moment, he said, “we don’t measure what matters.”
• Promoting food justice and supporting urban agriculture.
• The sharing and co-production of resources and systems. Agyeman pointed to Zipcar, Wikipedia and other 21st-century phenomena as examples of facility and service models based on cooperation, collaboration and utility, which make efficient use of resources, rather than individual possession and entrepreneurship. “What we’re seeing is the beginning of a paradigm shift,” he said.
• Finally, “spatial justice,” which embraces such concepts as the equitable distribution of livable lands and the democratization of the streetscape.

“There’s always a social-justice element to sustainability questions,” Agyeman concluded. “To me, sustainable development and just sustainability mean using our unlimited mental resources, not our limited environmental resources.”

Baker used her time at the podium to review the promise and reality of �ֲ���ý egalitarianism, and outlined current initiatives in the vital work of improving diversity and access at the college. In outlining the history of �ֲ���ý’ King Day observances, Nero offered a shout-out to Sankofa, the student group whose Monday evening performance would be a highlight of the day.

Sankofa director Bethel Kifle ’14 acknowledges appreciation from the Schaeffer Theatre audience and production’s cast at the end of the evening’s performance.

And in her welcome to the throng, which included �ֲ���ý President-elect Clayton Spencer, Interim President Cable evoked the African philosophical concept of “ubuntu,” which she described as “the shared essence of our humanity,” or, in a translation by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, “I am what I am because of who we all are.”

Cable said, “We aren’t truly ourselves unless we are related to others.”

Here’s a detailed schedule of events for the 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances at �ֲ���ý College. All these events are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6400.

Sunday, Jan. 16

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial Service of Worship takes place at 7 p.m. Sunday in the �ֲ���ý College Chapel, 275 College St. The Rev. James Lawson, a definitive figure in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s, offers the sermon. Also featured is music by two student ensembles, the Gospelaires and the a cappella Crosstones, as well as a liturgical dance by the troupe Justified. To learn more, please call 207-786-8272.

Monday, Jan. 17

At 9:30 a.m., Lawson presents the first keynote address of the college’s MLK Day events in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. His topic: the continued importance of direct action and social justice in the 21st century.

In the first of two breakout sessions in Pettengill Hall (rooms TBA; 4 Andrews Road), starting at 11 a.m., members of the campus community discuss ideas presented in Lawson’s keynote address and plan for future activism.

Members of the debate teams from Morehouse and �ֲ���ý colleges, joined by local high school debaters, address the resolution that “Violence is a justified response to political oppression” in a debate at 1 p.m. in the Benjamin Mays Center, 95 Russell St.

For the second keynote address, Asher Kolieboi, LGBTQ community coordinator in the Multicultural Resource Center at Oberlin College, examines challenges for social activists in 21st-century American culture. He speaks at 2:30 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall.

Another round of breakout sessions pondering Kolieboi’s remarks begins at 3:30 p.m. in Pettengill Hall.

Exploration of the day’s theme concludes with a plenary discussion with Lawson and Kolieboi at 4:30 p.m. in Pettengill Hall (room TBA).

�ֲ���ý students present the performance Sankofa, a celebration of the African diasporic experience through theater, music, dance and spoken word, at 7:30 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Tuesday, Jan. 18

, the renowned actress, storyteller and social justice activist, offers a Noonday Concert Series performance in conjunction with the King Day observances at 12:30 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.

Thursday, Jan. 20

Vinie Burrows (see previous item) returns to perform her acclaimed solo show Walk Together Children, a chronicle of the African American experience, at 7 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. A question-and-answer session follows. Though this event is open to the public at no cost, tickets are required. For tickets and more information, please call 207-786-6161.

One of them described by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “the greatest teacher of nonviolence in America,” leaders representing two generations of social activism offer keynote addresses during the 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances at �ֲ���ý College on Monday, Jan. 17.

The college’s theme for its 2011 King Day programming is Get Up, Stand Up: The Fierce Urgency of Now. The speakers are , a definitive figure in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s, and Asher Kolieboi, co-director of an organization that works against campus violence toward members of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community.

All MLK Day events at �ֲ���ý are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6400.

.

“Our theme sets the title of a famous Bob Marley reggae song alongside a key phrase from Dr. King’s speech during the 1963 March on Washington,” explains MLK Committee co-chair Dale Chapman, assistant professor of music.

“We hope to emphasize how the urgency of our current local, national and global problems can be met only with an equally urgent call for debate and dialogue.”

Student members of the MLK Day Committee discuss this year’s theme and structure of the day.

Lawson speaks twice at �ֲ���ý. He offers the sermon for the college’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial Service of Worship at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, in the �ֲ���ý College Chapel, 275 College St. To learn more about this service, please call 207-786-8272.

At 9:30 a.m. the following day, he presents the first keynote address of the college’s MLK Day events in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. His topic: the continued importance of direct action and social justice in the 21st century.

Kolieboi provides the second Jan. 17 keynote at 2:30 p.m., also in the Olin auditorium. He’ll discuss challenges for social activists in contemporary American culture. Following each address, breakout sessions will afford an opportunity to discuss the speakers’ ideas and to consider future activism. These sessions, and a plenary session featuring Lawson and Kolieboi at 4:30 p.m., take place in Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road (Alumni Walk).

The day also includes a student debate at 1 p.m. and a 7:30 p.m. performance by students.

The speakers

A college with a commitment to equality and social justice rooted in its very founding, �ֲ���ý has long been distinctive in its observances of the King holiday. Regular classes are canceled and the entire campus turns its attention to issues around civil rights, social justice and King’s legacy.

This year, for the first time, �ֲ���ý presents two keynote speakers instead of one and streamlines its programming to focus on those speakers’ ideas.

“James and Asher will lead us in a daylong sustained dialogue about how �ֲ���ý, as stated in the college’s mission statement, might more fully engage in ‘responsible stewardship of the wider world,’ ” explains the Rev. Bill Blaine Wallace, the college’s multifaith chaplain and a member of the MLK Day Committee.

“James Lawson’s commitment to the philosophy and practice of nonviolence has not wavered over the course of 60 years,” he continues.

“And the principles and tactics of nonviolence, which he has taught tirelessly from the earliest days of the civil rights movement, have inspired the work and shaped the vision of Asher Kolieboi, co-director of the Equality Ride,” whose members deliver messages of acceptance and inclusion to colleges.

A Methodist preacher since his teens and a pacifist jailed for refusing military service during the Korean War, Lawson brought Gandhian principles of passive resistance to the civil rights movement in the 1950s. As a student at Vanderbilt University — from which he was expelled because of his activism, and to which he returned as a Distinguished University Professor — he trained the next generation of civil rights leaders, among them Diane Nash and John Lewis.

Kolieboi, named one of the “40 Under 40” outstanding figures in the gay community by the magazine The Advocate, is also LGBT community coordinator at the Multicultural Resource Center at Oberlin College.

Lawson speaks twice at �ֲ���ý. He offers the sermon for the college’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Memorial Service of Worship at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, in the �ֲ���ý College Chapel, 275 College St. To learn more about this service, please call 207-786-8272.

Watch a multimedia presentation about the 2010 MLK Day at �ֲ���ý.

Editorial assistants from the Communications and Media Relations office at �ֲ���ý covered a range of King Day events. Here are their reports. — Editor

Debate: ‘This house believes that religion is a necessary element of a just social change’

Students, faculty and community members braved the snow and packed into the Benjamin Mays Center as the debate teams of �ֲ���ý and Morehouse colleges gathered for their annual Martin Luther King Day contest. The resolution was “This house believes that religion is a necessary element of a just social change.” Moderated by Mircea Lupu ’11, Brooks Quimby debaters Ariela Silberstein ’10 and Colin Etnire ’12 represented the government, with Morehouse junior Matt Johnson and sophomore A.J. Smith in opposition. In a vigorous and skillful tug-of-war over what is necessary to achieve justice, arguments explored such concepts as religion’s capacity for shifting the moral focus of its practitioners and the idea that good will is not inherent in religious people. Midway through, the audience was invited to participate in floor speeches, and members of the �ֲ���ý community contributed beliefs, historical references and experiences regarding the resolution. But unlike most debates, this one had no winner: As director of debate Jan Hovden said, what’s far more important than deciding who is right and who is wrong is the opportunity to “meet at the intersection of social change and religion” and have a provocative conversation. (Naima Murphy ’10)

Workshop: ‘ “Aliens, Townies, and Terrorists”: The Politics of Representation on Halloween’

Students piled into a Pettengill classroom to gain perspective and share opinions about costumes, clothing, the meanings of dressing as self or other, and the often-mindless implications and assumptions that people display about race and identity through their apparel. Senior anthropology majors Julia Caffrey, Emily Chin, Nori Down, Katie Mack, Caitlin McKitrick, Lily Sullivan and Natalie Woolworth led this discussion focused on the complicated issues of context, intention vs. reception, and costume vs. clothing. The discussion began with a critical investigation of potentially offensive Halloween costumes (“Native American princess,” “terrorist” and “townie,” to name a few). The panelists invited the viewpoints of the attendees, withholding their own perspectives until the latter group had spoken. Down posed the thought-provoking question: “Whose right is it to decide if [a costume] is offensive or if it’s just a joke?” Another topic was the dilemma of deciding when the clothing of another culture is flattering and at what point it becomes offensive. Is it OK to transplant practices from one culture to another for the sake of art and entertainment? Although there were clearly many areas of disagreement, the panelists promoted politeness as a way to unite people in these difficult situations. Woolworth suggested that the most effective ways to address such issues and prevent offensive situations are to “talk about it before it happens” and try to better align our intentions and possible receptions before choosing an outfit. (Marielle Vigneau-Britt ’10)

Film: ‘Brother to Brother’

Writer, producer and director Rodney Evans was on hand to present his award-winning 2004 film “Brother to Brother.” The film follows the emotional journey of Perry, a young, gay black artist living in modern New York who learns about the hidden culture of gay and lesbian writers and poets during the Harlem Renaissance. Perry is based upon Evans’ own experiences, but also has a historical perspective. Perry befriends an elderly homeless man who turns out to be an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. This man, Bruce Nugent, teaches Perry about the difficulties confronting gays and lesbians during this time period — which haven’t changed much. Authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston are also depicted in the film’s flashbacks of Nugent’s young adulthood. The film, which took six years to make and combines a mix of filmic genres including historical footage, began with a short diary segment about Evans’ experiences as a black gay man in New York. Presented by professor Charles Nero, chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Committee at �ֲ���ý, Evans offered a short introduction and answered a few questions from an audience that filled Pettengill G21 to overflowing. The most interesting query, in the context of a day that examines inequality from all angles, involved the scarcity of films about lesbians relative to those about gay men. Evans replied that all women filmmakers find it harder than men to raise money, and for lesbians it’s even harder. (Brittney French ’11)

Workshop: ‘Something Sanctified: The Relationship of Black Sacred Music to Jazz’

The audience at Tom Hayward’s workshop could not sit still. The group in the Pettengill classroom, even the lecturer himself, couldn’t help but nod heads and tap feet to the music of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Charles Mingus and other jazz greats. A lecturer in classical and medieval studies and a reference librarian at �ֲ���ý, Hayward is also a passionate jazz aficionado whose MLK Day presentation showed connections between African American spirituals and the evolution of jazz. And Hayward looked directly to Martin Luther King Jr. with the Ellington tune “King Fit the Battle of Alabam.” Ellington adapted it from the gospel song “Joshua Fit the Battle [of Jericho],” changing the lyrics to honor King and the civil rights marchers of Birmingham, Ala. — a moving commemoration of this great leader. (Gabrielle Otto ’11)

Film: ‘Neighbor by Neighbor’

The day’s events included a look at the power of community organizing as the documentary “Neighbor by Neighbor: Mobilizing an Invisible Community in Lewiston” by ’05 was shown in the Olin Arts Center. The film emphasizes the need for just representation and community engagement in the civic arena, linking the social mobilization tactics of King’s era with contemporary concerns. The 90-minute film chronicles changes in a downtown neighborhood from 2003 to 2008 as residents, calling themselves the Visible Community, organized to resist a proposed urban renewal plan unveiled in June 2004. The city government proposed a new access road that would demolish a community garden and affordable housing for 850 residents. The film reminds us that the kinds of injustice King fought against are still a factor. Saddlemire hopes his film’s example of nonviolent activism at the local level will inspire awareness and political action nationally. “Community organization is the basis of everything,” he said in an interview.

“The more opportunities you give people to meet each other at eye level, share stories of struggle and develop empathy for one another, despite social and economic differences, the more people are willing to work for one another’s needs and interests.” A discussion with Saddlemire and members of the Visible Community followed the screening, with attendees inquiring about the organization’s growing interaction with local government, including the election of one member to the city council. As the session closed, the conversation with local residents flowed out into the Olin Arts Center corridors, carrying beyond the classroom the collaboration among citizens from varying class dynamics and levels of privilege. (Kelly Cox ’11)

Workshop: ‘Flannery O’Connor and the Matter of Race: Continuing the Conversation’

The age-old conflict between loving an artist’s work and deploring the artist’s attitude drove this workshop exploring one example of racial issues in literature. Though deploring O’Connor’s racism, Multifaith Chaplain William Blaine-Wallace and Eden Osucha, assistant professor of English, explained that they have nevertheless been deeply affected by the author’s writing. Reflecting the day’s unifying theme of faith and ethics in the public sphere, the session looked at the author’s strict Catholicism, her bigotry toward African Americans, and how these attitudes influenced her writing. Workshop attendees related their own O’Connor experiences, voicing varied interpretations of the author’s caricatures of African Americans. But Osucha noted that if reading the author’s often grotesque and inflammatory work is hard, its examination is important to continued progress in the dialogue on race. (Caty Green ’10)

Student arts and performance: ‘The Evening Program’

Every seat in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall was taken as student performances brought Martin Luther King Jr. Day to a close. Highlights of the nighttime talent showcase included the �ֲ���ý Gospelaires, a new gospel choir whose performance reflected the day’s theme, “Faith and Ethics in the Public Sphere”; and the �ֲ���ý Step Team, representing the African American dance genre that uses the whole body as percussion by stomping and clapping. The team asked what King’s dream meant to the audience, who responded with “power,” “hope,” “faith,” “integrity,” and finally a standing ovation. Other offerings included a scene from Martin Duberman’s play “In White America”; a variety of dance performances; a hip-hop/R&B performance on devastation caused by HIV in the black community; and the student band “The Hybrid Suns,” who played two original songs relevant to King’s legacy. The �ֲ���ý Students for Relief in Haiti also took up a collection. As baskets were passed and students reached for their wallets, Anthony Miller, a Morehouse College senior, gave a convincing reading of King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, bringing the crowd to its feet in thunderous applause. Outside the hall in the Olin lobby, junior Clyde Bango of Harare, Zimbabwe, showed portraits and sculpture that he created of King. (Becca Chacko ’10)

People like to believe that positive change just happens, Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis told the �ֲ���ý College Class of 2009 during its Commencement ceremony May 31.

But with so many aspects of our society, Davis said, “change must be firmly and continuously pushed in order to be effected.”

The actress was one of five figures prominent in their fields to receive honorary degrees in a morning ceremony on May 31. Joining Davis in addressing the 472 graduates and their families were the Rev. Robert M. Franklin Jr., president of Morehouse College; biomechanics researcher Mimi A.R. Koehl; Maine philanthropist and 1951 �ֲ���ý graduate Ralph T. Perry; and columnist and CNN host Fareed Zakaria.

There was a celebrity of sorts among the graduates, too. Fifty-five years after leaving �ֲ���ý to join the army, of Salem, Mass., was among the graduates receiving a �ֲ���ý diploma. Harris, 75, returned to �ֲ���ý to complete his degree and is the second-oldest person (after an 83-year-old graduate in 1931) to earn a bachelor’s degree from �ֲ���ý.

Reflecting the nation’s new political reality, the theme of change amidst trying times dominated the advice offered graduates during the two-hour ceremony on �ֲ���ý’ Historic Quad.

In her opening, �ֲ���ý President Elaine Tuttle Hansen recalled the historical context distinctive to the Class of 2009. While its members were arriving at �ֲ���ý amidst “sunshine and beginnings,” the Gulf Coast was reeling under the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. Four years later, the class began its senior year just as the subprime mortgage crisis touched off our current economic woes.

“�ֲ���ý people neither ignore nor dwell on the worst. They ask what they can do to make things better. You will confront difficulties by rising to the occasion and being the very best that you can be,” Hansen said.

Geena Davis, joking at the top of her speech that “hereafter, I’d like to be referred to as Dr. Davis,” deftly wove humor and a call to action together in her talk. She described the work she is doing, through the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, to research the disparities between Hollywood’s depictions of women and of men, especially in programming for children.

Looking more broadly at gender inequality in America, Davis noted that only 16 percent of the members of Congress are women, and if women supplant men at the current rate, it will take 500 years to even things up.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” Davis said. “I say that that’s too slow.”

A Maine businessman whose success engendered a remarkable record of philanthropy, of which �ֲ���ý has been a major beneficiary, Ralph Perry asked the graduates to consider the very notion of success.

Too often, he said, our society takes wealth, accolades and occupation as measures of success — but, he asked, “when we are near the end of life’s journey, will the greatest satisfaction be from the accumulation of wealth and honors, or will it be the memories of our good deeds?”

Perry, a retired president of Maine-based Progressive Distributors and senior vice president of Hannaford Bros. supermarkets, went on to offer some of his own measures of personal success — self-knowledge, habitually treating

others with dignity and respect, having high expectations of oneself and others.

As for the rewards of philanthropy, Perry concluded by sharing excerpts from letters he had received. One came from a student attending �ֲ���ý on a scholarship he endowed — a scholarship, she wrote, that has “launched [her] into a career at a college I have fallen in love with.”

Franklin prefaced his talk by reaffirming the long, strong relationship between �ֲ���ý and Morehouse. He said, “Morehouse thanks �ֲ���ý for our greatest president, and �ֲ���ý alumnus, Benjamin Elijah Mays,” a member of the �ֲ���ý Class of 1920 who drew to Morehouse students of the caliber of Martin Luther King Jr.

In essence, Franklin called his advice to the graduates “become, beware and be.”

“Become renaissance women and renaissance men, with social conscience and global perspective,” he urged. In a reference to Mahatma Gandhi, he told the graduates to beware of the deadly sins of modern life, such as commerce without morality and pleasure without conscience.

Finally, citing civil rights leader King, he told the graduates to be “transformed non-conformists” — the people who turn their differences with society into a different, and better, society.

Looking back at her own undergraduate conversion experience from an art to a science major, Koehl implored her

listeners not to fear crossing boundaries, in learning and in life. “Problems facing the world today are so complicated that it’s going to take people who can talk across boundaries and work across boundaries to solve them,” she said.

“You’ve learned how to learn here,” she said. “And my challenge to you today is: At the end of every day as you go forward from here, ask yourself, What did I learn today? And if you didn’t perceive enough to learn anything new, then live tomorrow differently.”

Zakaria told the graduates that “you are the change you seek. You are the agents of change in this world.” Pointing to the effective global response to the H1N1 virus, he reminded the gathering that while challenges are easy to predict, it’s much harder to predict “how the collective human response will change history.”

Zakaria was reluctant to suggest career fields to the graduates, he said. But, echoing Perry, “it is likely that human beings will be rewarded for the same qualities that have been rewarded for the past 5,000 years: intelligence, hard work, honesty, a sense of character, loyalty to your family and friends, love and faith,” he said. “Perhaps above all, love and faith.”

Drawing what appeared to be a substantially larger crowd than past years, the ceremony filled the leafy Historic Quad. As the occasional clouds gave way to brilliant sun, bursts of maple seeds glittered down onto the gathering like confetti.

Of the 472 seniors that �ֲ���ý graduated Sunday, 253 are women and 219 are men. Fifty-five graduates come from

Maine and 26 members of the class come from other countries.

Political science was the most popular major for members of the class of 2009, with 63 graduates. Second place went to psychology, with 57, followed by economics with 56. Thirty-five women and 21 men took double majors, with French and Spanish (tied for first place), economics and history being the most popular second majors.

Seventy-three members of the class of 2009 earned bachelor of science degrees, with the remaining 399 earning bachelor of arts degrees.

— Doug Hubley, Office of Communications and Media Relations

I must admit, I will miss many aspects of �ֲ���ý while away.

Top 5

5) International Dinner: A time when international students prepare meals for the entire campus community from their homeland. The food is delicious and learning about food from different cultures can be intellectually stimulating and of course nourishing!

4) Amandla!: The Black student organization typically conducts an annual symposium on a particular issue concerning people of African Descent.

3) The Society of African American Studies: This organization is a developing organization at �ֲ���ý. I serve as the moderator and upon my return to �ֲ���ý in the fall 2009, I plan to work with other students to initiate a campus newsletter that provide a forum for student of African Americans Studies to publish their work and the newsletter will promote events and achievements from faculty and students within the African American Studies program.

2) People: The warm hospitality of faculty, administrators and staff at �ֲ���ý who are always willing to make sure you are most comfortable academically and personally

1) MLK DAY: My most favorite time at �ֲ���ý. Honestly it is.This is when the entire campus community is invited to come out to participate in workshops, forums and performances celebrating the life of Dr. King.

Standing in awe over the news that Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States of America with students and President Robert M. Franklin of Morehouse College

From Anthony: Tuesday November 4th, 2008 will be a day I will never forget. That day I got up early to head over to Morehouse College’s Archer Hall to vote for the next President of the United States of America.

I stood in line for three hours. I was nervous. This was the first time I have ever voted and I had prayed that the person I had decided to vote for would win. I couldn’t believe that I casted my ballot for an African American candidate for president. I voted for Barack Obama, a Black man and a person I believe could lead our country in the right moral and social path for at least the next 4 yrs. Never in my lifetime could I have imagined a Black person having a legitimate chance of becoming President of the United States of America.

Later that evening, I gathered with students from around the Atlanta University Center to observe the 2008 presidential election results. There were watch parties at Clark Atlanta, Spelman and Morehouse. However, I viewed the election results with students from Morehouse in Fredrick Douglass Hall. Upon hearing the results that Barack Obama will become the 44^th President of the United States of America, myself and many other students at Morehouse moved into tears of joy, immense excitement, and pride. Each Black student stood in disbelief coupled with a personal story on how much this election meant to them. Students at Morehouse began to sing “Give me that OoooBAMA spirit” a remix version of one of Morehouse’s college hymms, “Ol Morehouse Spirit.” For this historical evening, I could have never dreamed a day when a Black man could receive so much support from so many races and earn the position of highest office in our country. This is truly amazing. I couldnt have asked for a better setting to have witness the results of the presidential election than Morehouse. I celebrated this election with socially conscious African American brothers who like me personally understood the deep meaning behind this election for people of African descent. Later into the evening, hundreds of emotional students filed the campus singing, dancing, praying, yelling, calling their parents/grandparents, and chatting on what this period in history meant to them. Sounds of the night included “I cant believe our President is Black”… “I love this country”… “Thank YOU LORD”…”He WON”…”WE WON”.

For me, this moment in history, proved to be the first time in my life that I had ever been so proud to be an American. As the President of Morehouse College, Dr. Robert Franklin, “Black people did not make this victory happen alone.” He reminded us that there was a collective effort among everyone from all racial, religious, social and economic backgrounds that made Obama’s victory possible. The implications of this election for Black males means that our nation will now have a national public symbol of a Black male who defies all stereotypes that have been traditionally linked to us. Moreover, with Obama’s victory I began to see the true possibilities for America.  I have always believed in the possibilities for America’s advancement, yet I can now confirm that here in America anything can happen.

Praise God!

Yours in the struggle, I am

Brother Phillips

As part of her pschology course, Lisa D'Oyen works at an HIV/AIDS awareness table in the college center at Spelman College, the historically black women's college in Atlanta.

Lisa D’Oyen ’09 of Kingston, Jamaica, holds her cell phone in one hand and two open boxes of Hostess crème-filled chocolate Zingers in the other. Standing beside a table lined with edible snacks, lubricated latex condoms, and fact cards, D’Oyen and her psychology classmates share information about HIV/AIDS with students heading to lunch. Their sound system broadcasts hip-hop as a Yale Divinity School recruiter also vies for student attention.

A standard Chase Hall tableau? Not today. This afternoon, D’Oyen stakes her ground in Manley College Center at Spelman College, the historically black women’s college in Atlanta, where she and Mbali Ndlovu ’09 of New York City are spending their fall semester.

Like any of the College’s myriad off-campus study offerings, the exchange program with Spelman and Morehouse hopes to offer students the right experience at the right time: during their junior year, when students are equipped to dig deeper into their intellectual, social, and emotional beings.

For D’Oyen and Ndlovu, part of this exploration will involve race, for at Spelman and Morehouse, the nation’s two premier historically black liberal arts colleges, “the courses and the context provide a sensitivity and awareness of racial issues that,” says Steve Sawyer, associate dean of students and director of off-campus study, “is impossible to replicate on a small New England campus — no matter how well-intentioned.”

Another overlay is gender. Spelman wants visiting students like D’Oyen and Ndlovu to leave the school with a “stronger sense of self, their place in the world, and what the Spelman ‘sisterhood’ is all about,” says Desiree Pedescleaux, who oversees the institution’s domestic exchange programs.

Ndlovu and D’Oyen get a sense of the sisterhood from “The Black Female Body in American Culture,” taught by M. Bahati Kuumba, associate professor of women’s studies. The professor discusses how the human body is a system of symbols and how, for black women in U.S. society, those symbols can suggest a political struggle.

After class, Ndlovu schedules an appointment with Kuumba, wanting the professor’s advice on designing a senior thesis topic for her �ֲ���ý majors in African American and women and gender studies.

Everything about the professor resonates with the two young women. “She’s an activist. She’s been out there. And she’s very political,” D’Oyen says. True, there are political activists on the �ֲ���ý faculty, she says, but at Spelman “we get the black perspective from black women. We can relate.”

“Like for the first time in my college career,” Ndlovu adds.

Mbali Ndlovu ’09 (left) and Lisa D’Oyen ’09, who studied at Spelman College during the fall, join Claudeny Obas ’09, who spent spring 2006 at Morehouse College, at the Benjamin E. Mays National Memorial at Morehouse. Mays graduated from �ֲ���ý in 1920.

One morning in late November, D’Oyen and Ndlovu head across the street to Morehouse to see the Benjamin E. Mays National Memorial. At once, the �ֲ���ý-Morehouse connection seems real, though they’d heard about it all fall. “Every Morehouse student we met automatically knew what �ֲ���ý was,” Ndlovu says.

At the monument, the women are joined by Claudeny Obas ’09 of New York City, who’s in Atlanta visiting friends he made while studying at Morehouse in 2006.

Obas, a veteran of mostly white educational environments, talks about what might be gained from a semester at Morehouse, particularly by someone who’s never been in a minority situation — racial, sexual, religious, or other: “an understanding of what it’s like not having as many people to lean on in terms of your peers, and [having to go] outside of your comfort zone just to make the effort to reach people.”

For Obas, the semester started with getting “stuck in a room for two hours learning the school song,” he recalls, but the indoctrination into the Morehouse mystique paid off. “I felt I was joining a long line of prestige,” he says. Obas’ semester at Morehouse deepened his understanding that he “works better” in the multifaceted social milieu of an urban college. “I’ve always known that, but it was made much more apparent to me at Morehouse.”

He experienced one particularly glittering facet of Morehouse life thanks to Roland Davis ’92, assistant dean of students at �ֲ���ý.

�ֲ���ý, Morehouse, Spelman

The connection between �ֲ���ý and the nation’s two premier historically black liberal arts colleges — Morehouse for men and Spelman for women — dates to 1940, the year Benjamin E. Mays ’20 began his 27-year Morehouse presidency.

The �ֲ���ý-Morehouse-Spelman Exchange Program was established in 1994, the centennial year of Mays’ birth. While the program has had modest student participation from both sides over the years, �ֲ���ý is now focusing greater attention on this and similar initiatives, part of redoubled efforts to incorporate a wider spectrum of people, perspectives, and disciplines within the �ֲ���ý experience.

Davis, whose father chairs the Morehouse board of trustees, said that if Obas was accepted for the Morehouse semester, Davis would get him tickets to the school’s “Candle in the Dark” gala.

And that February, Obas was indeed in black tie at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta to see famed photographer Gordon Parks and Tony Award–winner Geoffrey Holder receive their Candle awards for excellence in their fields. Obas also witnessed several Morehouse alums receive their “Bennie” awards for service, achievement, and trailblazing.

“It was quite the experience,” Obas says. [Slide show]

Photographs and text by Phyllis Graber Jensen