Join the Tom Joyner Foundation as we raise funds for deserving students at a different HBCU each month. (Blackamericaweb news)
JUNE 2005 HBCU COLLEGE OF THE MONTH
MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE
The Baptist Educational and Missionary Convention of South Carolina, composed of representatives from all the Black Baptist churches in the state, was chartered in 1877 “to promote the cause of Christ, especially in South Carolina by establishing a Theological and Literary Institute for the training of young men for the ministry, and also for the education of our sons and daughters.” It wasn’t until 1908, however, that the Convention was able to acquire a site in Sumter, South Carolina to establish a school, which it named in honor of the Rev. Frank Morris, a pioneer leader of the Rocky River Association. Thus began a heroic venture in higher education by a group of men and women less than half a century removed from the blight of slavery.
In 1911 the College received a certificate of incorporation from the state of South Carolina. Initially the institution provided schooling at the elementary, high school and college levels with the College curriculum including liberal arts programs, a program for the certification of teachers, and a theological program. In 1915 the first Bachelor of Arts degrees were awarded to two students.
In 1974 Dr. Luns C. Richardson became President and initiated the longest term of service of any of the College’s Presidents. During his tenure in 1978, Morris College achieved the goal of accreditation by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate degrees. In 1982 the College became a member of The College Fund/UNCF, the nation’s largest and most successful black fund-raising organization.
Accreditation and UNCF membership launched the College into an era of remarkable growth and development during the 1980's and 1990's. During this period, the College built or renovated more square feet of building space than had been established during the entire first seventy years of its history. Among the new facilities was a Learning Resources Center, a Fine Arts Center, a Human Development Center, a Chapel and Religious Center, the College’s first full-scale Student Center, and three new residence halls. Some of this new construction and renovation was a response to the terrible destruction that the College suffered in 1989 as a result of Hurricane Hugo. In spite of the widespread damage, the College was able to reopen within a few days; and all students were able to complete their work without a loss of credits.
The growth years of the 1980's and 1990's were also accompanied by the initiation of new academic programs including Broadcast Media, Christian Education, Criminal Justice, Pastoral Ministry, Recreation Administration, Sociology, Journalism, Business Administration, Health Science, and the initiation of an ROTC Program. In 1996 the College introduced a successful new program in Organizational Management which is offered during evening and weekend hours to older students with full-time jobs who wish to resume their earlier college careers and complete a college degree. The era of the 1990's was also marked by a substantial expansion of new technologies on the campus with the establishment or expansion of five computer laboratories and the capacity to allow every student to have access to the Internet.
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Saturday, June 25th 2005 at 9:27PM
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