For more than a decade, Morris Brown College has clung to life as it struggled academically and financially in the face of growing debt and dwindling supportNow, one of the country’s oldest black colleges, which at times boasted an enrollment of more than 3,000 student, is now down to about 50, and all but dead.
Morris Brown is facing foreclosure next month, after investors called $13 million worth of bonds tied to the college. An auction of assets, including the administration building, is scheduled for Sept. 4.
“This is heartbreaking and not only a sad day in the life of Morris Brown, but in black academia,” said former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman, a 1990 graduate of Morris Brown. “The school is needed now more than ever.”
The school is planning to have a prayer vigil on Saturday, where they will 0ffer a plan to move the school forward.
While not going into specifics, Benjamin Harrison, a spokesman for the 6th District African Methodist Episcopal Church, which oversees the school, said officials will talk about reorganizing and restructuring as well as finances.
Calls to Morris Brown President Stanley J. Pritchett were not returned Wednesday, but Harrison acknowledged that while efforts are being made to find money to settle the debt the going is tough.
“There is the need to raise millions of dollars to counteract that deficit,” Harrison said. “But if that money is not raised, the school is in jeopardy.”
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article courtesy of ajc.com
