Morehouse interim leader hopes to boost enrollment

Higher graduation rate, alumni engagement also part of his focus.

By Eric Stirgus

The man leading Morehouse College as it continues its search for a president can be direct. Its graduation rate is too low. So, too, is its enrollment. The college hasn’t done enough to engage its alumni.

Harold L. Martin Jr., the college’s interim president, is upfront in interviews, meetings with students and conversations with

potential donors. He’s also talking about, and eager to show, the ongoing work to make Morehouse better.

Martin is hoping to share a different story about Morehouse, the nation’s Historically Black College and University (HBCU) only for men, near downtown Atlanta. It’s attempting to turn the page from recent leadership discord and some alumni outrage.

One topic Martin won’t talk about publicly is whether he wants the job full time.

“My role is to lead, not to answer the question,” he said.

The college celebrated its 150th anniversary during the 2016-17 school year, but it was marked with strife and sadness. Student leaders felt they weren’t being included in important decisions. The faculty issued a no-confidence vote in its board chairman. The board eventually voted in April to remove its president and board leadership. Morehouse named William J. Taggart its interim president in April, but he died in his home in June at 55 from an aneurysm.

Martin, a 2002 Morehouse graduate, resigned his seat on Morehouse’s board and became interim president.

Martin calls it all a “wake-up call” for himself and alumni.

Martin and a team of veterans and some newcomers are all seemingly in on what he describes as a five-point plan to improve Morehouse.

The plan — an ambitious one — includes raising the four-year graduation rate in four years from

its current 40 percent to 60 percent, increasing enrollment from this semester’s 2,100 students to 2,500 next year, recruiting more students with strong sci- ence, technology, engineering and math skills, and boosting

alumni giving from its present 20 percent rate.

Morehouse will attempt to achieve those goals by more aggressively recruiting students in private and high-achieving schools, helping students faster when they’re struggling, making sure alumni tag along on recruiting trips, hiring more people to assist with financial aid, and sharing more information with alumni.

“We’re not articulating our value the way we should be,” Martin said.

Martin wants to bring successful alumni to campus, at two-week intervals, to teach. He also talks about creating signature aca-

HYOSUB SHIN PHOTOS / AJC Morehouse College interim president Harold L. Martin Jr. greets students and faculty members after he ate his lunch in the cafeteria of Morehouse College on Wednesday. Part of his plan includes raising the four-year graduation rate in four years from its current 40 percent to 60 percent and increasing enrollment from this semester’s 2,100 students to 2,500 next year.

Morehouse College interim president Harold L. Martin Jr., a 2002 Morehouse graduate, has a plan to bring successful alumni to campus, at two-week intervals, to teach. He would also like to increase alumni giving up from its present 20 percent rate.