HBCU giant Morehouse College is pulling out all the stops to commemorate its 148th year of existence, education and enlightenment with a series of activities and appearances by dignitaries and celebrities who will help the school blow out its birthday candles.
Morehouse has enlisted the likes of Ivy League professor Dr. Cornel West, former NBA All-Star Grant Hill, Attorney General Eric Holder and actors Malinda Johnson and Darrin Henson to help the esteemed institution of higher learning to celebrate its annual’s Founder’s Week.
Founder’s Week activities include:
- Founder’s Day Convocation at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday, February 19 in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. The speaker is Dr. Cornel West, professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary.
- Also on Thursday, the College will host An Evening with the Ritz Chamber Players in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center. The theme for the evening is “Tragedy Toward Peace.” The concert is free and open to the public and begins at 8 p.m.
- The Founder’s Day Concert will feature the world-renowned Morehouse College Glee Club and will take place on Friday, February 20 in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at 8 p.m. There also will be a special selection by the AMPlify Young Men’s Ensemble.
- On Saturday, honorees for the “A Candle in the Dark” Gala come together for Reflections of Excellence, which is an opportunity for the public to hear from each of them about how they achieved their success. That event will take place in the Emma and Joe Adams Concert Hall in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at 11 a.m. on February 21 and will include Grant Hill and Eric Holder.
- Then that evening, the College will host the 27thannual “A Candle in the Dark” Gala at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. A little piece of Hollywood will be with us as the master and mistress of ceremonies will be actress Melinda Williams and actor Darrin Henson.
“A Candle in the Dark” Gala honorees are presented with either a Candle or Bennie award. Candle Award recipients are honored for excellence in a variety of fields, including athletics, business, education, entertainment, government, law, military service, religion and science and technology. The Bennie recipients are graduates of Morehouse who receive recognition in their areas of distinction. The award is named for noted educator Benjamin E. Mays, who served as president of Morehouse from 1940 to 1967. A full list of the honorees is below.
- The week concludes with a Founder’s Day Worship Service, which will take place on Sunday, February 22 at 11:00 a.m. in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. The guest preacher will be the Reverend Dr. Joe Samuel Ratliff, pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.