Morehouse College was founded in 1867 as the Augusta Institute in the basement of the Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia. The school’s original mission was to teach freed slaves to read and write. In 1879 the school relocated to Atlanta, changed its name to Atlanta Baptist Seminary and expanded its scope to prepare black men for careers in the ministry and in education. In 1894, the first college instruction was introduced and in 1897, after another name change, to Atlanta Baptist College, the first bachelor’s degree was granted In 1913 the school took its current name Morehouse College.

The college is a member of the United Negro College Fund and is one of three black institutions with a Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society chapter. As the only private, historically black, four-year, liberal arts college for men in the United States, Morehouse has an enrollment of 2,900 students from forty states and 12 foreign countries.

Morehouse provides excellent preparation for professions in business, dentistry, education, foreign service, law, medicine, and theology. There is a choice of 27 majors available to students, and the college’s outstanding faculty enjoys an encouraging ratio of one professor for every 17 students. Morehouse also offers majors in conjunction with other members of the Atlanta University Center, and with Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan.

As a result of the fine academic performances of its Students, Morehouse is consistently rated among the best colleges in the United States. The January 2003 issue of Black Enterprise magazine reported that Morehouse College was listed first in a ranking of the top 50 colleges and universities where African-Americans are most likely to succeed. The list and its ranking was developed by DayStar Research from responses made by 1,855 African-American professionals from membership lists of professional organizations, news reports, and other sources. The respondents were presidents, chancellors, provosts, deans, department chairpersons, admissions directors, college recruiters and counselors, etc. at 482 colleges and universities throughout the country. When the 95-member class of Rhodes scholars was released for 2002, Morehouse senior Christopher Elders’ name was on the list. The selection of Elders, a political science major, gave the college its second recipient of the $28,000 Scholarship in eight years. Mr. Elders was one of 32 Americans chosen from among 925 applicants to receive the prestigious academic award. Morehouse was the only historically black college and one of three liberal arts colleges to produce a Rhodes Scholar.

The home of the Journal of Negro History and the Morehouse Research Institute, the college is one of only four institutions in Georgia with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Morehouse leads all predominantly black institutions in the percentage of faculty with Ph.D.s, in the percentage of alumni who have become physicians, dentists, lawyers, college presidents, and Ph.D. recipients.

The Morehouse commitment to excellence is not limited to academics. The college has a storied athletics tradition and the exploits of its scholar athletes are well documented. Its varsity teams, the Maroon Tigers, compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, indoor track, outdoor track, and tennis. Morehouse holds membership in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Located only one mile from downtown Atlanta, the 61-acre Morehouse campus forms part of the Atlanta University Center, the largest private educational complex with a predominantly black enrollment in the world. Graced with a mixture of old and an increasing number of new buildings, including eight residence halls, a football stadium and track, a modern basketball arena that is a legacy of the 1996 Olympic Games, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapel, named in honor of the college’s most famous graduate, the Morehouse campus is a lively enclave in the southwest quadrant of Atlanta. Notable landmarks dot the college grounds among them the Howard Thurman Carillon, statues of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Benjamin E. Mays __president of Morehouse for twenty-seven years__ Graves Hall, a dormitory erected in 1889, which at one time served as the complete physical entity of the college, and is now listed in the National Register of Historic Buildings and Places.

University Quick Facts

LOCATION: Atlanta, GA
FOUNDED: 1867
ENROLLMENT: 2,900
NICKNAME: Maroon Tigers
BAND: The Marching Maroon tigers
COLORS: Maroon & White
WEB SITE: www.morehouse.edu
Athletics Website: www.morehouse.edu/athletics

Sports information:
SID Office Phone: (404) 222-2575
SID Home Phone:
SID Email: ydavis@morehouse.edu
SID Fax: (404) 521-9073

Press Box Phone: (404) 572-3659

Sport Information Director:
Yusuf Davis

President:
Dr. Robert Franklin

Athletics Director:
Andre’ Pattillo