August 26, 2025 ⢠38 mins
On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, sits down with Dr. Kevin James, the president responsible for the extraordinary resurgence of Morris Brown College. Dr. James shares the gripping story of how he led the Atlanta-based HBCU from bankruptcy and lost accreditation back to national recognition. From his audacious decision to pursue the presidency, to rallying alumni, partners like Arthur Blank, and the AME Church, Dr. James reveals the strategy and resilience behind the rebirth of this historic institution. He also dives into his philosophy of "no excuses," team-building insights, and why he believes preparation is the key to overcoming impossible challenges.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The day that we got a credit. I'll never forget
at April twenty six, twenty twenty two, when I sat
in the boardroom and told my faculty and staff that
we had been accredited. One of the most touching things
was one of my employees who had been there for
thirty five years. He just broke down crying because he
had seen it all. He stayed during bankruptcy, lost its retirement, everything.
(00:21):
He just broke down crying and just couldn't believe it.
And so just the most rewarding thing is that we
actually pulled it off.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Thank hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Butter I'm
the host, Brandon Butler found the CEO of Buttery Tail.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
And today we got somebody special in the building. Yes, sir,
we got somebody's.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Out here making things happen, you know, making change and
just doing some amazing working around Atlanta in the community
that missed the one the only Doctor Kevin James, Sir,
how are you doing.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm doing fine, man, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Man, Thank you for pulling up man. I know you're
busy man.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Yes, sir, hey man, I had to get here to
see you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Now now now, doctor James you were the president of
the illustrious Morris Brown College. Yes, sir, also a remember
the hundred black min Atlanta, you know, saying a shout
out to everybody.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Man, we really appreciate you pulling up. Man. You're doing
amazing work over there.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Thank you. Man. We're doing the best that we can.
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
We are now in the resurgence of the institution. I've
been the president six years and we're just trying to
do some great things to restore our Morris Brown College
Historical HBC you founded in eighteen eighty one.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Absolutely now for everybody, comes on. I like to do
something a little bit special.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
You know a lot of times people say, you know,
tell me about yourself and all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I like to ask chat cheap et ouh oh to
write a little short bio on my guests, and I
like to read it to them and say, this is
what it's said about you.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Oh man, I would love to hear it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And I just want to not want reading, and I
want you to know, is it on? Is it all three?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Even make a couple of phone calls. Get this tightened up? Okay, okay,
all right, So let's see. So doctor Kevin James is
an accomplished educator and transformative leader, best known for spearheading
the remarkable comeback of Morris Brown College Wow. Serving as
the institution's nineteenth president, he has successfully navigated Morris Brown
through a rigorous rebuilding and reaccreditation process during national recodition
(02:00):
for restoring one of Atlanta's most historic HBCUs to its
rightful prominence.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Under doctor james visionary leadership, Morris browne has significantly grown
its enrollment, revitalized student life, and attracted meaningful partnerships with
influential organizations such as the Arthur Blank Foundation, Chick fil A,
and renowned figures including bish of TD jakes. His mancha
for striving for the highest and his belief that there
are no excuses for success implify his hands on, solutions
(02:25):
focused approach to leadership and education. Doctor James remains committed
to empowering the next generation of leaders through education, community engagement,
and strategic collaboration. His work at the intersection of academia, culture,
and business continues to drive impact will change, making him
a respected voice in both higher education and community revitalization.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
That's what chat said about you. You know what's so interesting?
I love chat GBT.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I have never done that to myself, so I think
it was pretty accurate.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Man, that was amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Hey man, will you get it? It pulls they get it right.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Sometimes you get it right.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Sometimes, you know, it's always interesting when you got to
look it up and ask it. Man.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You know, the rebuilding, the resurgence, the comeback of Morris
Brown has been amazing. Yes, what's been the most fulfilling
part of that journey for you?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I think the most fulfilling component of me being the
president of Morris Brown was actually making the history of
us getting accredited again. When I became the president six
years ago, nobody and when I say nobody, I mean nobody,
nobody believed that what we were trying to do is possible.
I mean, if you think about it, twenty years had passed,
(03:28):
the loss of accreditation, thirty five million dollar bankruptcy, the
loss of students, the loss of our brand, the loss
of our reputation. And when I became the president, it
was eye opening to me because people they wouldn't even
they wouldn't take my meetings. They ay, man, get out
of here, you know. And so the day that we
got a credit I'll never forget it. April twenty six,
(03:49):
twenty twenty two, when I sat in the boardroom and
told my faculty and staff that we had been accredited.
One of the most touching things was one of my
employees who had been there for thirty five years.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
He just broke down crying because he had seen it all.
He stayed during bankruptcy, lost his retirement, everything. He just
broke down crying and just couldn't believe it. And so
just the most rewarding thing is that we actually pulled
it off. The second thing that I would say is
my first accredited graduating class. That was amazing because again,
(04:21):
twenty years had passed and here we got students walking
across stage with an accredited degree from Morris Brown College.
That was amazing as well. So it's just, you know,
humbling experience.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I am so grateful to God that he has allowed
me to be in this time, in this place and
be able to lend my leadership to lead Morris Brown College.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
For it, absolutely, and you're the person for it. But
I have a question, man, I just wonder about this.
How does one even get that kind of opportunity in
the first place. Like something tells me like this wasn't
listed on LinkedIn or glass like that.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
In December of twenty eighteen, I was at home watching
the news and I saw on the news president of
Morrisbrown College retires designs. I sat there for a few
moments and I literally out loud said wow, I wanted
to be the next president of Morris Brown College. I
went to the website, googled it. Job wasn't posted to
your point, wasn't posted, and I saw that Morris Brown
(05:12):
was affiliated with the Ame Church. So then I googled
Aamme Church and the sixth district of the Aame Church headquarters.
Phone number came up and it was at seven o'clock
at night. I called, and the way God set it up,
the chairman of the board of Morris Brown College.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
His assistant answered the phone. Wow, and I introduced myself.
You don't know me. My name is Kevin James.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I just saw your president retired resign from Morris Brown
and two complete strangers. We talked for forty five minutes
on the phone, and at the end of that conversation,
she said, send me your resume.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I'm going to put it directly in the chairman's hands.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
About a month later, I got an interview three interviews
later here, I am.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
That's amazing man.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So look, yeah, it really is just you know, making
opportunities right, because I don't think a lot of people
saw that and made that connection. I Yet, when you
saw something, you said, I'm going to go for it,
and like, you know, when you stepped into this role,
like what was your mind set around like rebuilding and reaccreditation,
Like you know, was there a moment when you knew
it was gonna work? With there moments where you didn't
think it was gonna work, Like how did you approach that?
Speaker 4 (06:07):
You know?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's interesting and this is an honest statement that I'm
about to make. I never doubted that we were going
to get accredited again. And people ask me all the time, well,
where did that come from? I don't know where that
came from. I went in and I'm gonna tell you,
I'm going to write my book right, And it's at
least fifty moments at least fifty where a common sense,
(06:29):
every day regular person would have quit on the spot,
and every single time I said no, we got to
overcome this obstacle. I didn't always know how we were
going to do it. But I just knew that there
were no excuses that we were going to get it done,
and so we went in. We were able to build
a team of phenomenal leaders, and in the beginning, folks
weren't even getting paid. I mean, that was one of
(06:52):
the craziest things that I saw when I went into
Morris Brown. When I first started at Morris Brown, three
major things. The first thing was we hadn't paid any
of our bisill we didn't have the money. We weren't
paying our bills. The second thing were the faculty and
staff or seven paychecks behind, but they were at.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Work, but they were showing up with a smile.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And then the third room, which was the biggest one
of all, we only had like seven hundred dollars to
our name. I literally had more money in my account
than Morsemroun College had.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
So yeah, it was. So it was really really a situation.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I was dealt the hand that most people would have
just said, no, I'm not even gonna try it. But again,
God placed something in me to say, let's go get
it done, and we did.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
What do you remember about like day one when you
first walked in that first time you walked in, the
first time you walked into your office, first time you
walked there, Like, how do you remember about that day?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Well, what I just mentioned, I said, those three things
they brought, and we hadn't paid our bills, stacked bills
this high again, we couldn't make payroll, and we didn't
have any money. I literally got up from my desk,
walked outside day one and I started walking around the
campus and I was talking out loud.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
To God and saying, what in the world did I
just walk into?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Because I know Morris Brown College had challenges, but I
didn't really know how bad it was until that very
first day. And so immediately we had to go to work.
Immediately had to go to work to figure out a
plan of restoring the institution.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
And I didn't have all the answers.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I just had a vision, I had ideas, and we
just set forth the mark and went ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Like, one of my favorite things is always kind of
tell people like, I'm definite in my vision, but I'm.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Usually flexible with the details.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, oh yeah, you know, cause you got again be
you gotta bendable things is going to happen.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
You got to kind of achieve.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
But like one of the things you talk about all
the time for your philosophy is, you know, striving for
the highest and there are no excuses, Like yeah, when
it comes to fixing.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Things like how did that play out? As you started
to help rebuild Morris Brown.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You know, when I was pledging the Omegasci Fi Fraternity Incorporated,
we had to learn this poem called no Excuses. And
I don't know what it is, but that poem was
was really drilled into my psyche of who I am
as a leader that if there's a will, there's a way,
there are no excuses. Figure it out, fix it, find
(09:03):
the answer, find the solution. And so that's how I
approached my leadership at Morrisbrown College, going in when they're
literally were no answers to many problems. I'll give one example.
When I first became president, maybe week two, I got
a phone call from Georgia Power, and Georgia Power's like, look,
(09:26):
we see y'all on the news and everything. You know,
new President Morris Brown. But you all, oh, what's four
hundred thousand dollars? We need you all to pay this money,
you know, if you want to keep the lights on.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Well, he didn't have four hundred thousand dollars? What are
you do in that situation?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I didn't really know what to do, but we figured
it out and we were able to come up with
a plan where.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
The lights never got cut off.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right, So you know those kind of examples of just
figuring out answers to problems. You know, my leadership style
is getting the best people around you who even if
it's tough, they're going to find a will make a
way and get the problem solved.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, what's your philosophy?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You know, even on team building, right, Like I think
a lot of times, you know, when you're the leadership positions,
I always say it's kind of about like editing the
team to make sure you have the right people around Yes,
people can you know, one of the things I always
tell my team is do only the things you can do? Yes,
because you can do a lot of things, but like,
what's that one thing that you're like really good at
to Like, how do you kind of approach building that
team to make sure you have the people that you
need on board with you.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
To kind of start going through this process.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Well, the first thing I had to do is I
had to get people who understood the hand that we
were dealt called Morris Brown College. You know, if you're
going to come in here and think that you know,
we're driving rolls Royce's around and you know we are
swimming in it, this is not the place for you.
So I had to find people who really were hungry
and had a desire of making.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
The history of restoring Morris Brown.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
That wasn't easy because again, most people would have quit
in the situations that we were in. You know, I'll
give one more example. Probably month three on the job,
we had a fire in our building where our building
was literally destroyed. Okay, we didn't have insurance to get
(11:10):
it fixed. So what are you do in that situation
where now all of your employees are displaced. Well, we
had to figure it out, right, And so people who
are understanding, hardworking people who understood the culture of Morris Brown,
understood the culture of HBCUs and not only that, really
boots on the ground type of individuals. I didn't need
(11:32):
anyone coming into Morris Brown's building who was not prepared
to pull up their sleeves, put down deep roots, and
really go to work. And so, again, building a group
of folks around me who had that kind of mindset.
It wasn't easy, but we were able to get it done.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Now, y'all had some significant contributions and support from organizations
like Arthur Blaine, yes you know, TD Jakes and lots
of other people Like what does that? First of all, like,
how do you how do you how do those kinds
of situations come about? Because again I thinkh people just
see the number, Like, first of all, how do you
create those relationships? You know, how do you get to
that point? But then also what does that mean? What
did that? What does that kind of support mean for
(12:19):
the school and the students?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Yes, well it means everything because these are reputable organizations
and companies and once they sign on, it brings more
trust and stability to who we said that we are
in our resurgence. You know, I mentioned at the beginning
of this interview that when I first started, no one
would take a meeting with me, no one would talk
(12:41):
to me. So I found out very early in my
presidency that I need to just pause from going to
major philanthropists and philanthropic organizations and corporations. It was two
organizations that I stopped, and I said, I need to
get these two groups to really believe again and to
pour into the institution. And those two groups are the
(13:04):
alumni and the AAMI Church that's home grown. And if
I can get our two home organizations groups to support us,
then I can go outside and get other support. So
the hard reset is what we called it. The hard
reset was really surrounded by the alumni and the Amy Church.
(13:29):
The resurgence and the hard reset was the first five years.
Now that we're in our second five years, the resurgence
is more of partnerships with outside organizations, continuing to work
with a course of alumni and Amy Church. But now
we can go to the tdjs of the world, the
Author Blanks of the world, the Coca Colas of the world,
you know, the home depots of the world where we
(13:50):
helped ourselves. I looked at it from a philosophy of
self help. First, let's pull our own selves up by
our own bootstraps and show the world first that we're
about business, that we have process and procedure, that we
are credited again. And then when folks see that, then
they're saying, you know what, We'll take a meeting with you.
(14:11):
Now you know the Arthur Blank relationship. It took me
five years to get that donation to us. But they
had been very receptive from the beginning, shortly after we
started the hard reset. But then you know, once they
saw that we were credited, that we were growing, that
we had process procedure or everything, you know, then they
came in to help us, you know.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
But it took time.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
And so you know, to all business folks, listening, it
starts with helping yourself first. It starts with showing that
you have your house in order first, and then you
can go out and partner with others.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Absolutely, No, I'm a big believer in that same thing,
instead of going around and starting with just asking, yeah,
you got to do the work first. Absolutely, And it
also it just gives you leverage too, right, Like it
shows people you're not just here to just ask, you're
actually willing to invest the time in yourself and in
your business and in just the organization to help make
that possible. I want to kind of unpack when you
said the first things you did was you went and
talked to the alumni in the A and ME church, Like,
(15:06):
what were those conversations?
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Like, Yeah, so I went into a listening campaign. So
one of the very first things that we did. We
went over to the gathering spot and we had an
alumni listening campaign. I gave a vision of what I
wanted to do as a new president of Morris Brown College,
and I literally opened up the floor for any questions.
You have to understand, I'm not on a love of
Morris Brown. I am not a and me and so
(15:29):
these folks had no idea who Kevin James was. And again,
twenty years has passed, so a lot of trust has
been lost. And so ah, man, they gave it to me. Man,
you know, how are you gonna do this? What about this?
How are we going to get a credit? It's been
twenty years. How are we gonna raise money? How are
we gonna you know? And I was able to articulate
a vision of Okay, the slow and the steady wins
(15:49):
a race. It's not gonna be an overnight solution. But
with your support and your love of your school, we
can work together to be able to restore Morris Brown.
Going to give an opportunity to get to know me,
to hear me, to learn my vision, to learn my
style of leadership, to kind of just listen and see
what kind of connections I have and kind of the
strategy around getting accredited again, and we were able to
(16:13):
do that and the alumni. You know, three reasons Morseround
is back today. Number one God, number two the Amy Church,
and number three the alumni period. Also those reasons are
the reasons, those three entities are the reasons why Morris
Brown never closed. And so we were able to do it.
But it wasn't easy. It took time, and it took
the development of.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Trust absolutely absolutely, now beyond financial contributions, like what does
the right kind of partner from Wrris Brown look like?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Now?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, Well, at the end of the day, what I
want is I want opportunities for my students. So every
partnership that we've been able to develop, it directly impacts students.
If it's internships, if it's scholarship dollars, if it's job
(17:00):
or if it's touching our academic program, our curriculums, something
like that, and so it usually is in one of
those veins of not all of those veins, right, And
so I just use one example, we're partner with Hilton
Hilton Hotels. Well, Morris Brown is the only HBCU in
a state of Georgia that has a degree in hospitality management,
(17:20):
so that partnership makes sense. That partnership directly impacts internships.
My students intern with Hilton Hotels. My students are able
to learn from some of the folks who work over
there teach for us, right, so they get to learn
hands on practical experience from experts who work in the field.
My students get job opportunities. Several of my students right
(17:44):
now are working at the Signia Hilton right there on
North Side Drive, right. And then of course the philanthropic support,
so we're working with different partners to get philanthropic support.
So you know, usually partnerships touches one of those veins,
if not all of them.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Absolutely, now one of the big things obviously, you know,
you can't have a can't have a school without students, absolutely,
and you know you're obviously looking to bring more students
in and kind of grow that back. Like what is
the pitch to students about why they should come the
Moris Brown now and be a part of what you
all the rebuilding.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Yes, well, let me first start by saying that when
I started six years ago, we had twenty students, Yeah,
twenty this fall, and I hope y'all got some clapping
thing over over there or something this fall. We're looking
at over five hundreds.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I'm clapping Brown. I'm playing Brown in the building.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
You know, that's historic. Absolutely, that's history, man. And we're
just getting started.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
You know, I talk to students all the time, you know,
at different career fairs, different places I go to speak.
You know, I have a phenomenal admissions team, and we
talk about the small classroom. We talk about the fact
that Morris Brown is a historic HBCU that specializes and
holding your hand, walking you through application all the way
(18:55):
to graduation. We specialize in making sure that you get
that hands on touch from everybody all the way from
the president's office all the way down to the janitor.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
We are a small institution of family culture within the
Ame Church family. Our institution has phenomenal academic programs against
small classes, phenomenal faculty. You know, almost one hundred percent
of my faculty have a PhD. Absolute, right, we have
the best faculty. Most of our faculty are practitioners, so
not only do they have the educational experience, but they
(19:26):
work in that field, you know, And so the students
are going to get a phenomenal education. They're going to
get a phenomenal experience. We are personally focused on each
in every student by name. You're not a number by name. Hey, Cedric,
how's class is going? When I see students in the
whole way, how are classes going?
Speaker 3 (19:46):
All right?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Tell me what's going on? What do you need you know? Oh,
doctor James, I need to meet with you. All right,
Let's meet tomorrow at three o'clock.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Boom.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
That's the kind of different kind of hands on experience
that we have at Morris around college. And not only that,
we're doing a great job of bringing back student life.
So this semester, Man, this spring semester, we went viral
almost every single week.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
We brought back.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Divine nine f attorneys and sororities.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
The q's are back on the yard, the Sigmas, the Deltas,
the zetas, you know, and students are really really living
it up man.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
So bringing back student life.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
You know, we have honor societies, we have the choir back,
and we're just continuing to build that student life experience
as well. So you know, Morris Brown is back, you know,
will it be Morris Brown nineteen ninety No, it's different.
Will it be mors bround two thousand. No, it's different,
but we are back historical HBCU. We are back the resurgence.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, you know, I spent some time the AUC and
kind of back in I'm gonna call it the heyday,
but definitely back in the late nineties, and I always
felt like just Morris Brown had a beautiful campus. There
was so much opportunity there, like it really again just
kind of comparing them to the other schools, right, like,
I always just love the campus and I love you
talking about like the student life, coming back, the yard,
coming back. Yes, I do got one question. This is
something I've always kind of personally wondered, Sure, what is
(20:58):
the goal and what is the vision with the stadium?
We all still have the stadium over there, because I've
been saying this for the longest time, and this is
my hope. I'm like, but if they don't say, if
they don't do anything with this, it just seems like
they'll be the perfect partnership with the.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Falcons or something like that. Oh yeah, man.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, So a lot of people don't know that Morris
Brown College we filed bankruptcy. I mentioned thirty five million
dollar bankruptcy we don't have the stadium anymore, actually lost it.
Clark Atlanta University now owns the stadium, and I've heard
conversation that that stadium may be transformed into affordable housing,
but I don't know all those details. But Morstown no
(21:34):
longer owns the stadium.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Okay, all right, Now, what is the future like with
all the growth you're having? And like if you had
to kind of like fast forward a little bit, let's say,
like five years in the future of everything happening, what
does Morris Brown look like in twenty thirty. Yes, Morris
Brown College is and will be a vibrant HBCU that
is focused on bringing students in and giving them all
the tools that they need to be able to go
(21:56):
out into this world and compete and not only compete,
but win and succeed. That is what Morris Brown College
will be. We will be a first choice institution for students.
We will be a choice for students who may not
think that they have the option or opportunity to go
to college. It's so many people alums who come to
(22:17):
me at homecoming in different places and say, doctor James
Morris Brown is the only school that would give me
an opportunity. And now I'm a lawyer, and no I'm
a doctor and now own my own business, and now
I'm doing great things in Atlanta, Georgia, this region, this
country right. And so Morris Brown College will continue to
be that safe haven for all hungry souls for students
to come and be educated. We anticipate, and we've identified
(22:40):
this in our brand new five year strategic plan, that
we want to double our enrollment.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
We're going to go from four hundred students to eight
hundred students over these next five years.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And when you think about the upcoming school, you're like,
what are you most excited about this fall?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Man, I'm excited about the numbers Morris Brown. I don't
think any one ever thought Morris Brown would ever see
five hundred students ever. Again, I'm excited about student life Already,
students are getting prepared for new student orientation, hosting different
fairs and different events and parties and all kinds of
different things. I'm just very, very excited to see all
(23:17):
of the new students that are coming. We've already broken
a record. Morris Brown already has over twelve hundred applications
for admissions. We never thought that we'd ever see that
kind of interest in Morris Brown College. Doesn't mean twelve
hundred students are coming to Morris Brown but have completed
a new application to say we're interested in learning more
about Morris Brown. You know that is historic in nature,
(23:39):
and so we're just excited about continuing to grow and
to research the institution.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
One thing, other thing I want to back to, I
don't think a lot of people fully understand the relationship
between Morris Brown and the AA and E Church. Just
for those that don't know, can you kind of explain
with that relationship with yes.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
So, in the late eighteen hundreds, a group of white
trustee members from Clark College approached the leadership of Big
Bethel Amy Church. Now that is very significant because Big
Bethel is a historic black church, and everything black in
the eighteen hundreds went through Big Bethel. As a matter
(24:27):
of fact, it had the nickname the Black City Hall
because that is where everything black went through Big Bethel
Amy Church. So these trustee members approached Big Bethel and said,
can we use your church for classroom space? And so
as they were sitting around the table, one of the
trustee members said, well, if we're gonna let Clark College
use our church for classroom space. Why can't we just
(24:51):
start our own college. Now, these are former slaves having
this conversation. Yeah, and the pastor of the church, his
name was Wesley John Gaines. He stood up and said,
with the help of God, we can start our own college.
And with the help of God, we will start our
own college. And so he went to the Aame Church
and said, we want to start a college in Atlanta
for the education of Negro boys and girls. Henceforth, the
(25:15):
Aame Church started Morris Brown College. Now, why is that
so unique? Morris Brown College is the only college, the
only school in Georgia that was actually founded, funded, owned
and operated by Black people for black people. So started
through the Aame Church. So we go all the way
(25:36):
back to eighteen to the basement of Big Bethel Aam
Church where we were founded.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
No, that's great, that's great, man.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
And now with everything you've been building, and what's been
the reception and the feedback from the alumni because you
said that was one of the big you know, like
with the alumni been saying about this oversears.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Again, a lot of people never thought that Morris Brown
would be back so the alumni are elated.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
The alumni have always continued to support Morris Brown. We
always had a homecoming every single year, even during the
unaccredited years, we always had a graduation. Even though school
wasn't accredited, every year we had a graduation. So the
alumni have had always stayed with the institution and they
have been so supportive. As a matter of fact, we
just broke a record this year. We hit our goal
(26:17):
of one million dollars in alumni giving, first time in Yeah,
first time in twenty years that we were able to
raise that much money through the alumni. So the alumni
have been great that continue to support their institution and
again they're part of this resurgence.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, and I mean again, like I think a lot
of people really got to understand too, Like, you know,
alumni are so important to schools, and you know, I'm
actually so I attended Georgia Southern University. I'm actually on
the foundation board. I'm one the trustees down there, and
so I go to the board meetings.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
I've seen it.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
And when you look at how those endowments are running operated,
I don't think people really fully understand how important it is,
not just to say you're an alumni, but to stay
active and engaged because they helped support the school in
so many different way.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Absolutely, it is absolutely imperative that alumni of all schools,
but it's specifically HBCUs that they support their institutions. Right now, nationwide,
the statistics show that only about thirteen percent of alumni
at HBCUs give back to the institutions. Well, we have
to change that. If our institutions have any hope to survive,
(27:18):
we have to give back to our institutions. And here's
the thing, even if you didn't go to a Black college,
is important for the black community to pour back into
these institutions. These institutions literally are responsible for the black
middle class. These institutions literally are responsible for opportunity for
so many black and brown folks who might not have
(27:41):
an opportunity to go to college elsewhere. These institutions only
account for three percent of all colleges and universities, but
yet graduate over twenty percent of all black bachelor degree holders.
Right black eighty percent of black judges went to HBCUs,
seventy percent of lawyers, fifty percent of all business owners,
(28:03):
and black teachers educated by HBCUs. If we don't take
care of us, why should anyone else take care of us?
So it's absolutely critical that a lums of HBCUs give
back to their institutions.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Well, no, it goes back to what you were saying
to them again, right, like the same way you all said,
we had to get our house in order first, Like
I be able to start looking for looking to ourselves
for that kind of help and support, because those are
the opportunities to where again if you're if we're supporting.
I mean, it's always good to have support from other
organizations and partners, right, but like we have to the
kind of say like put the mask on yourself first, right,
absolute you help the next person I says, we have
to do at our schools. Now, we're looking for partners now,
(28:39):
like obviously, because that's always going to be a part
of it. Like what do you want partners to know
about coming in and supporting Morris Brown? Like what are
they buying into? What are they supporting? What does their
support go towards.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
For the college.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
So when I partner with organizations, I mentioned that it
always touches students in some kind of way. So the
first thing that I do is I talk about the
history about Morris Brown, about our resurgence, the hard reset
to the resurgence. Just telling that story alone should excite
any philanthropists or any corporation because we're the first HBCU
(29:12):
to literally come back from death, to literally come back
after a nearly twenty year hiatus thirty five million dollars bankruptcy.
So just that story in itself should get people excited
about supporting our college. And then when you add on
the fact of our history of being the first and
only founded by black folk in the state former slaves,
(29:33):
that should excite you. When you talk about what this
institution has done for so many black and brown people
in the city of Atlanta, in the state of Georgia,
that should.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Get folks excited.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
And then when I tell the stories about how wonderful
our students are where they come from, their opportunity, that
gets folks excited as well. And so just telling those
three stories should get everyone excited in it. From the
success that we've had through partnership, it has gotten a
lot of people excited.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Now as you've gone through this process, again, there's been
ups and downs. I'm sure there's been challenges, but like
what if you learned about yourself as a leader through
this process.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I'm going to tell you the number one thing that
I have learned probably is resilience. Kevin, figure it out,
figure it out. There is an answer. If there's a will,
there's a way. I just recently did a TED talk
and the title of my TED talk was you must
be crazy. And I was talking about myself because when
(30:31):
I first became the president of Morris Brown, everyone told
me I was crazy. And so at the title of
my TED talk, I say, man, you got to be
crazy to do something of this magnitude. You have to
be crazy to do something when people said that, you
know it's impossible.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
You know, I tell this story all the time.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
I know what Noah felt like when he was building
arc and it was telling folks, hey, man, I got
to build this art because it's about to rain and
it had never rained before, and people are like, man,
you're crazy. I know what he felt like because that's
how people looked at me, and so you must be crazy.
So the number one thing I've learned is resilience, perseverance,
never giving up.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Man.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Look it sounds like I mean, no, Well, here's the thing.
Anytime you take on something that nobody's ever done before,
or just like get those kind of challenges, right, Like, yeah,
you do have to you have to have a little
bit crazy. I'm not going you gotta have a little
bit of You're gonna have a little bit of just thumb,
not even just crazy, but just you got to just understand,
like you got to see something that other people kind
of don't see.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
You have to be courageous, right, And it.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Seems like even when again, even the way you approach
that opportunity in the very beginning, seeing a new seeing
something on the news, looking up how to get in
contact with the school, making a phone call, like that's
just somebody that again they see something that other people
don't see, and you kind of see an opportunity of that.
But the thing about people that people need to understand
is the people that run towards those fires, right and
see those opportunities.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Yeah, there's there's something amazing on the other side of that.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Absolutely, and if you start to experience kind of just
the amazingness and again just just having the community come around,
seeing it come back to life, like I'm sure you
take a lot of pride in that.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Right, takes so much pride. I'm so proud. Man.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
One hundred years from now, they'll look back and they'll say, Hey,
that college, Morris Brown, that is so phenomenal. You know,
they lost their accreditation in two thousand and two, two
thousand and three, they went twenty years without accreditation, They
overcame bankruptcy, they overcame all of those things, and now
look at them now. I'm so proud. I'm so proud
(32:22):
of my team. I'm so proud to be a part
of it. And I'm just here to be used as
a tool.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Now, if anybody's listening and they're feeling inspired by this story,
they want support, like how can they support the college?
Like how can they contribute to the mission of morse
The first thing.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That I ask everyone to do is tell somebody, have
you heard about Morris Brown?
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Hey, man, you know Morris Brown, That that school from
the movie Drummond. You heard they lost their creditation?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Man, they got it back, man, first school to ever
do that, first HBCU to come back after twenty years.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Tell the story.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Help me literally be a walking billboard for Morris Brown College.
That's the first way that folks can help us. The
second way that folks can help us is financially right.
Go to our website Morris Brown dot edu, click on
that gift butt and give anything nothing too big, nothing
too small. We would appreciate your financial support absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
And for students that might be involved, like what does
it take for a student to actually go to college?
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Like what are you looking for us? For our students
that want to be at Wes Brown.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
So we're looking for students who want to better themselves.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
We're looking for students who have a desire of coming
to college, participate and have a great experience and of
giving all that you can regarding your academics. That's what
we're looking for, and we promise you if you have
that those basic things that our faculty and staff will
take you, hold your hand and pour into you and
give you everything that you need to succeed. We're looking
(33:42):
for students who are hungry, who are academically prepared, students
who really just want to come to college and get
a great education.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Now, one thing I always wonder about is say you
can always kind of connect the dots looking backwards. So
you know today in twenty twenty five, what would you
have told doctor Kevin jan back when he started at
the school knowing now what you know?
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Now?
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Oh my god, that's a great question. I don't know
the answer. What would I tell the younger president?
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Oh? I know the answer.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
One of the things that I still work on are
these politics. If you're going to be a college president
or a leader of a corporation or CEO or whatever,
you have to really really stay abreast of these politics.
You know, right now we have a new president and
it's a lot of things going on politically that have
(34:35):
negatively impacted HBCUs and Morris Brown College.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Right, I just use one example.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
If they cut pale grants, that affects everybody in high ed,
but it really affects black colleges because who are our students.
Many of our students are pale eligible, come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
So being able to navigate politically and really really studying
that are arena and being prepared to work in that arena.
(35:03):
I think the brand new twenty nineteen Kevin James as president.
I've learned so much over these last six years when
it comes to politics, and you know, just continuing to
improve in that area.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Absolutely with doctor James. Look, you've done amazing work. You know,
getting to school, like I said, through the rebuilding to
the resurgence, revitalization, and again, like I don't think people
really understand, to lose accreditation is a very big thing,
not just for the school but for the alumni that
have gone before. Absolutely and again it's one of the
most important things any kind of school has. And so
just going through that process and like pulling that school back,
(35:37):
like I said, from literally from death, from bankruptcy and
building something that's something you should obviously be so proud of. Yes,
I think it shows your character as an individual. I
think it shows your vision as a leader. And you know,
the school is lucky and blessed to have somebody like
you in there. So I just want to say, again,
as a person that's seen everything that's happened over there,
honor for you to kind of come in here and
honor for you to be a part of this and
(35:57):
kind of tell this story.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Last I got to ask you, is if there's.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
One thing, one piece of advice, one thing you just
want anybody that wants to do something amazing or you know, big,
to know, what advice would you just give to that person?
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Just feels like it's not possible.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Yes, preparation, preparation, preparation.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
You have to prepare yourself for whatever it is that
you're doing or want to do. I literally study every
single HBCU president. I literally have all of their pictures
on my in a database with their names, their titles,
what they did, what they do, some of their phenomenal
things that they've done, and I study them. And so
(36:40):
while I'm already in the position, I still continue to learn.
So I tell people to always prepare, prepare, prepare. And
also another piece of advice I get people learn from
the mistakes of others. You don't always have to touch
the fire to know it's hot. Let that other person
touch the fire and be like, oh man, that really
(37:01):
was hot, it wasn't and okay, I'm not going to
touch that fire. And so I've also really prepared myself
by learning from the mistakes.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Of other folks.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Absolutely well, doctor James, again, we're so hard to have
you on here. Congratulations on everything you've done at Morris Brown,
everything you'll continue to do.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Like I said, the students, the school, the alumni, all
those folks should be very honored and blessed to have
somebody like you a leader.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Like you in that place.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Thank you man, And you know.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
What that said? Y'all we out.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
That's the pod you've been listening to button Nomics and
I'm your host, Brandon Butler.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Send us an email today at hello at butternomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by
Casey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki. Music
provided by mister Hanky. If you haven't already, hit that
subscribe button and never missed an episode, and be sure
to follow us on all our social platforms at butter
dot atl Listen to better Nomics on the iHeartRadio app,
(37:53):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Hump Pump out
The day that we got a credit. I'll never forget
at April twenty six, twenty twenty two, when I sat
in the boardroom and told my faculty and staff that
we had been accredited. One of the most touching things
was one of my employees who had been there for
thirty five years. He just broke down crying because he
had seen it all. He stayed during bankruptcy, lost its retirement, everything.
(00:21):
He just broke down crying and just couldn't believe it.
And so just the most rewarding thing is that we
actually pulled it off.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Thank hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Butter I'm
the host, Brandon Butler found the CEO of Buttery Tail.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
And today we got somebody special in the building. Yes, sir,
we got somebody's.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Out here making things happen, you know, making change and
just doing some amazing working around Atlanta in the community
that missed the one the only Doctor Kevin James, Sir,
how are you doing.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
I'm doing fine, man, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Man, Thank you for pulling up man. I know you're
busy man.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Yes, sir, hey man, I had to get here to
see you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Now now now, doctor James you were the president of
the illustrious Morris Brown College. Yes, sir, also a remember
the hundred black min Atlanta, you know, saying a shout
out to everybody.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Man, we really appreciate you pulling up. Man. You're doing
amazing work over there.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Thank you. Man. We're doing the best that we can.
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
We are now in the resurgence of the institution. I've
been the president six years and we're just trying to
do some great things to restore our Morris Brown College
Historical HBC you founded in eighteen eighty one.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Absolutely now for everybody, comes on. I like to do
something a little bit special.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
You know a lot of times people say, you know,
tell me about yourself and all this stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I like to ask chat cheap et ouh oh to
write a little short bio on my guests, and I
like to read it to them and say, this is
what it's said about you.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Oh man, I would love to hear it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And I just want to not want reading, and I
want you to know, is it on? Is it all three?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Even make a couple of phone calls. Get this tightened up? Okay, okay,
all right, So let's see. So doctor Kevin James is
an accomplished educator and transformative leader, best known for spearheading
the remarkable comeback of Morris Brown College Wow. Serving as
the institution's nineteenth president, he has successfully navigated Morris Brown
through a rigorous rebuilding and reaccreditation process during national recodition
(02:00):
for restoring one of Atlanta's most historic HBCUs to its
rightful prominence.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Under doctor james visionary leadership, Morris browne has significantly grown
its enrollment, revitalized student life, and attracted meaningful partnerships with
influential organizations such as the Arthur Blank Foundation, Chick fil A,
and renowned figures including bish of TD jakes. His mancha
for striving for the highest and his belief that there
are no excuses for success implify his hands on, solutions
(02:25):
focused approach to leadership and education. Doctor James remains committed
to empowering the next generation of leaders through education, community engagement,
and strategic collaboration. His work at the intersection of academia, culture,
and business continues to drive impact will change, making him
a respected voice in both higher education and community revitalization.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
That's what chat said about you. You know what's so interesting?
I love chat GBT.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
I have never done that to myself, so I think
it was pretty accurate.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Man, that was amazing.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Hey man, will you get it? It pulls they get it right.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Sometimes you get it right.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Sometimes, you know, it's always interesting when you got to
look it up and ask it. Man.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You know, the rebuilding, the resurgence, the comeback of Morris
Brown has been amazing. Yes, what's been the most fulfilling
part of that journey for you?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
I think the most fulfilling component of me being the
president of Morris Brown was actually making the history of
us getting accredited again. When I became the president six
years ago, nobody and when I say nobody, I mean nobody,
nobody believed that what we were trying to do is possible.
I mean, if you think about it, twenty years had passed,
(03:28):
the loss of accreditation, thirty five million dollar bankruptcy, the
loss of students, the loss of our brand, the loss
of our reputation. And when I became the president, it
was eye opening to me because people they wouldn't even
they wouldn't take my meetings. They ay, man, get out
of here, you know. And so the day that we
got a credit I'll never forget it. April twenty six,
(03:49):
twenty twenty two, when I sat in the boardroom and
told my faculty and staff that we had been accredited.
One of the most touching things was one of my
employees who had been there for thirty five years.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
He just broke down crying because he had seen it all.
He stayed during bankruptcy, lost his retirement, everything. He just
broke down crying and just couldn't believe it. And so
just the most rewarding thing is that we actually pulled
it off. The second thing that I would say is
my first accredited graduating class. That was amazing because again,
(04:21):
twenty years had passed and here we got students walking
across stage with an accredited degree from Morris Brown College.
That was amazing as well. So it's just, you know,
humbling experience.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I am so grateful to God that he has allowed
me to be in this time, in this place and
be able to lend my leadership to lead Morris Brown College.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
For it, absolutely, and you're the person for it. But
I have a question, man, I just wonder about this.
How does one even get that kind of opportunity in
the first place. Like something tells me like this wasn't
listed on LinkedIn or glass like that.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
In December of twenty eighteen, I was at home watching
the news and I saw on the news president of
Morrisbrown College retires designs. I sat there for a few
moments and I literally out loud said wow, I wanted
to be the next president of Morris Brown College. I
went to the website, googled it. Job wasn't posted to
your point, wasn't posted, and I saw that Morris Brown
(05:12):
was affiliated with the Ame Church. So then I googled
Aamme Church and the sixth district of the Aame Church headquarters.
Phone number came up and it was at seven o'clock
at night. I called, and the way God set it up,
the chairman of the board of Morris Brown College.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
His assistant answered the phone. Wow, and I introduced myself.
You don't know me. My name is Kevin James.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
I just saw your president retired resign from Morris Brown
and two complete strangers. We talked for forty five minutes
on the phone, and at the end of that conversation,
she said, send me your resume.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I'm going to put it directly in the chairman's hands.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
About a month later, I got an interview three interviews
later here, I am.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
That's amazing man.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So look, yeah, it really is just you know, making
opportunities right, because I don't think a lot of people
saw that and made that connection. I Yet, when you
saw something, you said, I'm going to go for it,
and like, you know, when you stepped into this role,
like what was your mind set around like rebuilding and reaccreditation,
Like you know, was there a moment when you knew
it was gonna work? With there moments where you didn't
think it was gonna work, Like how did you approach that?
Speaker 4 (06:07):
You know?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
It's interesting and this is an honest statement that I'm
about to make. I never doubted that we were going
to get accredited again. And people ask me all the time, well,
where did that come from? I don't know where that
came from. I went in and I'm gonna tell you,
I'm going to write my book right, And it's at
least fifty moments at least fifty where a common sense,
(06:29):
every day regular person would have quit on the spot,
and every single time I said no, we got to
overcome this obstacle. I didn't always know how we were
going to do it. But I just knew that there
were no excuses that we were going to get it done,
and so we went in. We were able to build
a team of phenomenal leaders, and in the beginning, folks
weren't even getting paid. I mean, that was one of
(06:52):
the craziest things that I saw when I went into
Morris Brown. When I first started at Morris Brown, three
major things. The first thing was we hadn't paid any
of our bisill we didn't have the money. We weren't
paying our bills. The second thing were the faculty and
staff or seven paychecks behind, but they were at.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Work, but they were showing up with a smile.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And then the third room, which was the biggest one
of all, we only had like seven hundred dollars to
our name. I literally had more money in my account
than Morsemroun College had.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
So yeah, it was. So it was really really a situation.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I was dealt the hand that most people would have
just said, no, I'm not even gonna try it. But again,
God placed something in me to say, let's go get
it done, and we did.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
What do you remember about like day one when you
first walked in that first time you walked in, the
first time you walked into your office, first time you
walked there, Like, how do you remember about that day?
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Well, what I just mentioned, I said, those three things
they brought, and we hadn't paid our bills, stacked bills
this high again, we couldn't make payroll, and we didn't
have any money. I literally got up from my desk,
walked outside day one and I started walking around the
campus and I was talking out loud.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
To God and saying, what in the world did I
just walk into?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Because I know Morris Brown College had challenges, but I
didn't really know how bad it was until that very
first day. And so immediately we had to go to work.
Immediately had to go to work to figure out a
plan of restoring the institution.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
And I didn't have all the answers.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I just had a vision, I had ideas, and we
just set forth the mark and went ahead.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Like, one of my favorite things is always kind of
tell people like, I'm definite in my vision, but I'm.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Usually flexible with the details.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, oh yeah, you know, cause you got again be
you gotta bendable things is going to happen.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
You got to kind of achieve.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
But like one of the things you talk about all
the time for your philosophy is, you know, striving for
the highest and there are no excuses, Like yeah, when
it comes to fixing.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Things like how did that play out? As you started
to help rebuild Morris Brown.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
You know, when I was pledging the Omegasci Fi Fraternity Incorporated,
we had to learn this poem called no Excuses. And
I don't know what it is, but that poem was
was really drilled into my psyche of who I am
as a leader that if there's a will, there's a way,
there are no excuses. Figure it out, fix it, find
(09:03):
the answer, find the solution. And so that's how I
approached my leadership at Morrisbrown College, going in when they're
literally were no answers to many problems. I'll give one example.
When I first became president, maybe week two, I got
a phone call from Georgia Power, and Georgia Power's like, look,
(09:26):
we see y'all on the news and everything. You know,
new President Morris Brown. But you all, oh, what's four
hundred thousand dollars? We need you all to pay this money,
you know, if you want to keep the lights on.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Well, he didn't have four hundred thousand dollars? What are
you do in that situation?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
I didn't really know what to do, but we figured
it out and we were able to come up with
a plan where.
Speaker 4 (09:46):
The lights never got cut off.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right, So you know those kind of examples of just
figuring out answers to problems. You know, my leadership style
is getting the best people around you who even if
it's tough, they're going to find a will make a
way and get the problem solved.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, what's your philosophy?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
You know, even on team building, right, Like I think
a lot of times, you know, when you're the leadership positions,
I always say it's kind of about like editing the
team to make sure you have the right people around Yes,
people can you know, one of the things I always
tell my team is do only the things you can do? Yes,
because you can do a lot of things, but like,
what's that one thing that you're like really good at
to Like, how do you kind of approach building that
team to make sure you have the people that you
need on board with you.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
To kind of start going through this process.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Well, the first thing I had to do is I
had to get people who understood the hand that we
were dealt called Morris Brown College. You know, if you're
going to come in here and think that you know,
we're driving rolls Royce's around and you know we are
swimming in it, this is not the place for you.
So I had to find people who really were hungry
and had a desire of making.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
The history of restoring Morris Brown.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
That wasn't easy because again, most people would have quit
in the situations that we were in. You know, I'll
give one more example. Probably month three on the job,
we had a fire in our building where our building
was literally destroyed. Okay, we didn't have insurance to get
(11:10):
it fixed. So what are you do in that situation
where now all of your employees are displaced. Well, we
had to figure it out, right, And so people who
are understanding, hardworking people who understood the culture of Morris Brown,
understood the culture of HBCUs and not only that, really
boots on the ground type of individuals. I didn't need
(11:32):
anyone coming into Morris Brown's building who was not prepared
to pull up their sleeves, put down deep roots, and
really go to work. And so, again, building a group
of folks around me who had that kind of mindset.
It wasn't easy, but we were able to get it done.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Now, y'all had some significant contributions and support from organizations
like Arthur Blaine, yes you know, TD Jakes and lots
of other people Like what does that? First of all, like,
how do you how do you how do those kinds
of situations come about? Because again I thinkh people just
see the number, Like, first of all, how do you
create those relationships? You know, how do you get to
that point? But then also what does that mean? What
did that? What does that kind of support mean for
(12:19):
the school and the students?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Yes, well it means everything because these are reputable organizations
and companies and once they sign on, it brings more
trust and stability to who we said that we are
in our resurgence. You know, I mentioned at the beginning
of this interview that when I first started, no one
would take a meeting with me, no one would talk
(12:41):
to me. So I found out very early in my
presidency that I need to just pause from going to
major philanthropists and philanthropic organizations and corporations. It was two
organizations that I stopped, and I said, I need to
get these two groups to really believe again and to
pour into the institution. And those two groups are the
(13:04):
alumni and the AAMI Church that's home grown. And if
I can get our two home organizations groups to support us,
then I can go outside and get other support. So
the hard reset is what we called it. The hard
reset was really surrounded by the alumni and the Amy Church.
(13:29):
The resurgence and the hard reset was the first five years.
Now that we're in our second five years, the resurgence
is more of partnerships with outside organizations, continuing to work
with a course of alumni and Amy Church. But now
we can go to the tdjs of the world, the
Author Blanks of the world, the Coca Colas of the world,
you know, the home depots of the world where we
(13:50):
helped ourselves. I looked at it from a philosophy of
self help. First, let's pull our own selves up by
our own bootstraps and show the world first that we're
about business, that we have process and procedure, that we
are credited again. And then when folks see that, then
they're saying, you know what, We'll take a meeting with you.
(14:11):
Now you know the Arthur Blank relationship. It took me
five years to get that donation to us. But they
had been very receptive from the beginning, shortly after we
started the hard reset. But then you know, once they
saw that we were credited, that we were growing, that
we had process procedure or everything, you know, then they
came in to help us, you know.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
But it took time.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
And so you know, to all business folks, listening, it
starts with helping yourself first. It starts with showing that
you have your house in order first, and then you
can go out and partner with others.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Absolutely, No, I'm a big believer in that same thing,
instead of going around and starting with just asking, yeah,
you got to do the work first. Absolutely, And it
also it just gives you leverage too, right, Like it
shows people you're not just here to just ask, you're
actually willing to invest the time in yourself and in
your business and in just the organization to help make
that possible. I want to kind of unpack when you
said the first things you did was you went and
talked to the alumni in the A and ME church, Like,
(15:06):
what were those conversations?
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Like, Yeah, so I went into a listening campaign. So
one of the very first things that we did. We
went over to the gathering spot and we had an
alumni listening campaign. I gave a vision of what I
wanted to do as a new president of Morris Brown College,
and I literally opened up the floor for any questions.
You have to understand, I'm not on a love of
Morris Brown. I am not a and me and so
(15:29):
these folks had no idea who Kevin James was. And again,
twenty years has passed, so a lot of trust has
been lost. And so ah, man, they gave it to me. Man,
you know, how are you gonna do this? What about this?
How are we going to get a credit? It's been
twenty years. How are we gonna raise money? How are
we gonna you know? And I was able to articulate
a vision of Okay, the slow and the steady wins
(15:49):
a race. It's not gonna be an overnight solution. But
with your support and your love of your school, we
can work together to be able to restore Morris Brown.
Going to give an opportunity to get to know me,
to hear me, to learn my vision, to learn my
style of leadership, to kind of just listen and see
what kind of connections I have and kind of the
strategy around getting accredited again, and we were able to
(16:13):
do that and the alumni. You know, three reasons Morseround
is back today. Number one God, number two the Amy Church,
and number three the alumni period. Also those reasons are
the reasons, those three entities are the reasons why Morris
Brown never closed. And so we were able to do it.
But it wasn't easy. It took time, and it took
the development of.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Trust absolutely absolutely, now beyond financial contributions, like what does
the right kind of partner from Wrris Brown look like?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Now?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, Well, at the end of the day, what I
want is I want opportunities for my students. So every
partnership that we've been able to develop, it directly impacts students.
If it's internships, if it's scholarship dollars, if it's job
(17:00):
or if it's touching our academic program, our curriculums, something
like that, and so it usually is in one of
those veins of not all of those veins, right, And
so I just use one example, we're partner with Hilton
Hilton Hotels. Well, Morris Brown is the only HBCU in
a state of Georgia that has a degree in hospitality management,
(17:20):
so that partnership makes sense. That partnership directly impacts internships.
My students intern with Hilton Hotels. My students are able
to learn from some of the folks who work over
there teach for us, right, so they get to learn
hands on practical experience from experts who work in the field.
My students get job opportunities. Several of my students right
(17:44):
now are working at the Signia Hilton right there on
North Side Drive, right. And then of course the philanthropic support,
so we're working with different partners to get philanthropic support.
So you know, usually partnerships touches one of those veins,
if not all of them.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Absolutely, now one of the big things obviously, you know,
you can't have a can't have a school without students, absolutely,
and you know you're obviously looking to bring more students
in and kind of grow that back. Like what is
the pitch to students about why they should come the
Moris Brown now and be a part of what you
all the rebuilding.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Yes, well, let me first start by saying that when
I started six years ago, we had twenty students, Yeah,
twenty this fall, and I hope y'all got some clapping
thing over over there or something this fall. We're looking
at over five hundreds.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I'm clapping Brown. I'm playing Brown in the building.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
You know, that's historic. Absolutely, that's history, man. And we're
just getting started.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
You know, I talk to students all the time, you know,
at different career fairs, different places I go to speak.
You know, I have a phenomenal admissions team, and we
talk about the small classroom. We talk about the fact
that Morris Brown is a historic HBCU that specializes and
holding your hand, walking you through application all the way
(18:55):
to graduation. We specialize in making sure that you get
that hands on touch from everybody all the way from
the president's office all the way down to the janitor.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
We are a small institution of family culture within the
Ame Church family. Our institution has phenomenal academic programs against
small classes, phenomenal faculty. You know, almost one hundred percent
of my faculty have a PhD. Absolute, right, we have
the best faculty. Most of our faculty are practitioners, so
not only do they have the educational experience, but they
(19:26):
work in that field, you know, And so the students
are going to get a phenomenal education. They're going to
get a phenomenal experience. We are personally focused on each
in every student by name. You're not a number by name. Hey, Cedric,
how's class is going? When I see students in the
whole way, how are classes going?
Speaker 3 (19:46):
All right?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Tell me what's going on? What do you need you know? Oh,
doctor James, I need to meet with you. All right,
Let's meet tomorrow at three o'clock.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Boom.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
That's the kind of different kind of hands on experience
that we have at Morris around college. And not only that,
we're doing a great job of bringing back student life.
So this semester, Man, this spring semester, we went viral
almost every single week.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
We brought back.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Divine nine f attorneys and sororities.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
The q's are back on the yard, the Sigmas, the Deltas,
the zetas, you know, and students are really really living
it up man.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
So bringing back student life.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
You know, we have honor societies, we have the choir back,
and we're just continuing to build that student life experience
as well. So you know, Morris Brown is back, you know,
will it be Morris Brown nineteen ninety No, it's different.
Will it be mors bround two thousand. No, it's different,
but we are back historical HBCU. We are back the resurgence.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, you know, I spent some time the AUC and
kind of back in I'm gonna call it the heyday,
but definitely back in the late nineties, and I always
felt like just Morris Brown had a beautiful campus. There
was so much opportunity there, like it really again just
kind of comparing them to the other schools, right, like,
I always just love the campus and I love you
talking about like the student life, coming back, the yard,
coming back. Yes, I do got one question. This is
something I've always kind of personally wondered, Sure, what is
(20:58):
the goal and what is the vision with the stadium?
We all still have the stadium over there, because I've
been saying this for the longest time, and this is
my hope. I'm like, but if they don't say, if
they don't do anything with this, it just seems like
they'll be the perfect partnership with the.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Falcons or something like that. Oh yeah, man.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, So a lot of people don't know that Morris
Brown College we filed bankruptcy. I mentioned thirty five million
dollar bankruptcy we don't have the stadium anymore, actually lost it.
Clark Atlanta University now owns the stadium, and I've heard
conversation that that stadium may be transformed into affordable housing,
but I don't know all those details. But Morstown no
(21:34):
longer owns the stadium.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Okay, all right, Now, what is the future like with
all the growth you're having? And like if you had
to kind of like fast forward a little bit, let's say,
like five years in the future of everything happening, what
does Morris Brown look like in twenty thirty. Yes, Morris
Brown College is and will be a vibrant HBCU that
is focused on bringing students in and giving them all
the tools that they need to be able to go
(21:56):
out into this world and compete and not only compete,
but win and succeed. That is what Morris Brown College
will be. We will be a first choice institution for students.
We will be a choice for students who may not
think that they have the option or opportunity to go
to college. It's so many people alums who come to
(22:17):
me at homecoming in different places and say, doctor James
Morris Brown is the only school that would give me
an opportunity. And now I'm a lawyer, and no I'm
a doctor and now own my own business, and now
I'm doing great things in Atlanta, Georgia, this region, this
country right. And so Morris Brown College will continue to
be that safe haven for all hungry souls for students
to come and be educated. We anticipate, and we've identified
(22:40):
this in our brand new five year strategic plan, that
we want to double our enrollment.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
We're going to go from four hundred students to eight
hundred students over these next five years.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And when you think about the upcoming school, you're like,
what are you most excited about this fall?
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Man, I'm excited about the numbers Morris Brown. I don't
think any one ever thought Morris Brown would ever see
five hundred students ever. Again, I'm excited about student life Already,
students are getting prepared for new student orientation, hosting different
fairs and different events and parties and all kinds of
different things. I'm just very, very excited to see all
(23:17):
of the new students that are coming. We've already broken
a record. Morris Brown already has over twelve hundred applications
for admissions. We never thought that we'd ever see that
kind of interest in Morris Brown College. Doesn't mean twelve
hundred students are coming to Morris Brown but have completed
a new application to say we're interested in learning more
about Morris Brown. You know that is historic in nature,
(23:39):
and so we're just excited about continuing to grow and
to research the institution.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
One thing, other thing I want to back to, I
don't think a lot of people fully understand the relationship
between Morris Brown and the AA and E Church. Just
for those that don't know, can you kind of explain
with that relationship with yes.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
So, in the late eighteen hundreds, a group of white
trustee members from Clark College approached the leadership of Big
Bethel Amy Church. Now that is very significant because Big
Bethel is a historic black church, and everything black in
the eighteen hundreds went through Big Bethel. As a matter
(24:27):
of fact, it had the nickname the Black City Hall
because that is where everything black went through Big Bethel
Amy Church. So these trustee members approached Big Bethel and said,
can we use your church for classroom space? And so
as they were sitting around the table, one of the
trustee members said, well, if we're gonna let Clark College
use our church for classroom space. Why can't we just
(24:51):
start our own college. Now, these are former slaves having
this conversation. Yeah, and the pastor of the church, his
name was Wesley John Gaines. He stood up and said,
with the help of God, we can start our own college.
And with the help of God, we will start our
own college. And so he went to the Aame Church
and said, we want to start a college in Atlanta
for the education of Negro boys and girls. Henceforth, the
(25:15):
Aame Church started Morris Brown College. Now, why is that
so unique? Morris Brown College is the only college, the
only school in Georgia that was actually founded, funded, owned
and operated by Black people for black people. So started
through the Aame Church. So we go all the way
(25:36):
back to eighteen to the basement of Big Bethel Aam
Church where we were founded.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
No, that's great, that's great, man.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
And now with everything you've been building, and what's been
the reception and the feedback from the alumni because you
said that was one of the big you know, like
with the alumni been saying about this oversears.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Again, a lot of people never thought that Morris Brown
would be back so the alumni are elated.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
The alumni have always continued to support Morris Brown. We
always had a homecoming every single year, even during the
unaccredited years, we always had a graduation. Even though school
wasn't accredited, every year we had a graduation. So the
alumni have had always stayed with the institution and they
have been so supportive. As a matter of fact, we
just broke a record this year. We hit our goal
(26:17):
of one million dollars in alumni giving, first time in Yeah,
first time in twenty years that we were able to
raise that much money through the alumni. So the alumni
have been great that continue to support their institution and
again they're part of this resurgence.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Yeah, and I mean again, like I think a lot
of people really got to understand too, Like, you know,
alumni are so important to schools, and you know, I'm
actually so I attended Georgia Southern University. I'm actually on
the foundation board. I'm one the trustees down there, and
so I go to the board meetings.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
I've seen it.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
And when you look at how those endowments are running operated,
I don't think people really fully understand how important it is,
not just to say you're an alumni, but to stay
active and engaged because they helped support the school in
so many different way.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Absolutely, it is absolutely imperative that alumni of all schools,
but it's specifically HBCUs that they support their institutions. Right now, nationwide,
the statistics show that only about thirteen percent of alumni
at HBCUs give back to the institutions. Well, we have
to change that. If our institutions have any hope to survive,
(27:18):
we have to give back to our institutions. And here's
the thing, even if you didn't go to a Black college,
is important for the black community to pour back into
these institutions. These institutions literally are responsible for the black
middle class. These institutions literally are responsible for opportunity for
so many black and brown folks who might not have
(27:41):
an opportunity to go to college elsewhere. These institutions only
account for three percent of all colleges and universities, but
yet graduate over twenty percent of all black bachelor degree holders.
Right black eighty percent of black judges went to HBCUs,
seventy percent of lawyers, fifty percent of all business owners,
(28:03):
and black teachers educated by HBCUs. If we don't take
care of us, why should anyone else take care of us?
So it's absolutely critical that a lums of HBCUs give
back to their institutions.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Well, no, it goes back to what you were saying
to them again, right, like the same way you all said,
we had to get our house in order first, Like
I be able to start looking for looking to ourselves
for that kind of help and support, because those are
the opportunities to where again if you're if we're supporting.
I mean, it's always good to have support from other
organizations and partners, right, but like we have to the
kind of say like put the mask on yourself first, right,
absolute you help the next person I says, we have
to do at our schools. Now, we're looking for partners now,
(28:39):
like obviously, because that's always going to be a part
of it. Like what do you want partners to know
about coming in and supporting Morris Brown? Like what are
they buying into? What are they supporting? What does their
support go towards.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
For the college.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
So when I partner with organizations, I mentioned that it
always touches students in some kind of way. So the
first thing that I do is I talk about the
history about Morris Brown, about our resurgence, the hard reset
to the resurgence. Just telling that story alone should excite
any philanthropists or any corporation because we're the first HBCU
(29:12):
to literally come back from death, to literally come back
after a nearly twenty year hiatus thirty five million dollars bankruptcy.
So just that story in itself should get people excited
about supporting our college. And then when you add on
the fact of our history of being the first and
only founded by black folk in the state former slaves,
(29:33):
that should excite you. When you talk about what this
institution has done for so many black and brown people
in the city of Atlanta, in the state of Georgia,
that should.
Speaker 4 (29:42):
Get folks excited.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
And then when I tell the stories about how wonderful
our students are where they come from, their opportunity, that
gets folks excited as well. And so just telling those
three stories should get everyone excited in it. From the
success that we've had through partnership, it has gotten a
lot of people excited.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Now as you've gone through this process, again, there's been
ups and downs. I'm sure there's been challenges, but like
what if you learned about yourself as a leader through
this process.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
I'm going to tell you the number one thing that
I have learned probably is resilience. Kevin, figure it out,
figure it out. There is an answer. If there's a will,
there's a way. I just recently did a TED talk
and the title of my TED talk was you must
be crazy. And I was talking about myself because when
(30:31):
I first became the president of Morris Brown, everyone told
me I was crazy. And so at the title of
my TED talk, I say, man, you got to be
crazy to do something of this magnitude. You have to
be crazy to do something when people said that, you
know it's impossible.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
You know, I tell this story all the time.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
I know what Noah felt like when he was building
arc and it was telling folks, hey, man, I got
to build this art because it's about to rain and
it had never rained before, and people are like, man,
you're crazy. I know what he felt like because that's
how people looked at me, and so you must be crazy.
So the number one thing I've learned is resilience, perseverance,
never giving up.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Man.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Look it sounds like I mean, no, Well, here's the thing.
Anytime you take on something that nobody's ever done before,
or just like get those kind of challenges, right, Like, yeah,
you do have to you have to have a little
bit crazy. I'm not going you gotta have a little
bit of You're gonna have a little bit of just thumb,
not even just crazy, but just you got to just understand,
like you got to see something that other people kind
of don't see.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
You have to be courageous, right, And it.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Seems like even when again, even the way you approach
that opportunity in the very beginning, seeing a new seeing
something on the news, looking up how to get in
contact with the school, making a phone call, like that's
just somebody that again they see something that other people
don't see, and you kind of see an opportunity of that.
But the thing about people that people need to understand
is the people that run towards those fires, right and
see those opportunities.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
Yeah, there's there's something amazing on the other side of that.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Absolutely, and if you start to experience kind of just
the amazingness and again just just having the community come around,
seeing it come back to life, like I'm sure you
take a lot of pride in that.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
Right, takes so much pride. I'm so proud. Man.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
One hundred years from now, they'll look back and they'll say, Hey,
that college, Morris Brown, that is so phenomenal. You know,
they lost their accreditation in two thousand and two, two
thousand and three, they went twenty years without accreditation, They
overcame bankruptcy, they overcame all of those things, and now
look at them now. I'm so proud. I'm so proud
(32:22):
of my team. I'm so proud to be a part
of it. And I'm just here to be used as
a tool.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
Now, if anybody's listening and they're feeling inspired by this story,
they want support, like how can they support the college?
Like how can they contribute to the mission of morse
The first thing.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That I ask everyone to do is tell somebody, have
you heard about Morris Brown?
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Hey, man, you know Morris Brown, That that school from
the movie Drummond. You heard they lost their creditation?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Man, they got it back, man, first school to ever
do that, first HBCU to come back after twenty years.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Tell the story.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
Help me literally be a walking billboard for Morris Brown College.
That's the first way that folks can help us. The
second way that folks can help us is financially right.
Go to our website Morris Brown dot edu, click on
that gift butt and give anything nothing too big, nothing
too small. We would appreciate your financial support absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
And for students that might be involved, like what does
it take for a student to actually go to college?
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Like what are you looking for us? For our students
that want to be at Wes Brown.
Speaker 4 (33:18):
So we're looking for students who want to better themselves.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
We're looking for students who have a desire of coming
to college, participate and have a great experience and of
giving all that you can regarding your academics. That's what
we're looking for, and we promise you if you have
that those basic things that our faculty and staff will
take you, hold your hand and pour into you and
give you everything that you need to succeed. We're looking
(33:42):
for students who are hungry, who are academically prepared, students
who really just want to come to college and get
a great education.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Now, one thing I always wonder about is say you
can always kind of connect the dots looking backwards. So
you know today in twenty twenty five, what would you
have told doctor Kevin jan back when he started at
the school knowing now what you know?
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Now?
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Oh my god, that's a great question. I don't know
the answer. What would I tell the younger president?
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Oh? I know the answer.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
One of the things that I still work on are
these politics. If you're going to be a college president
or a leader of a corporation or CEO or whatever,
you have to really really stay abreast of these politics.
You know, right now we have a new president and
it's a lot of things going on politically that have
(34:35):
negatively impacted HBCUs and Morris Brown College.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Right, I just use one example.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
If they cut pale grants, that affects everybody in high ed,
but it really affects black colleges because who are our students.
Many of our students are pale eligible, come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
So being able to navigate politically and really really studying
that are arena and being prepared to work in that arena.
(35:03):
I think the brand new twenty nineteen Kevin James as president.
I've learned so much over these last six years when
it comes to politics, and you know, just continuing to
improve in that area.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Absolutely with doctor James. Look, you've done amazing work. You know,
getting to school, like I said, through the rebuilding to
the resurgence, revitalization, and again, like I don't think people
really understand, to lose accreditation is a very big thing,
not just for the school but for the alumni that
have gone before. Absolutely and again it's one of the
most important things any kind of school has. And so
just going through that process and like pulling that school back,
(35:37):
like I said, from literally from death, from bankruptcy and
building something that's something you should obviously be so proud of. Yes,
I think it shows your character as an individual. I
think it shows your vision as a leader. And you know,
the school is lucky and blessed to have somebody like
you in there. So I just want to say, again,
as a person that's seen everything that's happened over there,
honor for you to kind of come in here and
honor for you to be a part of this and
(35:57):
kind of tell this story.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
Last I got to ask you, is if there's.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
One thing, one piece of advice, one thing you just
want anybody that wants to do something amazing or you know, big,
to know, what advice would you just give to that person?
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Just feels like it's not possible.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Yes, preparation, preparation, preparation.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
You have to prepare yourself for whatever it is that
you're doing or want to do. I literally study every
single HBCU president. I literally have all of their pictures
on my in a database with their names, their titles,
what they did, what they do, some of their phenomenal
things that they've done, and I study them. And so
(36:40):
while I'm already in the position, I still continue to learn.
So I tell people to always prepare, prepare, prepare. And
also another piece of advice I get people learn from
the mistakes of others. You don't always have to touch
the fire to know it's hot. Let that other person
touch the fire and be like, oh man, that really
(37:01):
was hot, it wasn't and okay, I'm not going to
touch that fire. And so I've also really prepared myself
by learning from the mistakes.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Of other folks.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Absolutely well, doctor James, again, we're so hard to have
you on here. Congratulations on everything you've done at Morris Brown,
everything you'll continue to do.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Like I said, the students, the school, the alumni, all
those folks should be very honored and blessed to have
somebody like you a leader.
Speaker 3 (37:22):
Like you in that place.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Thank you man, And you know.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
What that said? Y'all we out.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
That's the pod you've been listening to button Nomics and
I'm your host, Brandon Butler.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Send us an email today at hello at butternomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by
Casey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki. Music
provided by mister Hanky. If you haven't already, hit that
subscribe button and never missed an episode, and be sure
to follow us on all our social platforms at butter
dot atl Listen to better Nomics on the iHeartRadio app,
(37:53):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Hump Pump out
Host
Brandon Butler
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