A Letter from President David A. Thomas on the New MT Website and The Importance of Free Media
Dear Maroon Tiger Readers,
For the last 94 years, The Maroon Tiger has served the Morehouse College community as the eyes, ears and voice of our student body. Its staff members have reported on the noteworthy, uplifting and sometimes controversial news that dots the history of our institution, and it has helped develop the skills of many Morehouse Men who have brought honor to our college.
Among those are highly accomplished former editors-in-chief such as current Professor David Wall Rice ’95, the director of our Institute for Social Inquiry and Praxis, MSNBC White House correspondent Geoffrey Bennett ’02, and Edward Mitchell ’09, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Georgia. No doubt, the Maroon Tiger’s most distinguished contributing writer was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ’48.
That’s why, during this King Holiday celebration, I am so pleased that the Maroon Tiger has expanded its news-breaking capabilities and audience reach by launching this brand-new digital web site. Its first iteration was introduced to Morehouse under Mitchell’s leadership from 2008-2009, but it had been dormant for almost two years until the site was redesigned by Streamlined Media. Most appropriately, that New York-based company was founded by CEO Darren Martin’ 13, another former Maroon Tiger Editor-in-Chief.
The invigorated web site will allow Maroon Tiger staffers to bring you news of the moment, whether it be about the academic accomplishments of our stellar students and faculty, examples of the entrepreneurial spirit of our Men of Morehouse, innovative curriculum such as the new writing-focused Black Ink Project, victories by our athletic teams, or achievements of the new Executive Leadership Team I have been building for the last year.
I know that the Maroon Tiger also will be critical of campus happenings, including, I hope only occasionally, actions taken by my administration. But in this era when freedom of the press is being challenged at the highest levels, it’s great to know that the Maroon Tiger newspaper, video-based Tiger TV, and now its renewed web site will keep our community informed about all things that we do.