Image via Charles Bouille

 

By: Freddrell Green, Staff Writer

 

For generations, Morehouse College has been dedicated to developing disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service. Those same principles are what drive prospective students to thrive at Morehouse. For Morehouse Alumnus Grant Bennett ‘20, these ideals and culture have stuck with him since he graduated.

 

Returning to Morehouse was a full circle mission for Bennett. He now works as the Project Manager for the Maurice Washington Emerging Leaders Program. His goals for the program are to continue the legacy of Maurice Washington, collaborating with the various leaders within the administration, and providing a sense of transparency to the student body.

 

Members of administration such as Associate Dean of Student Life and Leadership Kevin D. Chapman Jr. ‘06 are elated to have Bennett back at his alma mater in this new yet familiar position.

 

“Grant’s return to Morehouse is full circle. We first met during my role as athletic advisor and since then he has been the quintessential man of Morehouse, who has developed into an amazing Morehouse Man,” Chapman said.

 

As a child, Bennett was in J. Cole’s music video, “Who Dat”. He instantly connected with Cole as they shared a hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. 

 

When his senior year of high school approached along with the opportunity to play collegiate baseball, it came down to either North Carolina A&T, or Morehouse. Cole, through his conversation with Bennett, convinced him to give stronger consideration to Morehouse.

 

 

Morehouse alumnus Dr. David Wall Rice ‘95 was another strong influence in Bennett choosing Morehouse. Because of Rice’s influence, Bennett initially came to Morehouse to pursue sports journalism.

 

 

“I wanted to have a balanced approach to picking a major, but it also gave me the leverage to be around Dr. Rice as a mentor and for me to learn what to do from a writing standpoint and from an investigation standpoint on how to pull out the best questions and be a critical thinker in that way,” Bennett said.

 

 

Outside of baseball, Bennett participated in numerous extracurriculars. In his four years he was both a Ronald McNair and Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholar, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., on The Maroon Tiger staff, and dedicated the rest of his time to Dr. Rice’s research project, the Identity, Art and Democracy Lab. 

 

 

As he grew through Morehouse, Bennett’s priorities began to shift. His passion for sports journalism would be tested by a conversation he had with NFL insider Josina Anderson.

 

 

“I thought to myself, ‘Did I want to be a sports journalist because I wanted the visibility that came with talking about sports and culture and all the different things that I’m a student and a fan of, or did I want everything with the aesthetic that came with it’,” Bennett Said.

 

 

From that point on, Bennett switched to a career in service of others. He sought to use his newfound passion for research to engage in community empowerment. 

 

 

To better grasp what exactly he wanted to make out of this career change, he engaged in numerous research opportunities with schools like the University of Georgia, Vanderbilt University, University of California, Berkeley, and even Harvard University.

 

 

“I wanted to be a person who was able to be a practitioner. So like, there’s researchers, they spend all their time reading and coming up with these things. And there’s practitioners, people who actually go out and do work,” Bennett said.

 

 

Around graduation , he was already on pace to start his first job with Google as a People Analytics Research Analyst. But before he started, he started  his own nonprofit organization called The Two-Six Project in. The organization serves underrepresented kids from Fayetteville.

 

 

Bennett’s journey after Morehouse involved numerous occupations and short-term stints. He worked with organizations and streaming companies such as the NFL and HBO. He currently  works as a manager for Vic Blends, a renowned social media influencer.

 

 

It is evident that Bennett has not forgotten the values Morehouse instilled within him. Which is part of the reason why he came back to work at Morehouse. But to put his decision in better perspective, the program has a much deeper connection to him.

 

 

“I was a mentee of Dean Maurice Washington. I was one of the first, if not the first Dean of the College intern. My first internship was under Dean Washington,” Bennett Said.

 

 

During his sophomore year, Bennett created the Maurice Washington Emerging Leaders Program as part of his internship project under Maurice Washington. It began with him working with 35-40 students and engaging in meaningful conversations with them over lunch.

 

“Hands on experience and advice is something I feel like can shift the trajectory of what we’re trying to do here. So all those different factors can play into what I feel like I could bring to the table,” Bennett said.

 

 

After he completes his tenure at Morehouse, Bennett will continue his education in his hometown and attend Fayetteville State University.

 

 

“His presence on the yard provides a relatable, creative capacity builder that will position our student leaders with meaningful developmental experiences while expanding their network,” Chapman said.

 

Copy Edited by: Elijah Meggison, Features Editor and Auzzy Byrdsell, Editor in Chief