Image Credit: Damarion King

By: Freddrell Green, Head Copy Editor

Following a recent social media post from rising junior Stephone Cody III, student concerns about their treatment by Morehouse’s administration have been reignited. In response, rising senior Johnny Simmons and juniors Alonzo Brinson, Damarion King and Timothy Tillman issued a call to action.

The Instagram post outlining the students’ call to action includes three key demands: the establishment of a Student Account Relief Fund, the implementation of a Student Advocate Office, and the creation of a Student Oversight Committee.

Included in the post is a form for students to fill out expressing their solidarity for Cody and the call to action. Altogether, the post has garnered over 86,000 views on Instagram and over 100 students have signed the online petition.

The Student Account Relief Fund’s primary purpose would be to serve students whose enrollment would be at risk. The fund would provide up to $3,000 to a student in need and be monitored by the Office of Business and Finance.

Both the Student Advocate Office and Student Oversight Committee would be led by trained student personnel who can serve as a liaison between the student body and the board of trustees. Brinson, in particular, envisions both initiatives to be led by students whose sole desires are to aid their Morehouse brothers.

“If you’re a brother and you go to school and you’re enrolled at Morehouse College, you deserve all the help you can get,” Brinson said.

In retrospect of similar disparities impacting Black institutions and various other programs that are minority serving, King believes that in the long term, the demands made by him and his constituents can serve as a catalyst for change.

“The analogy is we have to eat an elephant one bite at a time,” King said.

Simmons believes what could change the trajectory of Morehouse with its internal issues is a more aligned focus towards the concerns of its constituents and less attention towards the world’s problems.

“We can’t say ‘I have my brother’s back’ and our brothers are suffering and we say nothing,” Simmons said.

With Dr. F. DuBois Bowman ’92 stepping in as Morehouse’s new president, Tillman hopes his background as both an alumnus and parent will help the relationship between students and administration.

“I really hope that we get a lot more student feedback from administration and a lot more administration feedback from students so we can drive this thing home,” Tillman said.

Rising junior Dylan Malcolm, a top-ranking scholar and resident assistant who has received no financial aid from Morehouse since arriving, hopes the work of the four students will pay off.

“It will work eventually, just due to how persistent a lot of the students are,” Malcolm said. 

Copy Edited by Joshua Bass, News and Politics Editor