As former Provost of Morris Brown College (1999 to 2002) I am compelled to reply to The Chronicle of Higher Education article (Dec 22, 2008) on the tragic story of Morris Brown College. The Chronicle reports:
Well before city officials shut off the water at Atlanta’s Morris Brown College last week, the 127-year-old college was already buckling under the weight of $32-million in debt. Now, without the money to pay $380,000 in water bills dating back to 2004 . . . the historically Black college will not reopen next semester and may soon close permanently, officials told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this weekend.
While it is true that this is only the latest struggle for Morris Brown in recent years, misinformation on facts leading to the college’s loss of its accreditation fuel arguments that the college does not deserve to survive. Specifically, the following statement in the Dec 22, 2008 article is factually inaccurate:
In 2002 the college lost its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [SACS] because of heavy debt and a criminal investigation into the financial dealings of a former president, Dolores E. Cross.
Few members of the public appreciate that regional accrediting bodies like SACS operate under tight federal guidelines and there are only a few “conditions of eligibility” under which a college may face outright loss of accreditation: While heavy debt and allegations of criminal wrongdoing may be of circumstantial interest, heavy debt and allegations in themselves are not a basis for loss of accreditation.
The news media seem oblivious to the fact that in the 10-year period prior to the Cross administration, the college had experienced four changes in leadership at the top and in 1992 barely survived a major financial crisis. In the fall of 1998 the college faced an $8 million audit disallowance that led to its being placed on manual reimbursement in its financial aid status. The college faced serious financial management and systems issues, declining enrollments, a technology infrastructure inadequate for meeting Y2K challenges, a $3.2-million structural deficit, and 68 self-study findings that would have to be met within two years to maintain clear reaccreditation with the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS).
