In whatever sense this year is a new year for you, may the moment find you eager and unafraid, ready to take it by the hand with joy and gratitude.
-Howard Thurman
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Entering 2023 with “Joy and Gratitude”
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We welcome 2023 and are excited about all that is yet to come! Each year brings us closer to fulfilling the vision for the Andrew Young Center and creating a center that reflects the commitment, passion, and character of its namesake, Andrew Jackson Young.
As an ambassador, congressman, mayor, and civil rights leader, Ambassador Andrew Young created a legacy of leading the fight for human and civil rights, providing leadership in pursuit of social justice, and creating opportunity and prosperity among those who are underserved. Thus, the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership centers both leadership development and social justice training and activism in its work.
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The mission of the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership is to prepare and inspire a community of critical thinkers and leaders committed to engaging complex global problems of marginalized groups, especially peoples of African descent.
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Last year the Andrew Young Center celebrated 25 years of existence. Established by President Walter Massey and originally led by Walter Fluker, Ph.D., the Center was founded with a mission to develop social justice-focused, ethical leaders through multiple initiatives, including its Leadership Studies Program.
The Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership is comprised of four interdependent institutes designed to provide institutional, national, and international leadership in the examination and generation of solutions for global challenges, the study of social justice-based leadership, social justice activism training and the development of social change agents, and co-curricular experiences designed to prepare students for lives as global citizens and leaders.
The Andrew Young Center is home to a number of important initiatives that enrich the lives of students, faculty, and community members. Initiatives include the Social Justice and Leadership Innovation Awards that support faculty and student innovation to address social challenges, the Social Justice Health Initiative designed to address health disparities through student training and other initiatives, the Faculty Fellows Program which allows faculty the opportunity and support for engaging in scholarship, training, and international education, and the Prison Education Initiative which involves faculty and students in creating higher education opportunities for incarcerated students.
The Leadership Studies Program has grown to serve a small group of minors who benefit from a number of co-curricular experiences that enrich and deepen their learning. The program implements a Leadership Lecture Series and Leadership Roundtable Discussions to engage faculty and students in discussions that build upon classroom experiences.
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The Oprah Winfrey and SMASH Scholars Programs are thriving. The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program, a flagship scholarship program that has existed at the college for 34 years, has educated over 700 Morehouse men. Established with an initial investment of $12 million in 1989, in October 2019 Ms. Winfrey made a second investment of $13 million in the program, creating the largest endowed gift to the college in its history and securing the future of the program. The newly established SMASH Scholars Program supports a cohort of 14 STEM majors who are alumni of the SMASH High School Summer Academy and who benefit from mentoring, STEM training, and co-curricular activities.
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The More Conversations student podcast, first piloted in 2020, grew out of the Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program and facilitates student leadership in important conversations with thought leaders in multiple disciplines. Recent interviews have included Rodney Spivey Jones, the Andrew Young Center’s scholar-in-residence, and George Land, ’85, COO of NBA Africa.
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Study abroad at Morehouse has grown significantly over the last 4 years. Over 200 students will study abroad during the 2022-23 academic year with many students studying abroad with faculty leaders who design experiences that cultivate curiosity and provide real-life experiences that build leadership and deepen learning. Of the 18 faculty-led study abroad programs that will be offered this year, one is the Oprah Winfrey South Africa Leadership Program. This program is designed to cultivate global leaders with an understanding of the history and social challenges of South Africa and the parallels to the U.S. and other countries.
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A number of initiatives highlighted the 25th anniversary of the Andrew Young Center, including two social justice focused student hackathons, panel discussions and symposia on prison education, STEM, and leadership, and community mini-grants awarded through our Dream Keepers partnership. Last year we recommitted to developing foreign service leaders and diplomats through a new MOU signed by President David Thomas and USAID Administrator Samantha Power.
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This year, 2023, will be a productive and exciting year for the Center! Under the leadership of collaborating center leaders Kipton Jensen, Ph.D., Sinead Younge, Ph.D., and myself, the footprint of the Center will grow through community partnerships and engagement, prison education, study abroad, leadership development through the Leadership Studies minor and scholarship programs, and more. This March the Center will host its first national conference, Beyond the Bars: South, that will focus on the circumstances and antecedents of mass incarceration and how education impacts outcomes for incarcerated students. In June the Center will host the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) Biennial Conference which will address many of the mental health disparities that impact our community.
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The Andrew Young Center benefits from the generous support of individual donors, corporations, and foundations. In December the Andrew Young Center received three important gifts that will serve as the foundation of our future work. First, the Center received a $1 million gift to support and build study abroad. Provided by an anonymous donor, this gift will support efforts to grow study abroad by addressing the most pressing barrier for most students – financing study abroad experiences. Continuing its commitment to support experiential education opportunities at the college and having supported both internships and study abroad opportunities in the past, in December Microsoft awarded the college a third gift of $60,000 to support the expansion of our Prison Education Initiative. Finally, Cigna awarded $100,000 to establish increased diversity in the mental health workforce by providing support for Morehouse college students and the local community. This important work is a key initiative of the Social Justice Health Initiative that will address the health disparities that so deeply impact our community.
We are excited about the future of the Center and welcome your engagement in our work. Please learn more about the Andrew Young Center by visiting our website. We hope that you will share your ideas and talents with Morehouse and the Center as we grow into the vision of the future.
All the best,
Jann H. Adams, Ph. D.
Lead Director
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Amb. Andrew Young & Sri Sri Ravi Shankar host Crown Forum at Morehouse College. Photo by Phil McCollum.
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Study Abroad Programs
This past December and in January 2023, Morehouse students had the opportunity to participate in the following study abroad programs:
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Liberia West Africa Service-Learning Program
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Morehouse Bonner Scholar: International Service Immersion Trip
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Morehouse MPAGE II African Diaspora - Belize
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Understanding International Development in East Africa
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Morehouse in Ireland: Peace Studies, Civil Rights, and Social Justice
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Upcoming Events and Opportunities
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January 16, 2023: The Oprah Winfrey Scholars will complete their Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service working with the King Center. Scholars will support and participate in the King Day Commemorative Service, Voter Registration Drive, and Collection Drive. Scholars will spend the day in service to the community and collaborating with our partners to serve the community and learn the skills needed to become ethical leaders.
February 2, 2023: The Oprah Winfrey and SMASH Scholars Programs Book Club will launch a collaborative study experience featuring Ta-Nehisi Coates' book, The Water Dancer. The book study will be led by Professor David Wall Rice.
February 9, 2023: SMASH and Oprah Winfrey Scholars will visit the Microsoft Corporation Headquarters located in downtown Atlanta. Scholars will take a tour of the facility and learn about the technological advances Microsoft is leading.
Spring Break 2023: Understanding the Gullah Geechee Roots of Social Justice and Resistance. The Institute for Social Justice Inquiry and Praxis, in collaboration with Drs. Samuel Livingston (Africana Studies) and Corrie Claiborne (English) will lead a study abroad experience that explores the connection between South Carolina and Barbados. This unique opportunity will bring together students and faculty from Morehouse College and the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, to explore the connections between Gullah Geechee and Barbadian cultural traditions and contemporary social justice issues such as climate justice and reparations.
March 23-25, 2023: The Andrew Young Center will host a conference at Morehouse College, Beyond the Bars: South. This conference will focus on the relationship between universities or colleges and neighborhoods. Gentrification, income inequality, and mass incarceration have transformed southern cities that are home to leading institutions of higher education. This conference will foster conversations, build relationships, and generate practical solutions for building strong and more resilient communities. To register, click here.
May 14 – 28, 2023: South Africa Social Justice Experience: The Institute for Social Justice Inquiry and Praxis will lead it’s second study abroad experience to South Africa. This unique experience focuses on culture, politics, and the contemporary social conditions of South Africa with a special focus on the social activism of South African youth. Students will have an opportunity to visit Johannesburg, Soweto, and Cape Town.
June 20 - 24, 2023: Morehouse College will be the first historically Black college/university to host the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) Biennial Conference. SCRA Biennial Conferences draw together SCRA and other community members from around the world to engage in stimulating conversations about recent developments in community research and action. The conference will provide attendees with a special opportunity to exchange ideas and resources, forge new collaborations, re-connect with old friends, and deepen knowledge and skills in topics of particular interest. This year’s theme is “Where do we go from here: Dreaming new community futures.”
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A Note of Gratitude to Our Sponsors
The work of the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors, including Coca Cola, Bank of America, Ms. Oprah Winfrey and the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, the SMASH Foundation, Delta Airlines, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, the Julian Grace Foundation, Cigna, and the RAND Corporation. We wish to thank these donors for their sustained support of the AYCGL.
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