I Love You Brothas

Just before the start of the 2014-2015 academic year, Michael Brown was shot and killed. I was due to present at Morehouse's New Student Orientation in what would be only my second Morehouse NSO. As I recall, it was less than a week after his murder. I scrapped all other ideas I had about what I wanted to say to the incoming students in order to deliver a singular message. That message is shared above in a version that has been edited down for conciseness.

I remember being exceptionally nervous about what I ultimately decided to share that day. It ran counter to almost every other presentation I had ever given--delivering a seemingly very personal message, not just in content, but in delivery. (A colleague of mine would later reveal that she had no idea what was going on, but got a little nervous as she heard me doing some seriously heavy breathing just before the platform party took their seats out on the stage.) I look back on this moment (and several others during my time at Morehouse) and am thankful to have been at such an important place for Black men, and to feel so authorized to be fully and authentically "me" in what and how I shared with those young men.

There is no question that Morehouse was one of the hardest places to work for a host of reasons, not the least of which being that it has never been resourced in the ways that it needs and deserves to be. But with the advantage of retrospection and distance, I can now say that it was also a place that allowed for some of the most meaningful work that I have done in my career in higher education; it was among the most impactful in my own thinking about the higher education system in this country and about institutional leadership; and hopefully, it was a place that benefited from the efforts I engaged in together with those I led, collaborated with, and supported.