APCAA Fall Digest 2024
This edition of the APCAA Digest features updates on 42 Brothers from the Alpha Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and their professional developments, transitions, artistic pursuits, industry projects, awards, and recognitions.
Also — we chronicle our Morehouse Homecoming 2024 Tailgate Experience, showcase our new series: “APCAA Thought Leaders In Action,” issue tributes to Brothers entering Omega Chapter (including former Morehouse College Provost and Acting President Bro. Dr. Willis B. Sheftall Fall 1961), and provide an exclusive FIRST VIEWING of the latest acquisitions for The Alpha Rho Chapter Collection at the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library.
[Of Note: APCAA Collection now includes original artifacts from the estates of Bros. Dr. Hugh M. Gloster (Fall 1930), AP Charter Member Rev. Henry J.C. Bowden (Eta Lambda Fall 1922), Hon. Maynard Holbrook Jackson (Spring 1956), former Morehouse College Board Chairman Willie “Flash” Davis (Fall 1954), Atlanta civil rights activist Albert Miles Davis (Fall 1936), Charlie J. Moreland (Fall 1948), APCAA Co-Founder Henry A. Stewart (Spring 1999), Officer James A. Jackson (Fall 1937), Kenneth “Bosco” Gene Bostic (Spring 1980), former AP Advisor Nathaniel C. Veale (Eta Lambda Fall 1972), APCAA Founder & President BMaynard Scarborough (Fall 1980), and the Psi Chapter Alumni Association of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc./Morehouse College]
APCAA Staff
This restricted donation to the APCAA’s B.O.L.D. Centennial Scholarship Program was made possible by the stewardship of Bro. Harry E. Johnson Jr. (Spring 2005) who continues to build upon his leadership level support of the association prior to, and during the chapter’s Centennial year. The grant developed in coordination with Angela Johnson — Henry’s wife and President & Founder of the Coalition of Black Excellence (CBE). Founded in 2018, CBE is an all-volunteer run nonprofit organization whose mission is to unify and elevate the Black community.
APCAA's Chief Scholastic Officer Bro. Robert P. Williams (Spring 1999) is the principal author of the association's scholarship fund blueprint which provides direct funding for Morehouse College tuition for incoming Men of Morehouse.
2024 Alpha Rho Chapter's HC2024 Centennial Tailgate Experience + Spelman College HC2024 Market Friday
APCAA Staff
In anticipation of the final significant gathering of Alpha Rho Men during our Centennial year, the chapter undergrads orchestrated an elevated tailgate experience for the upwards of 250 members who returned to the Morehouse College campus for APEX — The Tailgate. With the expert leadership from alumni Bros. Jason L. Miles (Fall 2002), Torri M.K. Rodney (Fall 2023), Kareem V. Hawthorne (Spring 2005), Alumni Engagement Vice President Henry M. Goodgame (Fall 1981), and others, the "hood" delivered a first-rate tailgate experience worthy of our year-end participation!
ALPHA RHO CHAPTER ANNIVERSARY LINES!
ALPHA RHO HC2024 HONORABLE LINE MENTIONS!
ALPHA RHO HC2024 AROUND THE HORN!
Alpha Rho Chapter Slides Into Homecoming Season With Duo First Place Step Team Trophies
APCAA Staff
Not only did the undergrad step team deliver a first place win at Spelman College's Market Friday on homecoming eve, they also scored with the winning performance earlier in the month on the road, and a stop at Mu Omicron Chapter's step show invitational at Valdosta State University.
Early 2000's Star Wide Receiver Kenneth Shaun Rodgers (Spring 2002) Inducted Into The Morehouse College Maroon Tiger Football Den Of Honor
By Bro. Michael J. Ward (Fall 2013) and APCAA Staff
The Inaugural Class of the Maroon Tiger Den of Honor was enshrined at halftime during the November 9th Morehouse College vs. Clark Atlanta University rivalry football game at B.T. Harvey Stadium. The Den of Honor, sponsored by the Morehouse College National Alumni Association recognizes former scholar athletes whose exemplary efforts on and off the field left an indelible mark on the football program and Morehouse College.
A two-time all-conference performer and a first-team Black Voices Quarterly All-American selection at wide receiver, Shaun still holds multiple receiving records at Morehouse. Some of his greatest performances include a 240-yard game against Kentucky State in 2002 and a 195-yard game against Albany State in 2001. A big play threat, Shaun scored touchdowns on plays of 80, 73, 64, 64, 48 (twice), 39, and 23 yards in his junior season. He finished his career with more than 2,000 receiving yards and an average of more than 20 yards per catch.
For his success on the field, Shaun is widely considered the greatest receiver in Morehouse football history.
The 2024 honorees are: Jason 'J-Rock' Bryant '93, Isiah "Zeke" Coats '63, Dr. Jimmie L. Davis Jr. '90, David "Juice" Graham '82, John Grant Jr. '03, Ramon Harewood '10, Isaac Keys '01, Alex "Sweet Feet" Percival '77, Shaun Rodgers '03, and John David Washington '06.
An MBA graduate in Investment Science from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business, Rodgers currently serves as Senior Vice President of Sales for SingleOps Landscaping Software.
A Pastor And Extra In A Spike Lee Film: Meet Georgia’s Newest HBCU President (Bro. Lester A. McCorn Spring 1986)
By Eric Stirgus www.ajc.com
Paine College’s board of trustees this week named the president of a nearby college as its new leader. The Rev. Lester A. McCorn, currently the president of Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, will become Paine’s president in January. Paine’s prior president, Cheryl Evans Jones, retired earlier this year. Both schools are historically Black colleges. Paine, located in Augusta, is a few miles from the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Master’s tournament.
Paine leaders said McCorn’s experience at Clinton College made him the ideal choice to lead their school. Paine officials said graduation rates and enrollment increased at Clinton College during McCorn’s seven-year tenure. The college added five new bachelor’s degree programs during McCorn’s presidency.
“Dr. McCorn is a proven leader who has demonstrated a clear and concise vision for institutional change, while identifying and executing a comprehensive plan designed to achieve successful student outcomes,” said Michael Thurmond, Paine’s board chairman who is also chief executive officer of DeKalb County government.
Here are five things to know about McCorn, according to biographical information and news reports:
He is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church who has pastored churches in Connecticut, Georgia and Maryland.
McCorn is a Morehouse College graduate. McCord was an intern to former U.S. Rep. John Lewis during his time at Morehouse.
McCorn was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. step team in the landmark 1988 Spike Lee film “School Daze.”
In 2021, McCorn announced Clinton College would waive its tuition costs for all full-time students to help with any financial burden students may be facing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, The State newspaper in South Carolina reported.
He’s served as a coach/mentor for the HBCU Executive Leadership Institute at Clark Atlanta University.
Renovated Black Box Theatre At Spelman College Dedicated In Honor Of Founder Bro. Carlton W. Molette (Fall 1957)
By Mirtha Donastorg www.ajc.com (abridged)
LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson helped spearhead the multimillion-dollar renovation of the fine arts building where their careers and relationship started. A few years ago, then-Spelman President Mary Schmidt Campbell approached Richardson Jackson with a plan to renovate the building and the funding the school would need to make it happen. Richardson Jackson took that plan to Jackson, and they made the seed donation that would underpin the renovation. The couple isn’t done with their support. Next spring they intend to host a gala aimed at raising $10 million to endow the drama department, Richardson Jackson said.
The LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center is in the John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts Building where the lobby is now an airy, two-story glass structure that used to be floors of offices and classrooms. Students, faculty and visitors are greeted with a massive mural of photos of Richardson Jackson and Jackson’s careers as well as archival pictures of the former Morehouse Spelman Players, the theater troupe the two were a part of. The Black Box Theater was dedicated in honor of its founder Carlton W. Molette.
Along the bottom of the lobby mural (above) are 850 names of the contributors and people who took part in Spelman’s theater department going back to the 1920s, pulled from old playbills and other documents, according to the mural artist Quintin Jackson.
Morehouse alumnus and filmmaker Spike Lee, former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and famed playwright and Spelman alumnus Pearl Cleage were some of the stars who attended the mural’s unveiling Thursday evening.
While Lee was a college student, he saw Richardson Jackson and Jackson in theater at the Atlanta University Center and around the city, and he gravitated toward them.
Polo Program Exposes Young Black Men To Sport Of Kings (Bro. Robert P. Williams Spring 1999)
Sarah Ramsey remembers the day her son came home with exciting but odd news. Quinn Ramsey, a 14-year-old at B.E.S.T. Academy, where he plays football while fighting his way into an honors class, wanted to take up a new sport: polo. “My kids grew up playing traditional sports and I never would have thought polo would be one of them,” Sarah Ramsey said. “It is a traditionally white sport and I have never seen Black people play polo.”