Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Morris Brown College Files Chapt. 11 Bankruptcy


Morris Brown College seeks federal protection, hopes to prevent auction of campus
By Ernie Suggs

August 26, 2012
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Morris Brown College officials have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a last ditch effort to prevent the 131-year-old school from being foreclosed on and sold at auction, and to give them time to regroup.


Morris Brown, which is more than $30 million in debt, was facing foreclosure next month after investors called $13 million worth of bonds tied to the college. The bonds were issued by the Fulton County Development Authority in 1996. As security for the bonds, Morris Brown pledged several pieces of property, including the school's administration building. An auction of assets had been scheduled for Sept. 4.

"The trustees are taking several deliberate actions to insure that we not only survive, but thrive," board Chairman Preston W. Williams said Saturday. "Our commitment is to focus on restructuring and making it possible for us to survive another day."

Chapter 11 is part of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization and gives federal protection to businesses unable to pay their debts.

Renardo Hicks, an attorney for Morris Brown, said the emergency filing automatically delays the foreclosure until a judge decides otherwise.

"Our expectation is that the sheriff's sale will not happen," Hicks said.

Morris Brown President Stanley Pritchett said the filing will give the school breathing room to find a steady stream of capital to keep it afloat.

"We are making a statement that Morris Brown College is not going anywhere," Pritchett said. "We are not going to allow this latest challenge to get in the way of what we are trying to do."

Hundreds of supporters and alumni of the school gathered on campus Saturday for a prayer vigil and campus prayer tour.

At times, the vigil, which started in the John H. Lewis Gymnasium, was more like church. The air conditioning wasn't on so large fans were placed at the doors to circulate the air. Everyone used their programs to fan them selves as members of the Morris Brown Choir sang hymns.

Beneath banners touting the school's athletic dominance of the 1940s and 1950s --- including one that read "Black College National Champions 1951" --- several ministers offered prayers and hymns.

Then they walked across campus, stopping at each major facility to pray --- from the multi-million-dollar football stadium that Olympic money built, which now sits choked with weeds, to Fountain Hall, the historic building where W.E.B. Du Bois once had an office, now boarded up and abandoned.

Eugenia McDowell stood at the top of the steps overlooking the football field, waiting for a group to gather for prayer. To her right was Furber Cottage, now boarded up. To her left was Gaines Hall, which was the honors dorm when she was a student there in 1997 --- also boarded up.

Directly behind her was the Sarah Allen Quads, gutted by a recent fire.

"It is sad that we might lose all of this," McDowell said. "I would love to come back to this campus one day and see it revitalized. That is why we are praying today."

3 comments:

  1. There is no way I could live in the community of this institution or just simply have knowledge of this situation of this institution, have millions, be worth millions, have access to millions, and/or know and be associated with others who have millions and not bail this institution out of the current state. I would even have stipulations that would have to be implemented to make sure to do what is necessary to prevent a repeat of what caused this the first time. But there is just no way possible I could walk around having knowledge of this situation and not take action. I am willing in my moral support that I have 26 million in energy to command a spirit of action on those who are financially able to resolve this problem.

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  2. FYI, Morris Brown has been going through this for years. I wrote their financial corruption years ago. More recently, I talk about similar problems in my Parable of the Poor Righteous Teacher, see Wisdom of Plato Negro.

    You can't turn a donkey into a Stallion!

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  3. This college has been around. Hopefully they can still continue with their provision of knowledge for people.

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