Interview with Morehouse College President David A. Thomas

Today we are interviewing President David A. Thomas, President of Morehouse College, one of only three all male colleges in the United States.  President Thomas shared how Covid-19 impacted Morehouse College, how they adapted, his thoughts on digital learning, and qualities and character traits he believes are important to develop in his students. With nearly 2300 students on campus, 25% of students were taking classes remotely during the fall, and 75% were in person or hybrid. Because Morehouse has kept very strict COVID-19 protocols, they have been able to keep the infection rate below 1%.

Prior to COVID-19 emerging, digital learning was already a discussion, and they were in the strategic planning process to make it a reality. Morehouse created a program called, “Morehouse Beyond Borders.”  For the last 152 years, the world came to Morehouse. Now, Morehouse is providing alternative ways to deliver teaching and learning in higher education. Now, Morehouse goes to the world. President Thomas shared that they launched their first online degree program for non-traditional students in Fall 2021. Morehouse is the first historically black college to have a globally available undergraduate degree (Business Management). More degrees will be offered in the future.

In order to develop character qualities, Morehouse students are required to attend Crown Forum.  Students apply what they learn in their classes where common touchstones of spirituality, integrity, and being a global cosmopolitan with themes of leadership, social justice, and ethics are taught. Morehouse has also created a program called “Partnerships of Purpose.” For example, a partnership with Spellman called the “Black Economic Alliance” has created the “Center for Black Entrepreneurship.” Fundraising has been very successful to make this new venture sustainable in the future with a foundation of faculty and resources. President Thomas summed up the one of the benefits of receiving a Morehouse education, “Come as boys, leave as men.”

When asked what advice he lives by, he said, “two critical skills of being a leader are knowing how to ask the right question and knowing how to listen. If you put those two qualities together, you are probably speaking less than everybody else because you are asking questions and listening.” He then shared some stories about how he is often seen as just one of the guys, and later people will apologize for not treating him like the President.