“The mood is working and keeping the pieces together,” he says. “We’re going in to try to negotiate since the [Cross-Singh] trial is over. So we are pursuing negotiations with the Department of Education.”
The rest of the debt consists mainly of both long- and short-term bills that had not been paid over the years, he says.
If things weren’t bad enough, three lawsuits have been filed against the school, two by groups of former students. One is a class-action suit by a group of students whose credit status was directly affected by the financial scandal. Another is by a group of former students challenging the institution’s board of trustees, who they want to step down.
The third lawsuit is an attempt to foreclose on three of the school’s buildings, including the administrative building. All three suits are pending, and school officials are not commenting on the legal issues. What they are doing is positively looking towards the future. The school intends to negotiate payment plans with creditors, and officials are also courting donors and alumni for gifts.
He says there were 500 new student applications this year and they are expecting to have 107 students on campus in the fall.
“The good news is the reviving of interest in the college after the trial,” he says. “And the AME church has been phenomenal, led by the head of our board of trustees, the Rev. William P. Deveaux.”
Hodges says Morris Brown’s survival isn’t only important to other Wolverine alums.
“When we lose a Black college, it’s not like another is opening around the corner,” he says. “I’m hopeful we’ll recover.”
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
