By Shaun White
(Source: HBCU News)
Six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan made a huge investment in HBCU life in Atlanta. Jordan and the Jordan Brand supported an initiative that birthed the Morehouse Multimedia Center.
The center opened on Wednesday, September 23. Jordan helped open the center by committing $1 million in 2021 to support Morehouse students studying journalism and sports-related fields. The donation went towards scholarships and athletic programs.
According to a CBS News report, the center will be a hub for media-creation training. Students will have access to professional equipment and training in podcasting, filmmaking, sports broadcasting, digital storytelling, and other areas of the media discipline.
The inaugural director of the Morehouse Multimedia Center, Emani Saucier, spoke about how the center will impact students.
“The Morehouse Multimedia Center represents our vision for preparing students not only to participate in the future of media, but to lead it.”
The launch of the Morehouse Multimedia Center aligns with the institution’s support for media-related fields and disciplines. The institution officially unveiled the journalism degree path in 2022. In a statement obtained by CBS News, Mickey Harris, chair of the Journalism, Sports, Culture, and Social Justice department, said the center will prepare students for the real world.
“The center serves as the bridge between critical thinking and professional practice for our students,”
According to a statement from Morehouse, nearly 120 alumni of the journalism program currently work in media and sports roles, and more than 60 graduates have gone on to earn advanced degrees in the field. The college also noted that content created using equipment funded for the center racked up more than 1 million social media views in August alone.
