Morris Brown College just got a major boost, and its president couldn’t hide his excitement. Dr. Kevin James took to LinkedIn this week to share that an anonymous donor had given $700,000 to the historic Atlanta HBCU.
“We needed this good news!” James wrote. “To the anonymous person who just donated $700,000 to Morris Brown College — THANK YOU!!”
The gift lands at a meaningful moment. Morris Brown is marking its 145th anniversary this year, and the campus is still grieving the loss of Dr. James Freddy Allen, the vice president of enrollment and student affairs, who died October 29 at 56.
Allen joined the college in 2022 and was instrumental in rebuilding its student body, and students knew him as a mentor and advocate. James called his passing “an incredibly difficult loss, both personally and professionally.” The year also began with a scare: in January, a threatening email containing racist language forced the college to move operations online temporarily.
James hasn’t said how the donation will be used. For a school that has fought its way back from near-closure, every dollar counts. Morris Brown was founded in 1881 by African Americans and established by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and it was the first school in Georgia founded by Black people. It lost its accreditation in 2002 amid financial and administrative troubles. That cut off federal financial aid and sent enrollment plummeting.
James took over as president in 2019 and led the push to restore the college’s standing. In April 2022, Morris Brown regained full accreditation through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, which made its students eligible for federal aid again. Since then, enrollment has grown from about 20 students to nearly 600.
The college has also drawn steady support this year. In January, it announced more than $800,000 in funding. That included a $700,000 federal grant for campus security, secured by U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, along with a $50,000 scholarship gift from T.I. and $60,000 from the AME Church’s Sixth Episcopal District. The new anonymous donation is a separate gift.
