Morris Brown College Faces Foreclosure on Residence Hall, City of Atlanta Shuts off Water Services

It is a lowdown dirty shame that the same historically black college is experiencing some serious financial problems again. The problem is that 127-year old Morris Brown College has faced a previous financial indignity. Well, evidently they did not learn the first time and now the sale of one of its classroom buildings will be auctioned on the steps of Fulton County courthouse. A bank representing investors who purchased bonds issued to build Jordan Hall on the Morris Brown campus is foreclosing on the property, saying the school defaulted on a $13.1 million debt dating to 1996. The foreclosure sale is scheduled for January 6, less than a week before the school is supposed to begin its spring semester.

The school suffered another indignity as well. The city of Atlanta cut off water service to the campus last week because they are delinquent on their water bill to the tune of $380,000. The school's ability to resume classes is in serious jeopardy. Some of these water bills date to February 2004. This is a travesty and a disgrace. When have you ever heard of a school's water service being cut? The school administrators are a disgraceful lot. Of course they will need temporary loans for the school's most critical needs--faculty and staff payroll, utilities and other operating expenses.

Rhonda Copenny, a member of the Morris Brown’s board of trustees, said the school won’t know until after Christmas whether it can obtain short-term loans to keep its doors open. “Nothing could be solidified” on Monday, she said, adding that the trustees are “optimistic.” “It’s not like the school was caught off guard,” she said. “They’ve been working on the big picture a long time, and it’s coming to fruition now — we think.” The top priority at the moment is getting water service restored, Copenny said. School leaders hope to meet with city officials to work out another payment plan to erase the old bills.

It appears the foreclosure sale will take place unless Morris Brown officials can persuade investors to give them more time to pay the nearly 13-year-old debt, said Gregory Worthy, an Atlanta lawyer for U.S. Bank, which represents the investors.
“They’ve been in default on the bond issue for a good while now,” Worthy said Monday. “The original principal amount of the bonds is due and payable.” Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution.

This school is no stranger to controversy and their financial problems have been brewing for a while.The school lost its accreditation in 2002, and its former president, Dr. Delores Cross, and former financial aid director were convicted in a federal embezzlement case in 2006. They can't possibly expect prospective students to give this school a second look, Enrollment, which was once nearly 3,000, has dropped as low as 56 in recent years before bouncing back to about 240 this fall. They need to fire the president and all the members on the board of trustees. This school was built to empower African Americans, not to tear them down.