Morehouse College News February 24, 2015 Morehouse to Host Some of the Nation’s Top African American Officers During March 26 Military Crown Forum A number of people told Asante McCalla, a junior sociology major and a member of the Morehouse Navy ROTC unit, that there was no way to get four African American flag officers on campus at the same time. Flag officers, some of the U.S. military’s highest-ranking members, must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. And only 5.5 percent of them are African American. “It’s like having four CEOs of the nation’s biggest companies here, only that these are people managing the lives and safety of millions of people in this and other countries,” he said. Despite the naysayers and the logistical challenges, the impossible happens at 11 a.m. on March 26 during the College’s first-ever Military Crown Forum in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. Representing the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, four of the nation’s highest-ranking African American military leaders will tell students about their lives and careers. They are: · Rear Admiral Sinclair Harris, vice director for operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C. · Maj. Gen. Stayce D. Harris, commander of the 22nd Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia · Maj. Gen. Leslie Smith, Commander General of the United States Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Fort Leonard Wood · Lt. Gen. Vincent R. Stewart, Director of the Defense Intelligent Agency and commander of the Joint Functional Component Command Reconnaissance Stewart is a three-star general while the others are two-star generals. Also attending the Crown Forum will be area military officials, high school and college ROTC units, and the Atlanta University Center Veterans and Military Affinity Group. The Military Crown Forum is a student-led event. McCalla, along with Mark Ellison, a junior international studies major and Army ROTC member; Matthew Dieudonne, a junior economics major and Navy ROTC member; and Georgia Tech Air Force ROTC member, Jordan Rodgers; formed the ROTC Joint Services Committee and worked with Crown Forum committee members. “We want to expose students to fact that there is senior leadership in the military who look like them,” McCalla said. “And we’ve never had a military Crown Forum before. We always hear that if you want to be successful, become a lawyer or a doctor or a businessman. Rarely do we hear about the influence of the military and how there are great Morehouse Men who have been part of the military.” SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.