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♪ >> Jeff: Hello, and welcome to an HBCU Week One-on-One Special.

I'm Jeff Salkin.

We visited the campus of Morgan State University for a conversation with school president Dr. David Wilson.

Dr. Wilson, thank you for joining us.

What a nice space you have here.

The new Health and Human Services building opening for this school year?

>> Yes, actually it has been open for about a year.

We officially opened last fall, at the ribbon cutting here in October of last year.

>> Jeff: The growth of this campus is phenomenal.

I wonder if whoever is in charge of printing up the campus map, there's a new one every time I'm here.

>> Well, Morgan is in an unprecedented period of transformation.

Everywhere you look, everything you read, all of the publications of our faculty, and so it starts with enrollment.

And so enrollment, it'll be expecting this fall to be somewhere between 11,200-11,600 students.

That is unprecedented.

Of the four HBCUs in our state, all just absolutely wonderful institutions.

We now will have 50% of all the enrollment of students in HBCUs.

And so those students are coming from practically every state, and they still are coming from numerous places outside the United States as well.

So Jeff, you know, word is out.

You can come and get a world-class education, one that will enable you to compete with anyone, any place in the nation or in the world, and you're going to be competitive in the marketplace, and that's what we like.

>> Jeff: When you took this job, which has been roughly a dozen years ago.

>> 15.

>> Jeff: Has it been 15 years, time flies.

>> 15 years in July.

>> Jeff: Would you have imagined at that point that your big challenge was going to be, "Where am I going to put all these freshmen?

I need to build new housing."

>> Well, not to the extent that it is now.

And so when I walked on this campus, as the board was trying to entice me to take the presidency here, I did look it over, and I saw an institution that presented itself to me as one with a lot of potential, that had performed admirably in some places, but had underperformed in so many other places.

And so all I saw was potential.

So I did see the potential for growth.

I saw a potential for growth in enrollment.

I certainly saw, not just the potential, but the necessity to grow in terms of facilities, because many facilities here with all due respect, they were dilapidated, mold and mildew infested, and that was just not what I wanted this institution to take into the future.

And so we just got busy.

We got busy as an administration, we got busy as a board, and we co-ideated a shared vision institution, not just the president's vision, but a vision to be owned by our faculty, owned by our students, owned by our alumni, owned by our governing board, but also owned by the people who would invest in us.

And then we got about the business of executing that.

And that's what you're seeing now is the result of 15 years of very precise work.

>> The success of your vision is apparent and has an impact, not just here in East Baltimore, but across the city, the state.

>> Well, most that has been done with a lot of intentionality, and a part of this is the result of how I kind of came up in higher ed.

So all of my career has been in public higher ed.

And before I came to Morgan, it was in these huge predominantly white major research institutions.

So I was the vice provost associate at Rutgers in New Jersey in Camden, for about eight, nine years, and I out there, and I went to Auburn, to vice president in Auburn in Alabama, for 11 and a half years.

The first Black person in the history of the state of Alabama, elevated to be a vice president of any of its predominantly white institution, I should say.

And then I went to the University of Wisconsin, where I was a chancellor and I had 13 campuses throughout the state at freshman/sophomore overall campuses reporting to me.

Also had the Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio.

But all of those places, I had to work with the legislature.

I was one of the few people in every one of those places who actually had to work with every single legislator.

It was not just a person in a particular district.

And so I brought that kind of experience with me here to Morgan and to Maryland.

And so with that, I spent some time on the Eastern Shore.

I spent some time in Western Maryland going in and out of the districts of those delegates and those state senators, and basically understanding how they saw the world and disabusing them of, in some instances, how they saw Morgan in that world.

And that was the result of my experience that I had in other states where I worked very close with the state legislature.

So I had to convince every district in the state of Maryland that an investment in this institution called Morgan State, headquartered in Baltimore, was good for them.

And as a result, we began to see some movement that allowed us to come forward with investment in capital facilities on the campus, and a lot of that is playing itself out right now.

>> Jeff: Is that still a challenge, maybe, because the change here has been so rapid that any state legislator or influential person who's not been here in five or 10 years, does not know today's Morgan.

>> We are doing everything we can to physically get them so they can see it, but we have to constantly put before our legislature materials where they can clearly see what has been the return on their investment, and that has to be very clear.

It cannot be ambiguous.

And so as a result of the investments that have been made in us by the state, here are the returns.

Here's what that has meant in terms of job creation.

Here's what it has meant in terms of tax revenue.

Here's what it has meant in terms of establishing new businesses in the state that are employing people.

And so, I believe that for state universities, if you're not carrying that message back to the legislature, back to the governor, back to the individuals who are heading the committees in the state legislature, then you are not doing it at your peril.

And so we are constantly on the road between here and Annapolis or here in some of the districts bringing that message.

>> Jeff: You're not resting on your laurels, I know.

Your vision going forward involves turning Morgan into a top tier research institution.

Tell us about the goal and how far you've come.

>> Yes, and so that was really a part of the vision.

And we came to that co-visioning not because we wanted to be like anyone else.

And say, "Well, we want to be an R1 institution and because X institution is," that's not a strong case to me.

When I began to understand our city, and I love our city, I noticed that Morgan was the only public, comprehensive doctoral research institution in Maryland's largest city, Baltimore.

And I looked across the nation at cities of Baltimore's size, and every one of them had a very high R1 public comprehensive research institution.

Baltimore did not have that.

And so when you look at Philadelphia, there's Temple.

You know, when you look at Atlanta, there's Georgia State.

When you look at Detroit, there's Wayne State.

When you look at Portland, there's Portland State.

And so therefore, Morgan, I proffered, had to be to Baltimore City what those institutions are to those respective cities.

And as a result of our climbing to be very high research, we then had to have a research agenda where we will be spouting out discoveries that will be speaking to these intractable challenges that are faced in cities like Baltimore and in urban areas.

And so that is really the case that was made, and people now understand that very well, and as a result, we are getting partnerships the likes of which we have never seen.

>> Jeff: Let's talk about your students a bit.

The great energizer at the universities, the constant flow of new energy, new ideas, new kids coming in, in addition to your leadership driving things, what are the students driving, and they do that by telling you what courses they sign up for, what majors they are interested in.

What are you hearing from your undergrads and your grad students these days?

>> You know, first of all, my students are absolutely the best college students in America.

And they keep me young in thought.

They keep me energized.

They keep me centered in what my professional purpose is.

And that is really what drives me as a college president is to get out there and make sure that we are doing everything we can to ensure that our students are well prepared, and they can dance on the world stage with anyone, any place, any time.

And so what they are saying to me is, "President Wilson, Hmm.

We understand now all too well what it means when we look at our motto, and it says, "Growing the future and leading the world, that's us.

You're speaking to us."

And I tell you, my heart, it just warms my heart to help my students understand that growing the future, that's you.

You have to see yourself in that future, and you must be a part of that.

And then when you become a part of that, you are not just becoming a part of that to be a part of that.

The expectation is that you're becoming a part of that to lead the future.

And so therefore, you are in training here at Morgan to be world-class leaders.

And they get it, and I tell you, they walk around the campus with a kind of contagious swag, which I love, because even during that tenure here, they participated in so many national competitions and 67% of the time, they emerged as first place winners nationally in hackathons and all kinds of competitions.

> Jeff: Before we go, we have to talk.

People may have noticed we're at these academic chairs.

So when your lovely new building here, you have lovely new furniture, it's designed for work because we have these things.

I've been sitting here worried that you were going to hand me a test, and I was going to have to fill it out right here.

But this tells you a lot about the school, too.

>> Well, that test is coming as I need to go back and grab it here.

When students when they walk into the very innovative spaces, yes, they are here for you to enjoy, for you to relax, for you to get the message when you walk into a space that this institution cares about me.

But we also want all the symbols to show that this is, at the end of the day, about academic success.

And that's what this is symbolic of.

>> Jeff: Dr. Wilson, always a delight to see you.

Thank you for your time.

>> Just a pleasure to have your time.

>> Jeff: Now, let's time and lower cost, that is the goal of a brand new one year master's program at Morgan State.

The online course will help teachers meet the requirements for state certification.

And as MPT's Sue Kopen tells us, the offering will also provide an alternative career for displaced federal workers.

>> Welcome to the first day of orientation for Morgan's new streamlined, Master of Arts in Teaching Program.

>> You all are in an accelerated program that's going to be demanding because you're also going to be going to work every day, right?

And it is important to have community when you are doing something that is really demanding, because you can share ideas with one another, which we're going to be encouraging you to do, and so we need to build that community.

>> The idea for Morgan's accelerated program, which usually runs for two years, started with Dean Glenda Prime.

>> One evening when the idea occurred to me, I sent a quick text to my president, and I said, "What if I started a program that would assist federal workers in finding a new position, new employment, and at the same time addressing the problem of teacher shortages.

Do you think it's a good idea?"

He sent back three words: A terrific idea.

>> And the plan came together just as the state was preparing to launch a grant program to help displaced federal workers transition to new careers in education.

Morgan was awarded one of those grants.

>> We have not had as large a number of federal workers as we had hoped, but I think that if we could consider this as a pilot year, and the word gets out that we are doing something that will get them employed and making a really great contribution to the state, that number will increase.

>> The Dean says federal workers bring much to the education field.

>> They would have content knowledge, because what we're doing is accepting into the program displaced federal workers who have degrees in areas of the curriculum that we are interested in.

So people who have STEM degrees, people, who have mathematics degrees, people who have degrees in the social studies.

So those are areas that overlap with the school curriculum.

>> For the veteran teachers now enrolled in this new program, which features both online and hybrid classes, the savings in both time and money were major factors in signing up.

>> Just having the ability to get a master's degree and do it, you know, considering a financial burden and the time.

I think this just was an amazing opportunity, right, to be able to get all of that experience in a year and be able to do it around, you know, these great professors and around these great academics.

>> For Shir Nagari, an art teacher at Parkville Middle School, but who was not an education major as an undergrad, joining this first cohort was an important step forward in her teaching career.

>> I had my conditional certificate in Baltimore County Public Schools.

I was like, "Hey, you want to keep teaching, you need to enroll in a program and finish it within a year.

So this timing of the program being shortened actually is benefiting me.

And it's basically giving me the ability to teach longer than the two years that they originally had hired me for."

>> Dean Prime says, this accelerated program could well become a larger part of Morgan's future.

>> We are committed to ensuring that there's no change in the quantity of what we offer.

So we have to think innovatively and intentionally about how we structure these, but that's a model.

So this program can be a model for what we will do across the university.

>> At Morgan State University, I'm Sue Kopen.

>> Jeff: As Dr. Wilson shared with us, Morgan's momentum has the university on the move.

Morgan graduates are also on the move.

Charles Robinson recently caught up with Morgan graduate Donal Ware, a Hyattsville native who recently reached a significant milestone in the world of sports media.

>> Donal, now, let's talk about your, if you will, your journey to becoming the sports guy, if you will.

I mean, I understand you went to Morgan State.

>> I did.

>> And how did that impress you, and what happened there that gave you, I'll say, the gumption to say, I can do this?

>> First of all, Charles, I appreciate you having me.

So a gentleman by the name of Lamont Germany, those in Maryland in Baltimore will know Lamont Germany well.

Still by the play-by-play voice for Morgan State football.

And he really took me under his wing and showed me the ropes.

Sometimes we would even go to games where we weren't broadcasting games, and he would let me do the play-by-play, and he would do the color, because as he always used to say, the only way you can really learn how to do this is to do it.

You can't teach it.

You've got to learn, got to do it.

So he would let me do that, took me under his wing.

By the time I was a senior at Morgan, I was hosting the halftime show during the broadcast.

He brought me in as an analyst, a student analyst.

He used to call me "first team all-me analyst."

So that's really how I got started at Morgan State, propelled into, which I know we'll talk about a little bit later on, the national sports talk show you alluded to, that airs on SiriusXM.

We're celebrating 20 years on the air in August, so very excited about that.

And it also propelled me now to working, I guess, if you want to call me an employee, if you will, of Disney at ESPN, where I host or co-host shows on ESPN radio.

So super excited about it.

It all started at Morgan State, Charles.

>> Well, let's begin with this, because you cover HBCU sports.

I think a lot of people may or may not have some misconceptions, because let me just tell you, I'm old enough to remember where HBCU graduates were highly touted, several of them are in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Tell me what the status is of HBCU athletes getting a shot at the NFL.

>> You know, it's been tough.

I mean, the general round draft pick with the Baltimore Ravens was drafted in the fifth round, Carson Vincent.

I mean, he was the only player drafted this past draft.

In 2024, there were zero drafted.

So really, in the last since 2020, you're talking about maybe between four and six players that have been drafted into the National Football League.

Charles, I think the problem is this: And it's not that the NFL is not doing what it can.

There is an NFL combine that takes place in February, in New Orleans, so I give the NFL credit there.

The problem is, players are not being drafted, but if you look up and down the NFL rosters, about 35 to 40% of the HBCU players that are on NFL rosters are free agents.

So I'm not sure why they're not being drafted.

Obviously, they are showing that they can play, because you're signing them to free agent contracts.

>> Let's talk a little bit about the HBCU landscape for football coaches, because there's been a move afoot, if you will, to take NFL stars, and I'll call them what they are, and to kind of plug them into HBCU programs.

Sometimes it's successful, sometimes not so successful, but there seemed to have been a seed change when Deion Sanders decided to go to Jackson State.

Now he's at Colorado State.

Talk about how he was able to focus, if you will, the players and the schools in a national context.

>> Yeah, you know, I got to be honest with you, Charles, I didn't always agree with a lot of the things that Deion Sanders said while he was the coach at Jackson State.

I will say this, and he was there for three years as the head coach.

He cared about the kids, and he cared about the student athletes, and he still does to this day.

When he was such, you know, he was such a big name, like, the biggest name, that you knew he was going to have success at a place like Jackson State, which is no stranger to success.

You talk about going back to the names of W.C. Gordon as the head coach, winning SWAC Championships in the '80s.

Walter Payton, maybe the greatest runningback to ever play, maybe the greatest HBCU football player to ever play in the National Football League, maybe between he and Jerry Rice.

So Jackson State had the infrastructure, if you will, and was primed, for lack of a better term, to make some noise when Deion Sanders became the head coach.

>> These two new coaches, DeSean Jackson at Delaware State and Mike Vick, have actually had a spotlight put on them, and it's going to get very bright when they face off in the opening classic.

Tell us a little bit about that.

>> Yeah, I think it's fantastic because, really, honestly, Charles, you're talking about a program in Delaware State which has not had much success at all, I believe the last MEAC Championship was '06 or '07.

Al Lavan was the coach back then.

It's just been hard, but now, the thing about it, Delaware State, back in the late '80s and early '90s, was rolling.

So I'm not really sure what has happened with Delaware State, but I think if you bring in a name like a DeSean Jackson, who, again, is a legendary player with the Philadelphia Eagles, close proximity, also with the Washington Redskins, close proximity, I think that's going to help build up Delaware State.

And so when these two coaches, with their respective teams that are Eagles legends get together, I think you're talking• and the Eagles, quite frankly, are behind this.

That's what you need.

Like, you need an entity behind them, and the Philadelphia Eagles are behind them, some financial standpoint, I'm sure as well, being able to play this game at Lincoln Financial Stadium.

So for this to come together is phenomenal.

I had a chance to talk with both Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson about this.

They're both excited about it.

As long as these two coaches are there, I think you're gonna see some success from an attendance standpoint, because you're gonna get some Eagles fans that are gonna attend the game.

Norfolk is not that far from Philadelphia.

Dover's not that far at all from Philadelphia either.

>> One of the things I know, you keep your eye on what's going on in HBCU sports, and obviously we're in the fall season where football is king, if you will.

One of the things I want to ask you about is, there have been polls of HBCU rankings for almost forever, sometimes not necessarily accepted by the national media.

Tell me what the polls are telling you about this year.

>> Yeah, the polls are saying, Charles, the polls are saying all the polls are saying Jackson State will repeat as champions.

And I mean, that's not hard to believe when you've got your quarterback coming back in JaCobian Morgan.

>> That's Donal Ware, the voice of the North Carolina A&T Aggies football team.

He also hosts a show on SiriusXM.

Make sure you check him out.

>> Jeff: Thanks for tuning in to HBCU Week, where tonight, beginning at 8:00, will feature the best in HBCU art and music capped off with the Emmy Award-winning music special, Morgan Choir: A Joyful Celebration.

Thank you for joining us for this HBCU Week special.

This is MPT's sixth season of exploring the legacy and future of the region's historically Black colleges and universities.

More information can be found at MPT.org/HBCU.

Now, for all of us at MPT, thank you for watching.

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