So my alma mater just got a much needed shot in the arm with the hiring of their new president, Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, Jr. In just the first three months of his post, he's already starting to ruffle feathers, dictating to the freshman class their "dress code":

"We are Morehouse, and we will not tolerate sagging pants that gravitate far below your waistline. No do-rags; no baseball caps inside buildings…."

"No pajamas in the classroom. You are men of Morehouse. You are better than that. I will be watching and expecting class from you."

"Look the part. Act the part. Talk the talk and walk the walk."

Can I just tell you? This is an AMAZING move on the new president's part and I support him for it.

I can remember going to classes and always seeing brothas in there half dressed - tank top, pajama pants, wearing socks and flip-flops with their keys bouncing to and from from the lanyard around their necks. Hell, the last time I was there — about a month ago — I swear I could've been downtown at Five Points. Dudes in oversized nightgown t-shirts, waddling about with their pants about their mid-thighs, and a baseball hat cocked at some obscene angle. A couple of dudes even had gold fronts…I shit you not. And this was just a regular day on campus. Morehouse men clean up nice though, but on an average day it just looks like..well…a college campus.

Nothing special. Franklin plans to change that.

Shit, I may just donate to the alumni association now that I see what it's actually going to the betterment of the college, and not into some empty void. (Besides, those jackets are kinda snazzy. Can an alum get one?)

Franklin is just the sort of B₁₂ shot Morehouse needs after the events of the past five years. Sure, Morehouse has produced more Rhodes scholars than any other HBCU in the country, but that feat has been greatly overshadowed by the more public happenings at the college — the Aaron Price/Gregory Love incident, the allegations of rape against students at Spelman by Morehouse students and the whole Black Enterprise college ratings drop from #1 to #45 are just a few (I know during my time there, several other things happened which never made it outside of the institution's gates). This move by Franklin is just the kind of thing the college needs to boost its legendary yet lackluster status in the Black community.

Let's be honest here — Morehouse has a good reputation primarily because of its past accomplishments. There are many distinguished alumni like Martin Luther King, Jr. and former surgeon general David Satchel. And yes, Morehouse was a primary inspiration of director Spike Lee for his film "School Daze" and for the sitcom "A Different World", the only decent representation of the Black college experience on prime time television. (College Hill does not count.) But outside of that?

Beats the hell out of me.

Perhaps if Morehouse's PR staff did a better job of circulating their accomplishments in the media (instead of deflecting the negative press from the aforementioned events), then the school could get a better public reputation. Yes, I still get people who think I went to Morehead instead of Morehouse. I still meet people who are Atlanta natives who don't even know where the school's located or what it is. Or when I say Morehouse, they reply "Isn't that where that boy got the shit beat out of him with a baseball bat?" And these have been people of every age, race, gender and sexual orientation. Sorry folks…knowing about Morehouse shouldn't be a black thing.

There is the truth that Morehouse is one of the premier institutions of higher education for black men in the country. But as a fairly recent graduate who has seen the dark underbelly of the 'House, I can tell you that truth is highly skewed depending on a number of factors (economic status, sexual orientation, religion, social standing, how willing you are to eat crow…and worse substances). And in some ways, it's the only kernel of hope to strive for and flaunt when you try not to notice all the bullshit around you. Massey left the school's reputation in enough of a mess for him to jump ship, and now Franklin's gotta clean up the 'House.

First step: clean up the students.

It's a bold move, for sure. Morehouse does a good enough job pumping incoming freshman full of the college's history and lore to let them know of their status as Morehouse men in relation to other students in the AUC, in Atlanta, and the world. He wants to have these young men dress and carry themselves like gentlemen. What's so wrong with that?

Oh wait…I know. Because they're paying $30,000+ a year, they should be able to wear what they want, right? True…but Morehouse is a private school with their own rules. And this is one of 'em. Don't like it? Then leave. Plenty of freshman do either after their first semester or their first year.

Perhaps Franklin's next step could be to address the college's horrible retention rate.

Wouldn't that be loverly?