When Amir Staten received his acceptance letter from Morehouse College, his mother captured his pure excitement over having reached his ultimate goal. Now Staten has another reason to celebrate: He’s secured a four-year full-ride scholarship to the storied HBCU.
“He has gone above and beyond of what is expected of him,” his mother, Karlynne Staten, said. “Now he can kind of breathe easy.”
Kevin Booker, vice president for student services and dean of Morehouse College, said selecting Staten was an honor for him and other faculty members. “We develop student leaders and we start immediately. It doesn’t happen after they graduate,” Booker said.
“And some of those student leaders selected Amir because they see in him what’s needed to be a man of Morehouse, and eventually a Morehouse man.”
Staten did not use his viral video to elicit votes, but Booker saw the joy the graduating senior had around becoming a part of the legacy of the institution and was moved by his enthusiasm, according to Good Morning America.
“As a Morehouse College alum, as a Morehouse College dad—my son just graduated—and an administrator, there is no better feeling for me than seeing a young man like Amir, who hasn’t even walked these grounds [as a student] yet but feels what this college can do for him,” Booker said.
“He realizes that and wants to be a part of that history, and the history is long. We want Amir to be amongst the ranks of the great men who have come before him.”
Source: Black Enterprise
