Morgan State University

A 23-year-old man who was killed in a double-fatal car accident Thursday night in Fells Point was a homecoming king who was close to graduating from Morgan State University, according to police and school officials. Julian Benson was the 2010 Mr. Morgan, according to university spokesman Clinton R. Coleman, and was a popular student on campus. He was studying telecommunications and had interned for two years in the communications department at the Maryland Transit Administration.

Your article on Coppin State University's new science building truly boggles the mind ("Science center may help Coppin close the gap," May 3). The state is spending $80 million for a building the university admits it does not have sufficient funds to operate or maintain. That is a staggering admission. May I suggest one of two other possibilities for that $80 million. For a four-year university with a six-year graduation rate of 15 percent - one of the lowest in the country - how about requiring higher academic standards?

As a former Morgan State University faculty member for more than a decade, I often used the word hope when speaking of President David Wilson ("Morgan state University refuses to renew contract of president," Dec. 11). He brought to the university a genuine interest in the concerns of faculty, students and staff through frequent small meetings and large forums that were never intimidating. Morgan prior to Mr. Wilson had a tendency toward insular thinking and little interest in getting or using the opinions of all but a select few. Mr. Wilson attempted to change that.

Marc Steiner will move his show to 9 a.m. weekdays starting May 13 on WEAA-FM, the veteran Baltimore talkshow host said Friday. "We're moving to 9 a.m. as part of a new news and information format," Steiner wrote in an email.  "It's very exciting and will allow for some interesting changes, development and growth for our show. "  Steiner's show had been airing on the Morgan State station from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Steiner's show will run from 9 to 11 a.m. weekdays.

BRIAN J. HILL On the eve of Morgan State University's Homecoming, a group of alumni gathered at Club One to celebrate their alma mater. The ex-Bears arrived in a range of gear -- suits and no ties, jeans and fitted tees, skirts and pumps, button-ups and blazers. But this was an affair where the guys outdid the ladies, showing what a few years' worth of post-college paychecks -- and a little class -- can do. WONDERING IF YOU WERE GLIMPSED? / / Check out baltimoresun.com / glimpsed for additional photos of fashion-forward locals and a critique by fashion writer Tanika White of the styles she saw around town.

The Morgan State University Dance Ensemble and local gospel choirs will appear in concert from 6 p.m. to 9:30 April 1 in the Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake High School, 5460 Trumpeter Road, Columbia. Proceeds will benefit the County Howard Office on Aging's Vivian L. Reid Senior Assistance Fund and the local Omega Psi Phi Fraternity's scholarship fund. The Reid fund helps senior citizens facing eviction, utility shut-offs or helps with problems paying for medicine. The fraternity's scholarships go to local children.

If Jordan Milton looks like a model, that's because she is. The 19-year-old Morgan State University sophomore occasionally models in the Baltimore area, as well as around her hometown of New Castle, Del. "Fashion is very important to me because I feel as though I have to look the part. Where I go, I like to have that attention. It's good to have people say, 'Oh, you look like a model.' " This broadcast journalism major certainly got our attention when we "glimpsed" her in between classes at Morgan's Student Center.

There was no better place to check out current fashions recently than at the Ebony Fashion Fair show at Morgan State University's Murphy Fine Arts Center. And we don't mean what was on stage. MSU student Ashley Williams was a great example of eye-catching style in the audience. The 18-year old Frederick resident loves to mix and match to fit her mood. And she knows how to do it on a student's budget. "I feel that you should always incorporate fashion into your life because you never know who is watching."

Dr. Marlene E. Greer-Chase, a retired Morgan State University professor and an active member of Ames Memorial United Methodist Church, died of chronic pulmonary obstructive disease April 6 at Season's Hospice in Randallstown. She was 74. Marlene Greer was born in Taylors, S.C., and moved to West Baltimore with her family in 1937. She was a 1952 graduate of Douglass High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Morgan State University in 1956. She also held a master's degree from the University of North Dakota.

Kenneth Francis Jerkins Sr., a popular biology professor at Morgan State University who had been department chairman, academic dean and vice president for academic affairs during his nearly 30 years on the campus, died Saturday of cancer at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 68.Colleagues often called him "a teacher's teacher." He specialized in teaching biology to non-science majors.Mary E. Robinson, director of development at Morgan, who studied under Dr. Jerkins in a master's program there in 1968, recalled, "He was so skilled at problem-solving and so understanding.

City leaders assembled on a small side street near Morgan State University in Northeast Baltimore on Friday morning — steps from the sites of three recent car thefts and at least one burglary — and pledged to transform the region with cooperation from the college and community. "This is about a long-term engagement ... to bring about sustained change in the area," Morgan President David J. Wilson said in announcing the initiative, known as the "Morgan Community Mile. " It's one of a half-dozen similar efforts led by higher-education "anchor institutions" throughout the city to improve their respective environments for staff and students, but also for residents who live near the campuses.

Betty Jane Bivins Chase, a retired Baltimore public schools personnel worker, died of respiratory failure April 16 at the Levindale Geriatric Rehabilitation Center. The Randallstown resident was 75. Born Betty Jane Bivins in Baltimore, she was the daughter of James and Margaret Thomas Bivins. Raised in Lothian in Anne Arundel County, she was a 1956 graduate of Wiley H. Bates High School in Annapolis. She was a member of the Starlighters Drama Club and the Future Teachers of America.

Doreatha C. Jordan, a retired Morgan State University student center director, died of a pulmonary embolism April 13 at Sinai Hospital. The Northwood resident was 89. Born Doreatha Cecelia Diggs in New Rochelle, N.Y., she was the daughter of Leroy and Nellie Diggs. She moved to Baltimore and was a 1942 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School. She attended Coppin State College. In 1946, she married the Rev. Basha Jordan, a United Methodist pastor. She moved with him to assignments in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland.

For full disclosure's sake, I am a 1968 graduate of what is now Towson University (and a 1974 graduate of Morgan State University). I taught high school for 14 years and founded an advertising agency that has a sports specialty. Our company has done sports ticket sales campaigns for 43 university programs in 24 states over a 30 year period - including Towson - as well as several pro teams, including all of the local franchises. To say that specializing in college athletics is not a way to build a big media billing agency is an understatement.

For many Marylanders, Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget includes plenty to celebrate. The governor's "balanced approach" to budgeting translates into increased employment, health care benefits for additional families and continued investment in programs that directly support primary education. The governor's budget also includes encouraging signs that Maryland's recovery from the Great Recession is gathering steam. But despite those successes, the budget fails to fully invest in some of our state's brightest minds.

I grew up in Baltimore reading The Sun, The Evening Sun and The News American initially for comics then on to sports and finally the actual "news. " I remember my English teacher at City College, Mr. Rosskopf, teaching us about H.L. Mencken and the heyday of journalism in America. I wake up Wednesday morning in Afghanistan to find the legacy of that time in shambles. The Baltimore Sun has became a joke when a headline that read "College Park shooter identified as Morgan State University graduate" (Feb.

Morgan State University's faculty has overwhelmingly voted in support of President David J. Wilson, according to figures released by the university council Friday. More than 86 percent of Morgan faculty members who participated in the vote cast ballots to signal their confidence in Wilson, who has recently come under fire from some members of Morgan's Board of Regents. In early December, the regents voted 8 to 7 behind closed doors to not renew Wilson's contract when it expires at the end of the academic year.

The Rev. James R. LeVeque, a retired Episcopal priest and mathematics instructor, died of kidney failure Saturday at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The Charles Village resident was 81. Born in Cassopolis, Mich., he attended the Howe Military School in Howe, Ind., and earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Chicago. He then earned divinity and theology degrees at Nashotah House Seminary in Nashotah, Wis. He was ordained a priest in 1956. He later earned master's degrees in mathematics from the Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University.