When I think back to my freshman year at Morehouse College in 1990, for all of the excitement that derived from being away from home, meeting new friends from across the world, and enjoying the educational and extracurricular offerings of the Atlanta University Center (Morehouse, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, and the Interdenominational Theological Center), one critical aspect of those school days that I have never written about until now is this: my fellow Men of Morehouse and I were ALWAYS HUNGRY!
When we arrived at Morehouse that August, the Trustees were already in the process of modernizing the campus, which included the renovation of the Chivers and Lane Dining Halls. The College had just contracted with a new food service company because, to let our older Brothers tell the story, the food quality and presentation in prior years was quite deplorable.
Well, such was not the case during my freshman and subsequent years, as one of my best friends, Victor Owens, and I still boast that from the ham, eggs, and waffles, to the fried chicken, veggies, desserts, and occasional ribeye steaks and fried shrimp, all of it comprised some of the best eating of our entire lives.
But as great as the food tasted at Morehouse during our era, there was one major conundrum—the hours of operation were rather minimal. Meaning, if we missed breakfast, lunch, or dinner before the cafeteria closed, we were simply "on short," as we used to say, and starving!