Anchored by its main campus of 61 acres (25 ha) near downtown Atlanta, the college has a variety of residential dorms and academic buildings east of Ashview Heights.

The college has graduated numerous "African-American firsts" in local, state and federal government, as well as in science, academia, business, and entertainment.

The school received sponsorship from the American Baptist Home Mission Society, an organization that helped establish several historically Black colleges.

An anti-slavery Baptist minister from South Carolina and 1828 graduate of Brown University, Robert raised funds, taught the classes, and stabilized the institution.

[9] He envisioned an academically rigorous college that would be the antithesis to Booker T. Washington's view of agricultural and trade-focused education for African Americans.

[9] Samuel H. Archer became the fifth president of the college in 1931 and chose the school colors, maroon and white, to reflect his own alma mater, Colgate University.

The next year, Morehouse became the third historically Black institution (HBCU) to establish a Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society.

The college also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the "A Candle in the Dark" Gala, which is an annual event that honors some of the world's leaders and raises scholarship funds for Morehouse students.

[20] In May 2019, Robert F. Smith who received an honorary degree at Morehouse College's 135th commencement ceremony, promised to pay the educational loan debt for every spring 2019 graduate which totaled about $34 million.

It is the first research institute of its kind focusing on the cultural, economic, personal and social outcomes of issues affecting Black men, particularly where disparities exist in the world.

The building has hosted human rights film festivals, moving screenings, and panel discussions featuring international figures.

An obelisk named in honor of Howard Thurman stands at the western end of the main entrance plaza of King Chapel.

Additionally, students have many opportunities to participate in domestic exchange, study abroad, research, dual degree, internship, and leadership programs.

On June 29, it was announced by Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, a key catalyst in the buyout, that a new civil rights museum would be built in the city to make the documents available for research, public access and exhibits.

[51][52][53][54] In sports, the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers are affiliated with the NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).

Morehouse College competes in football, basketball, baseball, cross country, tennis, track & field, men's volleyball, polo, and golf.

It is a tradition for students living in first-year only residence halls to compete in various friendly competitions (i.e. stroll-offs, chant-offs, pranks, fundraising, etc.)

Then-university president Robert Michael Franklin Jr. sent out an email to the schools' alumni, clarifying that the university's attire policy was not intended as an affront to gay students.

[67] Morehouse is an NCAA Division II school and competes in numerous sports, including football, baseball, basketball, cross country, volleyball, and track & field.

They have performed at Super Bowl XXVIII, the Today Show, at Atlanta Falcons home games, and in a national commercial with Morehouse alumnus Samuel Jackson.

Affectionately known as the "House of Funk" they march alongside Spelman's Maroon Mystique Color guard (flag spinning) squad and Mahogany-N-Motion danceline.

In 2017, the Morehouse College Debate Team won an international first place title and a trip to Paris, France after defeating Vanderbilt University in the final round at the Lafayette Debates North American Championship in Washington D.C.[71] Founded in 1911, the Morehouse College Glee Club has a long and impressive history.

The Glee Club is said to have performed at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral, President Jimmy Carter's inauguration, Super Bowl XXVIII, and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

American poet and writer Thomas Dent was a contributor while he attended from 1948 to 1952, as was Martin Luther King Jr. Maroon Tiger former editors and contributors include Geoff Bennett, Vann R. Newkirk II, Donovan Ramsey, Tre'vell Anderson, Lerone Bennett Jr., Shaun King as well as a host of others.

[72][73] Several Spelman and Clark Atlanta juniors that advance past preliminary interviews compete for the title of Miss Maroon & White through a formal campaign and beauty pageant process during the spring semester of each year.

Miss Maroon & White and her royal court (two runners-ups known as attendants) collectively serve as official Morehouse ambassadors and represents the womanly embodiment of the institution for a year.

[67] Morehouse alumni include notable men such as: Martin Luther King Sr., Martin Luther King Jr., A. D. King, Martin Luther King III, theologian Howard Thurman, filmmaker Spike Lee, actor Samuel L. Jackson, civil rights leader Julian Bond, United States Senator Raphael Warnock,[77] businessman and former 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017 Jeh Johnson, engineer, educator, and pioneering U.S. Navy officer Edward S. Hope, University president and health care executive Albert W. Dent, actor John David Washington, NFL Referee Jerome Boger, celebrity physician Corey Hébert, U.S.

Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Gang Starr rapper Guru, Four-time 400 meter hurdles world record holder and twice Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, U.S. District Court Judge George J. Hazel, Lloyd McNeill, Jazz flutist, USPS Kwanza Stamp designer, the first recipient of Howard University's MFA Degree, former Bank of America Chairman Walter E. Massey, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta Maynard Jackson, Major League Baseball first baseman and 1969 World Series MVP Donn Clendenon, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, former United States Surgeon General David Satcher, musician PJ Morton, rap producer Metro Boomin, Sunday Best season 7 winner Geoffrey Golden, Montgomery County Alabama Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin,[78] and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientist who attempted to stop the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Bill Jenkins.

[81][82] Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Jimmy Carter hold honorary doctorates of laws from Morehouse, after giving commencement speeches.

He commissioned the Gandhi Ikeda King Hassan Institute for Ethics and Reconciliation in 1999, and created the Gandhi–King–Ikeda Community Builder's Prize of the Morehouse Chapel in 2001.