After a five-year term as president of Morehouse College, Robert M. Franklin is stepping down at the close of the academic year on June 30.

Franklin plans to spend his time off as a scholar in residence at Stanford University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Institute — home for the civil rights leader’s Papers Project, as well as a broad range of activities related to King’s life, including the fight for African-American freedom and global social justice struggles. Later, Franklin plans to return to Morehouse as Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics.

"Dr. Franklin has served an integral role leading the renaissance of Morehouse, and his dedication is greatly appreciated," said Robert Davidson, chairman of the Morehouse College Board of Trustees.

In recognition of Franklin’s service to the college, the Board of Trustees voted to recognize him with the college's highest and most prestigious rank: President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor.

"I look forward to a sabbatical during which I intend to travel, write, speak and interview leaders about the condition of boys and men in the U.S. and around the globe, research that I began years ago in my book Crisis in the Village," said Franklin. "I am grateful to the board of trustees for the invitation to return as President Emeritus and Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics, and the opportunity to continue supporting the mission of Morehouse in a different way."

In 2010, Morehouse College, a private liberal arts college for men, was recognized as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation by the Washington Monthly.

Under Franklin’s leadership, the college increased alumni giving from 17 percent to 36 percent, three times the national average, and received over $60 million in federal grants. Franklin is credited for restoring confidence in the college’s mission, and the ideal to cultivate men of Morehouse as "Renaissance men with social conscience and global perspective" who are, as any Morehouse grad can tell you, well-read, well-spoken, well-traveled, well-dressed and well-balanced.

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