ATLANTA (AP - Morris Brown College, which is scrambling to pay off a $380,000 overdue water bill that had threatened to close the school after 127 years, held a second rally on Saturday to raise money to settle the debt.
The school has raised over $125,000 in recent weeks through a grassroots campaign seeking donations from the community and across the country. The money raised Saturday included a bag full of quarters totaling $100 from 13-year-old Terrence McKenzie, who gave because his mother had gone to the college.
Morris Brown, a historically black college founded by former slaves, has struggled to stay afloat in recent years and is recovering from a 2002 embezzlement scandal that brought the institution to the brink of extinction. The city shut off the school's water on Dec. 15 after it failed to make scheduled payments.
On Friday, lawyers for Morris Brown successfully petitioned a superior court judge to intervene in the matter, and the city agreed to turn the water back on before classes are scheduled to resume on Jan. 9.