CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
THIRTY YEARS AGO, IT WAS STUDENTS WHO — WITH FAITH IN MORGAN AND A BELIEF THAT HBCUS MATTER, DURING A CRITICAL TIME IN MORGAN’S HISTORY — PLANTED SEEDS OF POSSIBILITY THAT HAVE MANIFESTED THE ARTIFACTS OF THEIR VISION. — TRAVIS MITCHELL, MSU CLASS OF 1992
the issues we faced as Morgan students stemmed from historic underfunding of Morgan by the State of Maryland,” a fact acknowledged three years ago by the Maryland General Assembly’s historic $577-million settlement with the state’s four public HBCUs. Mitchell spoke for the approximately 200 students who held a weeklong sit-in in Morgan’s administration building. Together, the students began direct negotiations with then Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer and mobilized stakeholders from Morgan, Baltimore and the entire state to support their cause, through massive rallies of thousands of people in the state capital, Annapolis. They also held a hunger strike and called for the
state to immediately support a 25-year capital improvement plan that had been submitted by Morgan President Earl S. Richardson. Little did Mitchell know that the student-led protests of 1990–1991 would be the catalyst for change that resulted in more than $1.5 billion in capital improvements at Morgan since then. “Thirty years ago,” Mitchell says, “it was students who — with faith in Morgan and a belief that HBCUs matter, during a critical time in Morgan’s history — planted seeds of possibility that have manifested the artifacts of their vision.” Full Circle, With Honors Today, Mitchell serves as senior vice president and chief content
officer for Maryland Public Television (MPT), where he is the highest-ranking African American in the organization’s more than 50-year history. His 26 years of media marketing and management experience also includes recent roles as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Atlanta-based Black Family Channel and as chief content officer for UNC-TV in North Carolina, where he co-executive produced “Shaw Rising,” an Emmy award- winning documentary about the university where he was raised. In 2021, he came full circle to Shaw when he was appointed to the university’s Board of Trustees and received an honorary
Doctor of Humane Letters, in recognition of his service to the community as a media and nonprofit organization executive.
Now at the helm of MPT’s Content Division, Mitchell has shepherded innovative
initiatives such as HBCU Week and the production of station’s acclaimed national PBS documentaries “Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom” and “Becoming Frederick Douglass.” Mitchell’s daughter, Trae, is also a Morgan alum: a Spring 2023 graduate with a bachelor’s in multimedia journalism. Like her father, she worked for The Spokesman while at Morgan, serving as managing editor.
TODAY, MITCHELL SERVES AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER FOR MARYLAND PUBLIC TELEVISION, WHERE HE IS THE HIGHEST- RANKING AFRICAN AMERICAN IN THE ORGANIZATION’S MORE THAN 50-YEAR HISTORY.
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