Atlanta, Georgia
Mission College
June 2017
Dr. Dunlap
The President’s Dining Hall was standing room only. The wealthiest of Mission alum, aka the “six-figure club” as they have been known to call themselves, had paid at least 1 million to stand in the room. They chattered over servings of baked lamb chops (or salmon), sweet potatoes, green beans and macaroni-n-cheese and the most southern and “sweetest” tea. Every year, the most elite and wealthiest Mission alum gathered in the President’s Dining Hall the Thursday night before the Relays festivities for the annual President’s Award. It was a recognition given to the individual who have served their alma mater faithfully in the previous year. It was also one of the school’s biggest fundraisers — last year the event brought in over $35 million. Dr. Dunlap was determined to and had promised that he’d add “ten more on top”” this year.
“Ladies and Gentlemen please take your seat.” The room, filled to its 50-person capacity, took their seats at once.
“I forgot how good “the A” felt around this time of year. There is nothing like The Relays in Atlanta to kick the summer off! I may live in New York now but the summers in Atlanta are one for the ages!”
A few in the crowd clapped in agreeance. Indeed, the summer in Atlanta did not begin until Relay Weekend. The tradition stretched back as far as 100 years and served as a staple in the Atlanta Black social scene and a rite of passage in HBCU sporting events.
“Anyway, I’d like to thank you for inviting me here. I am Darrel Dunlap and for some reason somebody thought I would be the best person to introduce Dr. Dunlap to you all tonight as he receives Mission College’s highest honor. All I have to say to that is…you are absolutely right.”
Some in the audience chuckled as Darrel searched the inner pocket of his jacket for his remarks he’d written on a notecard. After checking both jacket pockets and all four his pant pockets, it was clear that whatever he was looking for, he did not have.
“And like a fuckin’ jackass I left my speech at home,” Darrel inadvertly blurted out. The audience cackled and howled at the slip of his tongue.
“Aye, watch your mouth, Darrel,” Dr. Dunlap scorned from behind.
“Watch my mouth?” Darrel twisted his face up, turning to face Dr. Dunlap who was seated behind him at a Who’s Who’s table of former Mission presidents. “These plates cost a million dollars! “You can kiss my ass, Dr. Dunlap!”
The room roared in laughter. Even Dr. Dunlap could not keep himself from laughing. “No, but seriously,” Darrel began, “What do you call a man like Vaughn? 25 years ago, when I got the phone call that he had done the impossible and beat the LAPD at their own game, I called him ‘lucky.’
There was some applause. “Then,” Darrel continued, “the day I got the phone call that this same ex-felon was running for Mayor of Atlanta, I called him insane. When he called back a few months later and told me he’d won the primary, I called him a dreamer. Then, the day he called and told me he was elected Mayor, I called him a hero.”
Some in the room cheered to acknowledge their former “chosen” city official. Dr. Dunlap’s ascension from The FBI’s Most Wanted to “The Blackest HBCU President in the Nation” had been a divine plan 25 years in the making. Dr. Dunlap reflected briefly on the last quarter century of his life. The pride in his accomplishments was probably not pride at all. Rather, they were merely the indifference of surviving. Still, he was humbled to hear his accolades. Even he would have to admit that going from a wanted fugitive, to mayor of a major US city, to the president of the wealthiest HBCU in the nation was no small feat.
“The day I got the phone call that he resigned from the post of Mayor to accept the Presidency of Mission, I called him crazy. The Mayor? Of Atlanta? For…for Mission? Then he actually did it; and I called him a man of his word. You see, the man you see today goes by many names. Some of you call him President. Some call him Dr. Dunlap. Some of you may even call him by his first name — Vaughn. But I call him something far greater: family.”
A few Awwwwwws found there way out of the crowd.
“So without further ado, I’d like to introduce this year’s recipient of the President’s Award. My cousin and the 14 president of Mission College, Dr. Vaughn Dunlap!”
The crowd of attendees stood to their feet with thunderous applause as Dr. Dunlap made his way to the podium. He embraced his cousin warmly while motioning for the crowd to be seated.
“Thank you, thank you, all,” Dr. Dunlap said humbly. “I appreciate those words from my cousin, Darrel,” he began. “Although when he said he had another name he liked to call me, I thought he was about to start dropping nicknames that don’t belong in this room.”
There was some laughter from the crowd.
“But thankfully he didn’t,” he joked, “I wouldn’t want this room to know his nickname back in the day use to be Half-Pint!”
