On September 3, 2003 Michael A. Battle began his duties as President of ITC in Atlanta, GA. The selection of Dr. Battle as President of one of the largest black seminaries in the US is significant for me because he was the Dean of the Chapel at Hampton University when I taught there in the 80s. He is an excellent administrator, prolific writer, advocate of fiscal discipline and a proponent of rigor in theological research. When we were colleagues at Hampton he would frequently tolerate my own brand of theological curiosity. I was proud to serve as a Deacon/Trustee for the Hampton Chapel and a member of his Church School teaching staff. It was thru Micheal Battle and his direction of the Hampton Ministers Conference that I came to meet and know religious "superstars" like Gardner C. Taylor, John Bryant, Jr., Wyatt T. Walker, A. Lewis Patterson and the one and only Donald A. Parsons. Kudos to Bishop Bryant, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for ITC, in announcing this splendid choice. It is a decision he nor the ITC family will regret. QED

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2003