Michael Sorrell

Bill Cosby Will Deliver the Commencement Address at Paul Quinn College

Six years ago, wooing a high-profile commencement speaker was the last thing on Paul Quinn College's to-do list. The southern Dallas school, the city's only historically black college, was in disrepair, physically and academically, after years of mismanagement. With its accreditation set to be revok ... More >>

Paul Quinn College Bans Bacon, Other Delicious Pork Products

Update at 3:31 p.m.: Just heard back from Paul Quinn President Michael Sorrell who told me this is part of an ongoing effort to make the school's dining options healthier. They've added a grill and cut back on fried food in recent years, and there's the garden, of course. "The reality is that our s ... More >>

Michael Sorrell: The Prez

In this week's Dallas Observer we profile 30 of the metro area's most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Mark Graham. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. Paul Quinn College in South Dallas is empty, most of its students home for the summer, but ... More >>

Should We Celebrate Juneteenth?

I had lunch with Rev. Peter Johnson yesterday. He walked into CT's Real Deal Barbeque in South Dallas, shook my hand, and smiled. "How was your holiday?" he asked me. "Great!" I said. It was. I told him I spoke to my father for about 15 or 20 minutes, and I had even gotten a few texts and congratu ... More >>

At Paul Quinn College's Trayvon Martin Rally,
A Cry For Justice

Repercussions from the fatal shooting of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin will be felt in Austin next year, state Senator Royce West told hundreds of demonstrators who gathered at Paul Quinn College today to mourn and demand justice for the 17-year-old. "We've come together today, but what w ... More >>

Michael Sorrell Revived Paul Quinn College (and Almost Died Doing It)

Dallas' only historically black college was on the brink of collapse. Now the students are protesters, the football field is a farm and the president is the star.

We Checked and, Yup, Dallas's Flow Control Plan Is Still All About the Benjamins

Back in September, when the city passed its ordinance requiring commercial solid waste companies to dump in South Dallas's McCommas Bluff landfill, the proposal drew an unexpected foe: a group of Paul Quinn College students, led by school president Michael Sorrell, who protested in front of City Hal ... More >>

Dallas Farmer's Market: Cut it Off at the Roots

It's time to admit the city-owned market is a failure.

The Continuing Leppertness of Mayor Mike Rawlings

Even his opponents say Rawlings is a good guy. Why is that exactly?

"Tired of Being Ignored and Insulted," Paul Quinn Students Round Up Powerful and Familiar Faces for City Hall Protest

Photo by Danny HurleyPaul Quinn College President Michael J. Sorrell at the flow-control protest before the council's vote last month​New Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings is in for the first serious grassroots challenge to his leadership -- a march on City Hall announced today by a broad-based coalition ... More >>

Dumped On

How will City Hall's garbage dump vote turn trash into treasure? Ask the Reverend Stephen Nash.

Paul Quinn President, Regional Chamber Prez Ask Council to Delay Vote on Flow Control

Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell​Anyone who's even glanced Unfair Park in the last few months knows by now that City Manager Mary Suhm and Mary Nix, head of Sanitation Services, are hoping that the city council will vote tomorrow on a proposal that will force all solid-waste haulers to ... More >>

WSJ on The New-Look Paul Quinn College

Photo by Kimberly ThorpeMichael Sorrell​Not so very long ago it looked as though Paul Quinn College on Simpson Stuart Road might not be long for this world, following the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' decision to yank its accreditation. Appeals were made; lawsuits, filed. And the e ... More >>

Going Against the Flow: McCommas Bluff Plan Really About a Different Kind of Green

​I wince. I wish. I need to give up reading. Nature writer Diane Ackerman (The Zookeeper's Wife, 2008 Orion Award for nonfiction) has an op-ed piece in The New York Times today telling a wonderful story about cities that have turned wastewater treatment operations into nature preserves. I rea ... More >>

Democrats! Are you going to let John Wiley Price run your party? Really?

At Paul Quinn College, It's: So Long, Old Dorms! Hello, Lacrosse and Gardens!

Photos by Patrick MichelsTrammell S. Crow, donated $1 million for the demolition of 13 abandoned buildings at Paul Quinn College, takes down the first chunk of the old T.M. Chambers House Tuesday morning.The football field's already given way to a Pepsi-sponsored urban farm at Paul Quinn College, an ... More >>

Turns Out, Paul Quinn's New "Urban Farm" Is Also a New PepsiCo "Social Business Initiative"

The former football field at Paul Quinn College, now an urban farm​A couple of weeks back we noticed, courtesy some video from Central Dallas Ministries' Larry James, that Paul Quinn College was in the midst of transforming its football field into a two-acre "urban farm," in the words of school pr ... More >>

At Paul Quinn College, Transforming a Football Field Into An "Urban Farm"

​Paul Quinn College, which celebrated its 138th birthday one week ago today, remains without accreditation almost one year after Southern Association of Colleges and Schools removed the school from its membership list. Which is why it's now seeking accreditation status elsewhere: the significantly ... More >>

Paul Quinn Starts Semester With Small Number of Students But a Large Pile of Cash

​Struggling to remain viable since losing its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation this summer, Paul Quinn College yesterday announced a major fund-raising milestone. The historic black college has raised more than $1 million since July, when the Texas Legislative Black Caucu ... More >>

Paul Quinn's President is Defiant in Wake of Ruling: "There is No Doomsday Scenario."

Kimberly ThorpePaul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell​Turns out, Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell was available to talk to us today, following the news that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools refused to reinstate the the 137-year-old institution's accreditation. Not ... More >>

A Week After Losing Its Accreditation, the Fate of Paul Quinn College Still Up in the Air

Kimberly ThorpePaul Quinn College president Michael SorrellMore questions than answers remain about the future of Paul Quinn College a week after its president announced the institution's loss of accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Michael Sorrell last Friday explain ... More >>

Head of the United Negro College Fund Blasts Decision to Pull Paul Quinn's Accreditation

Michael Lomax, president and CEO of the United Negro College FundOn Friday, Kimberly spent the afternoon on the campus of Paul Quinn College, which is appealing the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' decision to yank the school's accreditation; said president Michael Sorrell, "It is not t ... More >>

President of Paul Quinn College on the Loss of Accreditation: "It is Not Time to Write Paul Quinn's Obituary." Students Say: "It Sucks."

Kimberly ThorpePaul Quinn College president Michael SorrellPresident Michael Sorrell of Paul Quinn College earlier this afternoon addressed a room full of anxious students, alumni and curious reporters regarding news that Paul Quinn College has lost its accreditation. The news broke yesterday after ... More >>

Death in the Inner Circle

Apparent murder-suicide cuts to the heart of the mayor's southern Dallas advisors

Craig Watkins Is Feeling a Little Picked On, So Just Back Off, 'K?

Mayor Tom Leppert Needs to Walk the Ethics Reform Talk

If the mayor wants to raise the ethical bar at City Hall, he won't have far to reach

Be Ware: Mayor Tom Leppert's Trying to Get the Former City Manager on DART's Big Board

Exactly Where is the News in The News About Lynn Flint Shaw?

DART Made a Billion-Dollar Goof

New DART lines to cost $1 billion more than promised

It Pays to Be DART Board Chair

Not Banking on a Reponse from Lynn Flint Shaw or Her People

Lynn Flint Shaw's Fuzzy Math?

The Mighty Quinn (Well, Mightier)

Don Hill Slides From Mayoral Candidate to Alleged Criminal

How did that happen?

Drunk Tellers

Run down to the City Council Bank. They're giving money away!

Hand in Hand

Never mind lethal injection, there's lots of Olympic spirit here