Anyone who has spent time taking classes at Oglethorpe University from 1992 until now has likely run into Michael Harris.

Retired from the Fulton County Board of Education and an ordained minister in the New Beginnings Full Gospel Church, Harris has been taking courses in history as time and his resources allowed to honor a commitment he made to his mother when he was working toward graduating from Decatur High in 1974. She believed in education and wanted Harris and his siblings to earn a college degree.

“Education was always an essential part of our lives,” Harris said. “It has been most important to me. We believed you had a better chance at succeeding with an education.”

Closing in on his final requirements to earn his bachelor’s, Harris suffered a setback that even his resilience couldn’t overcome. While preparing to leave campus back in November 2024, he collapsed at his car in the parking lot. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he went into a coma as his kidneys and liver ceased to function.

His prognosis was not hopeful, and doctors called in his family who were told to begin making funeral arrangements. But slowly over the course of eight days, he came out of the coma, began receiving dialysis, and was put on the liver transplant list. Within a few days, he received the new liver and began to make progress on the slow journey of recovery.

He remained hospitalized for eight months.

“Many students from Oglethorpe came to see me, and my family was there 24-7,” Harris said. “I kept telling them I had to get back to Oglethorpe, and they said not to worry about school. I told them I had to finish my degree.”

When Harris began to show signs of recovery, he began to receive dialysis and, ultimately, physical therapy and speech therapy. He was transferred to a rehab hospital and began to walk on his third day there.

“I was just like a baby again,” Harris said. “I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t talk. I had to take physical therapy. I had to take speech therapy.”

Throughout his ordeal, Oglethorpe remained on his mind, and his fellow students and professors kept in touch and visited. Known for sharing his homemade pecan bread with faculty, staff and students, Harris touched many lives at Oglethorpe. Those relationships came back to him in his hour of need.

“I was determined,” he said. “There was a lot of encouragement at this university. You don’t find that at a lot of universities.”

His Student Success Adviser, Helen Bond, was particularly helpful in ensuring he had completed the requirements for his degree.

“He is so resilient,” Bond said. “He is a life-long learner. He is so active on campus. I thought he was incredible. He taught me that if you really want something, you can do it if you don’t give up on it.”

On May 3, 2025, at age 69, with the assistance of his sister Cynthia Harris and her fiancé, Drexel Wilbern, he walked across the stage, received his degree from President Kathryn McClymond and Board Chair Tammy Pearson and wept tears of joy.

“I love that school so much,” he said. “Most of the folks there have become like my family. I thank everyone for their love, support and prayers,” Harris said. “I could just feel the vibes coming from Oglethorpe. It has been a pleasure matriculating at that university.”

Harris plans to take a break this summer and focus on regaining his strength. Then, he will see if there is a way he can give back to the institution he believes has given him so much.