Story Snapshot
The Background
A Legacy at a Digital Crossroads
For more than 150 years, Morehouse College has shaped leaders who have gone on to transform the world. As one of the nation’s oldest historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), its mission is clear: to develop men with disciplined minds who lead lives of leadership and service.
That promise carries enormous weight. With 70% of incoming students identifying as first-generation, Morehouse represents both a proud tradition and a vital commitment: to prepare young men of color not only for careers, but for lives of purpose.
Protecting that identity is non-negotiable. “Alumni are the most vocal brand guardians you’ll ever meet,” says Candace Bazemore, Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation. “If our content doesn’t sound like Morehouse, I’ll hear about it immediately. I’ve had alumni stop me in person to say: ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ We carry that responsibility in every sentence.”
But as expectations for digital experiences soared, Candace and her lean team faced a crossroads. Higher education faces the looming “enrollment cliff,” with fewer students applying to college nationwide. At the same time, digital-natives expect college websites to be as clear and intuitive as the apps they use every day.
“For many first-gen students, the admissions site is their first moment of truth,” Candace explains. “If they can’t find answers quickly, or if the tone feels unwelcoming, we risk losing them before they ever see what makes Morehouse so special.”
The problem wasn’t a lack of material—Morehouse had more than 900 web pages, created over years by different departments. The real challenge was voice and usability. Instead of hearing the warmth of Morehouse’s community, visitors were confronted with fragmented content, dense paragraphs, and inconsistent tone.
The Challenge
Prospective students needed clarity, not complexity
The Morehouse website attracts millions of visitors each year. For prospective students, it was supposed to be the first place they saw the promise of a Morehouse education. But instead of inspiration, many found confusion.
- Students bounced away when simple questions—How do I apply? What scholarships are available? What’s student life like?—were buried under dense, academic copy. For first-gen applicants especially, the tone felt intimidating rather than encouraging.
- Parents and counselors sought reassurance and detail, but had to navigate fragmented pages, inconsistent answers, and no clear hub of truth.
The external experience was breaking down at the very moment families were deciding where to place their trust.
Internally, the pressure fell on one person: Candace Bazemore.
As Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation, Candace was responsible for every digital touchpoint—from web and social to analytics. She led a lean team of three specialists, none of them full-time content writers. Yet the expectation was that her group could not only maintain Morehouse’s 900+ pages, but also ensure every word carried the voice of Morehouse.
That responsibility was amplified by alumni. More than 30,000 living alumni serve as passionate brand guardians, quick to voice concerns when messaging strays. “If we publish something off-brand, I’ll know within hours,” Candace says. “It’s accountability in the purest form—and it’s constant.”
The stakes were clear: if Morehouse couldn’t deliver a consistent, student-first admissions experience, they risked losing future leaders before they ever set foot on campus.
The Solution
Content Hub: A Student-First Admissions Blog
Candace’s first step was to create a dedicated admissions blog using HubSpot’s Content Hub.
For the first time, Morehouse had a digital home designed specifically for prospective students and their families. The structure addressed the external pain points:
- Students gained quick, clear answers in approachable, mobile-friendly posts.
- Parents and counselors found longer articles with the reassurance and detail they needed.
- The team published content in one centralized hub, with seamless workflows and reporting built directly into HubSpot.
“The blog became our foundation,” Candace explains. “It gave us one place, one voice, connected to all of our other marketing efforts. That clarity was what we had been missing.”
But structure was only half the solution. The deeper challenge was tone. Families needed warmth, accessibility, and consistency. Morehouse needed every sentence to carry its identity.
Breeze Studio: Giving AI a Morehouse Identity
That’s when Candace introduced Breeze Studio and built Mr. Tiger—a custom assistant named after the College’s Maroon Tiger mascot.
Unlike generic AI tools, Mr. Tiger wasn’t just turned on. He was trained. Candace and her team carefully fed the custom assistant the raw materials that make up Morehouse’s voice and identity:
- Brand guidelines: official language, color codes, design elements, and tone principles.
- Voice document: a three-page breakdown of how Morehouse speaks—warm, aspirational, brotherhood-driven, never corporate or cold.
- Owned content: the newsroom, social posts, admissions pages, and recruiter emails, all hosted on HubSpot, provided living examples of how the College tells its story.
“We told it: Stay inside our world,” Candace explains. “Don’t wander. Don’t sound generic. Only pull from morehouse.edu and our branded assets. We even uploaded our brand colors so it would know our maroon is our maroon—not just any maroon.”
That attention to detail made the difference. Instead of churning out templated copy, Mr. Tiger learned to echo the voice of Morehouse itself—uplifting, student-first, rooted in legacy.
The “wow moment” came quickly. Candace asked Mr. Tiger how to improve the admissions page. Within seconds, it offered line-by-line recommendations, translating heavy, academic text into approachable, inspiring guidance for students.
“It was uncanny,” she recalls. “It didn’t just rewrite—it explained why. Why a sentence felt intimidating, why a phrase should be more direct, why adding a story would feel more personal. It was like having a brand coach built into our workflow.”
She took the results to her VP in a one-on-one. “I showed her what Mr. Tiger suggested, and she said: ‘That rocks.’ That was the moment we knew this wasn’t just a tool—it was a teammate.”
Smarter Engagement Across the Funnel
With Content Hub powering the admissions blog and custom assistant, Mr. Tiger ensuring brand consistency, Morehouse layered in automation to meet students at key moments:
- Personalized recruiter emails triggered by form fills.
- Application nudges if a student stalled on an essay.
- Recruiter alerts when high-intent activity signaled it was time to call.
The external result: a modern admissions journey that felt personal, responsive, and unmistakably Morehouse.
The Transformation
From Fragmentation to Focus
The impact was immediate:
- +30% growth in page views after the admissions blog launch.
- +27% increase in time on site, with visitors consuming multiple pages per visit.
- Faster turnaround times—pages optimized in minutes instead of days.
- Higher engagement from students, parents, and counselors.
For Candace, the shift was as much cultural as it was numerical.
“Before, we felt like we were always behind,” she says. “Now, we can be proactive. Students get clarity, parents get reassurance, and alumni see their voice reflected. Everyone wins.”
The transformation also gave her small team confidence. “We don’t have to second-guess if a phrase is on-brand. Mr. Tiger knows our voice. That peace of mind is priceless.”
Scaling the Model Beyond Admissions
Admissions was just the beginning. Candace and her team plan to create additional custom assistants in Breeze Studio, tailored for recruiters.
“Our recruiters are like a sales team,” she explains. “They’re on the road, talking to families every day. Soon they’ll have their own assistant to draft brand-aligned emails and texts—without waiting on us.”
By combining Content Hub with Breeze Studio, Morehouse has built a foundation that can scale—supporting new audiences, empowering staff, and keeping the brand voice consistent across every touchpoint.
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