In the intro to one of his songs, the rapper and former gang member Snoop Dogg (replicating a scene from the 1973 film 'The Mack') says to another man in a nightclub, "We can settle this like some gentlemen or we can get into some ol' gangsta sh*t." While one might expect such a conversation to occur between two gang members, one would not expect to see this exchange between two men from Morehouse College, arguably the most prestigious Historically Black College in America.

But that is one summary of how things went down on that strange October night. Joshua Brandon Norris attended a Halloween Party in 2007 and was kicked out of the party for causing trouble. A few minutes later, everyone ducked for cover when they heard gunshots. The shooting victim, Frank Rashad Johnson, said that he got into an altercation with Norris, and that Norris rolled up a few minutes later in a Hummer and put a gun to Johnson's head. Johnson then grabbed Norris by the arm and that is when the shooting started. Although he did not kill the victim, Norris shot Johnson three times. Yes, two Morehouse men getting "into some ol' gangsta sh*t". Wow.

The only thing crazier than the story is how it was resolved. Norris, the shooter, faced one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a second count for possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The prosecutor, who may have lacked necessary supervision, really put the hammer on Norris: six years probation, a $1,000 fine and 240 hours of community service. Oh by the way, he was also allowed back into Morehouse College to graduate with the rest of his 2009 class this past weekend after serving no jail time. I have to do a Gary Coleman on this one and ask,"Whatchoo talking 'bout Morehouse?"

Johnson, the victim, had just lost his father during the same year. Given the obvious discomfort of going to school with the man who shot him, Johnson has chosen to move out west to be with his mother. After going through such a traumatic experience, I would want to be with my mama, too. Norris, the shooter, has stayed to enjoy the university, along with his $450,000 condo (quite the standard possession for a 22-year old college student). So, the real Morehouse man, whose family had been at the school for three generations, was being run out of town by a rich, gun totting punk who thought he could shoot someone because he disagreed with him.

I fight for black men on a regular basis, and have put my career on the line for them. But I must say that we all deserve certain fundamental rights of blackness. One of those rights should be that a student at Morehouse College who gets into a fight with another student should not expect to have a gun put to his head. Let's be clear: Morehouse College did not do this. Hip-hop did not do this. Morehouse also has the wealthiest of traditions when it comes to educating black men and making them strong. But in this case, Morehouse administrators' behavior appears to be very "unMorehouse" in nature.

When CNN and other media outlets have asked Morehouse officials to comment on the case, they've only issued bland written statements about student privacy. OK, I can almost understand that. But the bigger question is why school officials put themselves in a situation that will lead to such negative and embarrassing public scrutiny from the media and alumni? If a student can be expelled for cheating on an exam, would they be better off if they'd instead chosen to shoot a classmate? Do all students get this kind of treatment or just the 22-year-olds who own half-million dollar condominiums? Without judging Morehouse one way or the other, the brain is hungry for some kind of logical rebalancing: What were school officials thinking?

In order to try to make some sense of this and to make sure the commentary is balanced (no black on black intellectual crime today), I reached out to two very prominent Morehouse men: Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, an Assistant Professor of Education at Columbia University and Dr. Ricky L. Jones, Director of the Center for the Study of Crime and Justice in the Black Community, housed in the Pan-African Studies Department at The University of Louisville. While numerous black scholars likely have something to say about this, I wanted to specifically allow two Morehouse College alums to weigh in on their alma mater.

"Institutions like Morehouse College have a long and deep history of producing some of the most extraordinary black men in the world. Sometimes, this tradition forces the institution into a protective posture that privileges 'respectability' over 'responsibility'," said Dr. Hill, author of 'Beats, Rhymes and Classroom Life: Hip-hop Pedagogy and The Politics of Identity.' "HBCU's sometimes replicate the same class-based inequalities that govern the institutional decision-making of predominantly white universities".

In other words, black people can be shady too. Even when they are educated.

"We need to keep in mind that this is more than a Morehouse problem. This is another indication of how intoxicated American society is with guns and violence," says Dr. Jones, author of 'What's Wrong with Obamamania?.' "I am willing to wait for the president's full reasoning and explanation about that."

In other words, we need more gun control and the university had better say SOMETHING.

Dr. Juan Gilbert, president of Brothers of the Academy, the largest organization for black male PhDs in the country, states that, "Here's a young man that is a second or third generation Morehouse man that had to leave school after being shot by a young man that is graduating -- what? It appears to me that there is more to this story than meets the eye."

To be fair to Morehouse College, you can click to see what other black scholars had to say about the Morehouse College student shooting.

The bottom line is this: Morehouse needs to clean up this situation for the alumni and the rest of us who are wondering why a man can shoot another student and get back into school. There should be a voluntary investigation and assurances to the family of the victim that they are going to be compensated. The Morehouse alumni deserve to know why the prosecutor gave the perpetrator such a light sentence. Could there be money involved? Why did the administration buckle so easily? Full disclosure is necessary, as Morehouse credibility is clearly on the line.

After it's all said and done, Morehouse is still an outstanding institution. But being a strong university does not exclude you from community accountability. It's time to start "fessing up."

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Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of 'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College' He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, CBS and ESPN. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com. To get Dr Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.