Why Howard University’s graduation is the best graduation
HU? YOU KNOW!
Get out those mortarboards and tassels, it’s graduation day!
During the month of May, students all over the country will be walking across the stage to celebrate their college graduations. And if you’re one of the lucky students at Washington D.C.’s Howard University (affectionately known as “the Mecca”) you’ll be treated to a commencement speech from none other than President Obama on May 7th. Obama is in good company; he’s the sixth sitting president to speak at Howard’s commencement.
President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address at Howard University's commencement ceremony this year. "It is…dcist.com
“The President’s commitment to education, especially for those who can least afford it, dovetails with Howard’s commitment to provide these same students with a rigorous, intellectually-stimulating, and academically-challenging educational experience…President Obama’s own legacy gives the Howard Community great expectations for the leadership footprint it will leave on America and the globe,” said Howard University President, Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick in a statement.
I might be biased from spending a few years teaching on campus, but Howard is a special place.
Bisons go on to do big things in art, music, politics, and culture. Howard grads include folks as diverse as Zora Neale Hurston to Kamala Harris. How many students can say their homecoming has been name checked from everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Biggie Smalls?
"Then jump in the car and just ride for hours/ Makin' sure I don't miss the homecoming at Howard" - Ludacris. Hip-hop…globalgrind.com
As Juliet Beverly puts it over at Those People:
Where else could you see Nelly and Rev. Al Sharpton all in the same week within a 4-block radius? Where else could you get Sunday service from Cornel West or Michael Eric Dyson? Where else could you have Suzanne de Passe volunteer to critique your screenplay pitch, or see Harry Belafonte texting on a flip phone in Screening Room West of the briefly dedicated John H. Johnson School of Communications? It’s called The Mecca for a reason.
While Howard University’s financial and campus troubles have made headlines in the last few years, the graduates aren’t letting it dim the shine of their big day.
