155th Commencement Convocation Opening Remarks

 

Good morning, and welcome to the 155th Commencement Convocation of Howard University.

While I know we were all excited to be back on The Yard for our first full-capacity commencement since the pandemic, we are grateful for the opportunity to utilize the beautiful Capital One Arena literally down the street from our campus.

The weather forced us to call an audible, but it is always good to have strong partnerships on a professional level and friendships on a personal level, so I want to thank Ted Leonsis and the Monumental Sports and Entertainment team for their support in relocating today’s commencement. What you’ve done today is a true act of service for our graduates and our University. Thank you, Ted.

And thank you to the University staff for turning this all around on such short notice. You all are the best staff any university could assemble, and I am beyond appreciative of all your hard work. Please give them a hand.

Speaking of our graduates, would the Class of 2023 please stand so that we can give you the appropriate amount of applause?

Congratulations!

And while you sit, I would like the family and friends of the Class of 2023 to stand in recognition of the journey you’ve taken alongside your graduates. Please stand so we can also give you a round of applause.

Let us also show our appreciation for Howard’s staff members, especially those administrators who have been essential behind the scenes helping the University develop its new normal. Thank you.

We will honor one of our faculty members again today, as has been a tradition during my presidency, because I believe it is important for us to recognize that we have the most illustrious faculty in the nation. So with that in mind, let us give profound thanks to our distinguished faculty, professors, and lecturers who have shaped so much of your education – thank you. Would the faculty please stand?

We cannot forget our alum and our donors, proud members of our Howard family devoted to ensuring many of the graduates in this room would not be obstructed by cost or financial burden. These individuals continue assisting Howard fulfill our solemn duty to provide opportunity to those who would not receive it anyplace else. To all those who helped enlighten and educate our students, who helped keep them happy, healthy, safe, and secure, we thank you as well. Let us give them a round of applause.

On a personal note, I must thank my wife for her unrelenting support, and for being an incredible mother to our two children. You have given more of yourself to this University than most know, and I cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done over the years. Happy early Mother’s Day to you, and to all the mothers and mother figures celebrating with us today.

In his 1965 commencement speech to the University, President Lyndon B. Johnson said “American justice is a very special thing. For, from the first, this has been a land of towering expectations. It was to be a nation where each man could be ruled by the common consent of all—enshrined in law, given life by institutions, guided by men themselves subject to its rule. And all—all of every station and origin—would be touched equally in obligation and in liberty.”

Nearly 60 years later, we still aspire toward those towering expectations, but servant leaders like President Joe Biden have been instrumental in making those lofty goals our shared reality. In his first two years, he has accomplished a number of historic legislative victories, including the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan. These investments include major plans for postsecondary education, including Historically Black Colleges and Institutions. Bridging that education gap is crucial to our future, and it is heartening that President Biden and his administration do not just understand it, but are actively doing something about it.

An even brighter future lies ahead for our people and our University, and it is because all in this year’s graduating class. In your quiet moments, I encourage you to reflect on our University’s motto and your personal mission. To persevere under our current global conditions requires more than ambition and personal will; it necessitates a deep understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Higher education certainly provides an opportunity to better ourselves as individuals. But most importantly, these formative years can draw us nearer to our vocations and help us discern our answer to one of life’s most important questions: What is the difference that I am supposed to make in the world? As you close this chapter at your soon-to-be Alma Mater, I hope that your education has awakened in you a purpose that will carry you forward in life.

As I close, I have been thinking a lot recently about “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech in Memphis before his 1968 assassination. One of Dr. King’s greatest orations, I find it sometimes gets lost among his other iconic speeches. I visited Lorraine Motel recently and got a bit of the historical context firsthand. Apparently, Dr. King had been feeling ill in the lead-up to the speech, sending Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young to deliver the message, but upon reaching the church where the speech was scheduled, Jackson and Young called Dr. King and encouraged him to come address the masses, knowing they’d draw the best out of him. The rest, as they say, was history.

Dr. King’s conclusion to that speech has been since deemed prophetic. “We’ve got some difficult days ahead,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.”

I pray to have many more days ahead of me, and I will forever be an active member of this Howard family. But, as Dr. King said, it doesn’t matter with me anymore, because this University will begin a bright new chapter with Dr. Vinson at the helm this fall. Most transitions come with a hiccup or two, but I trust that we will reach the promised land. And we will get there not just because of the University president or the faculty or even the students, but as one collective body, all striving to do what is necessary to continue pushing Howard forward. And that starts with amplifying each other’s humanity and leading with love.

So, congratulations once again to all the graduates for earning their degrees, and congratulations to our Howard community for making this day possible for so many deserving students.

H-U! You know!

Congratulations, class of 2023!