President Obama was just in Atlanta this week, but will be back in May to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, the White House confirmed to Politico, the online news and politics website.
“Morehouse College, one of the nation’s leading Historical Black Colleges and Universities, is among the best and brightest institutions of higher education in the country,” the White House said in a statement. Commencement is scheduled for May 19.
“Known for its high standard for excellence in learning and social consciousness, Morehouse is home to a long list of notable alumni that spans the last three centuries,” the White House added. Alumni of the all-male liberal arts college include Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., filmmaker Spike Lee and Maynard Jackson, the first African-American mayor of Atlanta.
It won’t be Obama’s first commencement speech at an HBCU — he addressed graduates of Virginia’s Hampton University in 2010.
The college’s president, John Silvanus Wilson Jr., informed students of the speech on Saturday night. Wilson is just three weeks into his term as president of the college and previously worked as executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Read more: Politico
