Biden joins former Barack Obama as only the second sitting president to deliver Morehouse commencement.
By Tim Darnell, The Associated Press and Atlanta News First staff
Published: May. 19, 2024 at 7:39 AM EDT|Updated: May. 19, 2024 at 4:14 PM EDT
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - President Joe Biden delivered Morehouse College’s commencement address Sunday morning.
His speech spanned topics including democracy, racism, student debt, gun violence, the climate crisis and the Israel-Hamas war.
Protests over the war have roiled America’s campuses, but there were no major disruptions at the Morehouse event, though applause for Biden’s remarks was muted.
At least seven graduates and a faculty member sat with their backs turned during Biden’s address, and another student draped himself in a Palestinian flag. Some members of the graduating class showed support for Palestinians in Gaza by tying keffiyeh scarves around their shoulders on top of their black graduation robes.
Protesters near the ceremony carried signs that said “Free Palestine,” “Save the Children” and “Ceasefire Now” as police on bikes kept watch. A group of demonstrators gathered at a park near Morehouse and marched to the campus, but disbanded soon after the commencement ceremony without major incidents.
“Peaceful assembly is core to the Morehouse College social justice tradition. The Morehouse College administration fully supports and defends the right to peacefully protest and the expression of one’s views openly,” Morehouse College said in a statement. “Our faculty are some of the best social scholars that higher academia has to offer, and they are training up the world’s next generation of community and industry leaders who will continue our institution’s history-making legacy.”
Biden was the second sitting American chief executive to deliver Morehouse’s commencement address. He follows in the footsteps of his former boss – then-President Barack Obama – who delivered the 2013 address.
Sunday’s commencement was Morehouse’s 140th such graduation exercise. It was Biden’s second time delivering a commencement address to an HBCU. Last year, Biden spoke at Howard University, the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris.
WATCH THE FULL SPEECH BELOW:
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11:41 a.m. | Biden departs Atlanta aboard Air Force One.
11:31 a.m. | Biden’s motorcade arrives at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
11:15 a.m. | Graduates are presented with their degrees.
11:09 a.m. | Protesters are blocking the road at Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard and Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard. Protesters are chanting: “Say it loud, say it clear, Biden you’re not welcome here.”
11:00 a.m. | Before leaving, Biden again walks to the lectern and jokes: “I’m not going home.” He sits down again briefly before walking off stage.
10:59 a.m. | Morehouse President David Thomas thanks Biden for the address and presents him with his honorary degree from the college, telling Biden he’s joining the ranks of honorary Morehouse men.
10:57 a.m. | Biden closes his speech with: “God bless you all. We’re expecting a lot from you. Thank you.”
10:54 a.m. | Biden says he’s proud to have nominated the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, and to serve with Vice President Harris, the first Black woman to serve in the role. He predicts a “Morehouse man” will one day also become a justice on the high court, and the president.
10:50 a.m. | Biden speaks about political extremism in America and the ongoing threats it poses to democracy.
10:47 a.m. | Biden decries the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and repeats his recent calls for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and for a two-state solution, “the only solution.” He says: “I support peaceful nonviolent protests. Your voices should be heard, and I promise you, I hear you.”
10:45 a.m. | Biden addresses his administration’s investments in HBCUs. He said: “I’m investing $16 billion more dollars, the most in our history, because you’re vital to our nation.”
10:41 a.m.| Biden speaks about the history of civil rights and racial violence in the U.S., including the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed.
10:34: a.m. | Police are gathered at the Morehouse entrance at Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard and Atlanta Student Movement Boulevard, standing guard with zip-ties.
10:33 a.m. | Biden lauds the graduates and their families.
10:29 a.m. | Biden begins his speech. Graduates and alumni stand and applaud. One graduate at the back stands with his back turned to Biden and his right fist raised.
10:25 a.m. | Morehouse President David Thomas introduces Biden.
10:22 a.m. | Atlanta police put up extra barricades as protesters approaches the college entrance. Some protesters chant “Move cops, get out the way.”
10:18 a.m. | Michael Lomax, CEO of the United Negro College Fund and a Morehouse graduate, is presented with an honorary degree.
10:12 a.m. | Speaking before Biden, Morehouse’s 2024 valedictorian DeAngelo Fletcher addresses the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. He calls for an “immediate and permanent cease-fire” in the Gaza Strip. Biden applauds.
9:57 a.m. | Protesters at West End Park have started to march. Atlanta police officers are keeping an eye on the demonstration.
9:20 a.m. | Students and faculty are seated. Biden is on stage, ready to deliver the commencement address.
9:19 a.m. | Biden walks on stage to applause.
9:10 a.m. | Protesters have gathered at West End Park near Morehouse’s campus.
8:45 a.m. | The commencement begins.
8:35 a.m. | President Biden’s motorcade is seen arriving at Morehouse College in Atlanta.
Last month, Morehouse announced it had invited Biden to deliver the commencement address, but almost immediately after the announcement, students, faculty and alumni began expressing concern over Biden’s visit to the campus.
On May 8, several students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) gathered at Morehouse to protest Biden’s speech. The protesters said they disagreed with Biden’s support of Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Some Morehouse alumni circulated an online letter condemning school administrators for inviting Biden and soliciting signatures to pressure Morehouse President David Thomas to rescind it.
The letter claimed that Biden’s approach to Israel amounted to support of genocide in Gaza and was out of step with the pacifism expressed by Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse’s most famous graduate.
Last week, Morehouse faculty voted to give Biden the honorary degree he received after his remarks Sunday.
Before the commencement, Thomas said that silent, non-disruptive protests would be tolerated, but repeated a pledge to halt the ceremony if disruptions mounted.
Nearly all the streets around the campus were shut down for the event. As the packed crowd gathered just before graduates began filing into the quad, Associate Provost Mel Foster warned: “Although we respect everyone’s right to free speech, Morehouse College has issued guidelines to ensure we are in line with the law.”
The White House had hinted that Biden would reference the concerns of students and faculty at the male-only, historically Black college over his approach to the war. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “stay tuned,” when asked if the Democratic president would address the worries that sparked weeks of student protests on college campuses nationwide.
Jean-Pierre said Biden was looking forward to the speech, as he does all of his commencement addresses. He wrote the remarks himself, along with senior advisers, she said.
“When it comes to this difficult moment in time that we’re in as we speak about the protests, he understands that there’s a lot of pain,” Jean-Pierre said. “He understands that people have a lot of opinions and he respects that folks have a lot of opinions.”
This weekend also marked the president’s first visit back to the Peach State after a March campaign rally.
Biden arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday. Several politicians, including Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Mayor Andre Dickens, Rep. Nikema Williams, Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts and more, greeted Biden on the tarmac. Several people who met him at the airport, including Warnock, are Morehouse alumni.
Later Saturday, Biden attended a fundraiser and stopped at Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a Black-owned restaurant that opened nearly 80 years ago, to briefly address about 50 supporters. A 2024 Morehouse graduate introduced him.
The president joked about being surrounded by “Morehouse Men.”
RELATED: President Biden arrives in Atlanta ahead of campaign event, Morehouse commencement speech
The president departed Atlanta around 11:30 a.m. Sunday for Detroit, where he planned to address an NAACP dinner.
Atlanta News First will stream the entire Morehouse College commencement, including President Biden’s remarks. Watch live at 9 a.m. by downloading the ANF+ app on Roku, AppleTV, FireTV or YouTube. Just search “Atlanta News First” anywhere you stream!
The speech at Morehouse, and the separate one Biden planned to give later Sunday in the Midwest, are parts of a burst of outreach to Black constituents by the president, who has watched his support among these voters soften since their strong backing helped put him in the Oval Office in 2020.
Georgia and Michigan are among a handful of states that will help decide November’s expected rematch between Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump. Biden narrowly won Georgia and Michigan in 2020 and needs to repeat those victories — with a boost from strong Black voter turnout in Atlanta and Detroit.
Biden and former President Donald Trump will also be in Atlanta on June 27, 2024, for a historic presidential debate hosted at CNN’s Atlanta’s studios.
The debate will air live on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max and CNN.com, at 9 p.m.
Both Biden and Trump are the respective, presumptive Democratic and GOP nominees for president, setting the stage for a historic rematch of their 2020 campaigns. They have been polling well within the margins of error for every poll thus far in the election season, making Georgia a virtual toss-up.
Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
