President Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key election-year spotlight on one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black campuses as he works to shore up the racially diverse coalition that propelled him to the Oval Office.
Quick Read
- Keynote Engagement: President Joe Biden is set to be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, a historically Black college and the alma mater of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
- Election-Year Strategy: Biden’s choice to speak at Morehouse aligns with efforts to solidify support among Black voters, crucial to his 2020 victory, as he prepares for the upcoming election.
- Previous Engagements: This will be Biden’s second consecutive spring addressing graduates from a historically Black institution, following his 2023 commencement speech at Howard University.
- Political Context: The engagement comes at a time when polling indicates Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris need to bolster support among younger Black voters to maintain critical state wins against potential challenger Donald Trump.
- Educational Policy Focus: The Biden administration has emphasized support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), increasing federal funding, advocating for student loan forgiveness, and expanding Pell Grants for low-income students.
- Historical Significance: Morehouse, founded in 1867, and other HBCUs have played a pivotal role in educating Black Americans, especially during times when major public and private universities were segregated.
- Campaign Strategy: Biden’s team is strategically engaging with states like Georgia and North Carolina, where the Black college student population could significantly impact election outcomes.
The Associated Press has the story:
Biden will speak at Morehouse commencement, an election-year spotlight in front of Black voters
Newslooks- ATLANTA (AP) —
President Joe Biden will be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College in Georgia, giving the Democrat a key election-year spotlight on one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black campuses as he works to shore up the racially diverse coalition that propelled him to the Oval Office.
A person familiar with the matter confirmed Biden will speak at the alma mater of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The May 19 speech will mark the second consecutive spring that Biden has spoken to the graduating class of a historically Black school. In 2023, the president delivered the commencement address at Howard University. The Washington, D.C., school is the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris, the first nonwhite woman to hold that office. Morehouse, a private all-male school that is part of the multi-campus Atlanta University Center, also is the alma mater of Sen. Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator.
Polls have suggested Biden and Harris have work to do generate the same levels of Black support they won in 2020, especially among younger voters. It would not take a significant drop in Black turnout for Biden to yield several states to former President Donald Trump in their rematch.
Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes over Trump out of about 5 million ballots cast. The combined enrollment at Morehouse and its adjoining schools that make up the Atlanta University Center is about 9,000 students. Biden’s margin in Wisconsin, where Black voters in greater Milwaukee are an anchor of Democrats’ statewide vote totals, was less than 21,000 votes. The president had more comfortable margins in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but still cannot afford to lose Black support across the metro areas of Detroit and Philadelphia.
Among states Trump won, Biden is targeting North Carolina, which has a notable Black college student population. Trump’s margin in the state was about 75,000 votes.
The administration and reelection campaign have targeted HBCUs since Biden took office in January 2021. Harris and Cabinet members have spoken on several campuses. Among other policy achievements and priorities, they have touted increases in federal money support for HBCUs; Biden’s efforts to forgive up to $10,000 in student loan burden per borrower and increase Pell Grants for low-income students; energy investments to combat the climate crisis, and Democrats’ support for abortion rights and decriminalizing marijuana possession.
Reflecting the nation’s overall racial gaps in income and net worth, Black college students are disproportionately dependent on Pell Grants, which typically cover only a fraction of overall college costs, and student loans. According to Federal Reserve data, about 1 out of 3 Black households has student loan debt, compared to about 1 in 5 white households. The average Black borrower also is carrying about $10,000 more in debt than the average white borrower. Additionally, federal statistics show about 60% of Black undergraduates receive Pell Grants, compared to about 40% of the overall undergraduate population and a third of white students.
Most historically Black colleges and universities, both state-affiliated and private, were founded in the years after the end of the Civil War and ratification of the 13th Amendment that ended chattel slavery. Most established white campuses in that post-war era, especially in the Old Confederacy, denied admission to Black applicants altogether or, in the case of many northern schools, admitted only a few Black students.
Morehouse was founded in 1867, and Spelman College, its adjacent private all-women’s school, was founded in 1881. The University of Georgia, the state’s flagship public university, meanwhile, was chartered in 1785. That was more than three years before the U.S. Constitution was ratified, but UGA did not serve Black students until Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter were enrolled under a federal court order in 1961.
Biden’s undergraduate alma mater, the University of Delaware, traces its roots to 1743, and its modern iteration began classes in 1867. The university did not integrate to include any Black students until 1948, when the 81-year-old president was 6 years old.
