President Joe Biden is set to speak at Morehouse College on Sunday, despite pushback from students, faculty and alumni.
Morehouse College, a historically Black college for men in Atlanta, will host its commencement ceremony on Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. on Century Campus. The ceremony, including Biden's speech will be livestreamed on the Morehouse College YouTube channel. Additionally, the White House will share the speech on its YouTube Channel and its X, formerly Twitter, account.
Biden has consulted with Dr. Tony Allen, president of Delaware State University and a longtime friend, in preparing for his speech.
"The voices of students have grown even more clear, particularly in the last few years," Allen told CNN in an article published on Friday, referring to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests that hit its peak in the summer of 2020. "As opposed to striking a delicate balance, I think he will hit that head on."
Stephen Benjamin, Biden's director of public engagement, said that Biden plans to keep the focus on the graduates on Sunday.
"He is the leader of the free world. On this day, he's a commencement speaker for these young men, and that's what he plans to do – be a commencement speaker," he told CNN.
Newsweek reached out to Biden's campaign and the White House via email for comment about the upcoming speech.
There was outcry throughout campus when the announcement of Biden being chosen for commencement speaker was made last month, given the tense climate surrounding the president's handling of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
"In inviting President Biden to campus, the college affirms a cruel standard that complicity in genocide merits no sanction from the institution that produced one of the towering advocates for nonviolence of the twentieth century," a letter circulated by some Morehouse alumni last month read. "If the college cannot affirm this noble tradition of justice by rescinding its invitation to President Biden, then the college should reconsider its attachment to Dr. King."
Israel, meanwhile, has rejected the allegation that its actions in Gaza are genocidal.
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is among the alumni at Morehouse College. He entered the college in 1944 at the early age of 15. In 1959, he delivered the commencement speech for his alma mater.
Morehouse College President David Thomas threatened to cut the ceremony short if protests get out of hand.
"What we won't allow is disruptive behavior that prevents the ceremony or services from proceeding in a manner that those in attendance can partake and enjoy," Thomas told CNN on Thursday. "So, for example, prolonged shouting down of the president as he speaks. I have also made a decision that we will also not ask police to take individuals out of commencement in zip ties. If faced with the choice, I will cease the ceremonies on the spot If we were to reach that position."
Biden Invitation Receives Backlash
On Friday, a small number of Morehouse students and faculty held a protest march on campus against the Israel-Hamas war and to criticize Biden's Sunday visit, local ABC affiliate WSB-TV reported. There have been pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the nation in recent weeks that have been critical of the Biden administration.
The president is also set to receive an honorary degree from Morehouse on Sunday.
"It is a shame to give an honorary degree to someone who is supporting financially, publicly genocide in Gaza," Morehouse College professor Cynthia Hewitt said, according to WSB-TV.
Noah Collier, a senior at Morehouse, told CNN in an article published on Saturday that the school needs to rescind Biden's invitation to speak because if the president does take the stage at graduation, it "shows our institution's complicity in all of the injustices created by Biden's Cabinet and the US government."
Meanwhile, senior Calvin Bell told CNN, "I'm looking forward to Biden coming on campus in order to hear what his speech truly has to say."
Bell continued: "As someone who has felt very weird at this portion in time and history, with the tension in Gaza, I think it's important for Biden to come with the intention of wrestling with the issues at hand, and reassuring students such as myself, as well as our family members, who are a part of the Black community."
On October 7, 2023, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history, killing some 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. About half of the hostages were freed during a temporary ceasefire in November. On Friday, the Israeli military said they recovered the bodies of three hostages in Gaza. Before that, Israel said militants still had around 100 hostages and the remains of over 30 others. Meanwhile, over 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the conflict, according to local health officials.
After Hamas' surprise attack, Biden vowed to help the United States' strongest ally in the Middle East and while the White House maintains its support for Israel's right to self-defense, they have also been pushing for another temporary ceasefire to get the remaining hostages in Gaza out and more humanitarian aid in.
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