Famous Last Words

African Americans are being sought out to deliver commencement speeches

In 1961, he fled the country. He had accused the U.S. military of discontinuing his academic deferment after officials learned that he was African American. When he refused to report for a physical exam and induction into the army, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for avoiding the draft. That's when Dr. Preston King fled to England.
Last year, his daughter, Onna King, who is a member of the British Parliament, attended commencement at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., to accept an honorary degree for her exiled father. Earlier this year, King received a presidential pardon that allowed him to return to the United States. And on May 8, the professor of political philosophy at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom delivered the commencement address at Fisk.
"To have Preston King, who has demonstrated publicly what we instill in our students … here at Fisk — strength of character, academic excellence, personal conviction and leadership — bring the commencement address to the first graduating class of the new millennium can only empower them to pursue excellence and to stand against social injustice in any form," says Dr. John L. Smith Jr., Fisk's president.
Strength of character, academic excellence, personal conviction and leadership. If someone is speaking at a college graduation, he or she probably exhibits several of these traits in very public settings. Speakers are considered role models, and it is not surprising to find such people in high demand, speaking at more than one higher education institution during a commencement season.

Political Statements
Take Alexis Herman, the first African American to be U.S. Secretary of Labor, for example. On May 14, Herman gave the commencement address at Marymount University. The Arlington, Va., institution held the ceremony at D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
"[Herman] is such an outstanding role model for youth, having worked hard and against strong odds to reach her esteemed position as U.S. Secretary of Labor," says Dr. Elnora D. Daniel, president of Chicago State University, where Herman also was scheduled to deliver the commencement address but had to cancel at the last minute.
"Listen to your heart; lead with your soul; follow your dream; march to the beat of justice," Herman told the Marymount graduates, urging them to make history, learn from history, take risks and stand up for human rights.
"I was turned down for job after job, sometimes because I was a woman ... sometimes because I was Black," she confided. "One employer looked at me and said, ‘Miss Herman, perhaps you can be a secretary.' If I saw him today, I would say, ‘Sir, I did become a Secretary.' The point is this: Don't let others carve your boundaries or box you in. Draw your own map. Chart your own course."
Government officials and politicians are always popular candidates for speaking engagements at commencement ceremonies. But presidents, vice presidents or presidential candidates do not necessarily make the top of the most-wanted list. While President Clinton's appearance at Morgan State's 1997 commencement was considered something of a coup for the historically Black Maryland institution, the term "role model" is often attached to speakers at HBCUs. And the preferred role model for an audience of Black college graduates is usually a Black person.
"During his tenure as [Federal Communications Commission] Chairman, William Kennard has tenaciously pursued a brilliant, focused agenda for attaining technological pre-eminence in the United States and the global marketplace," Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert says of the decision to have Kennard deliver the keynote address at that institution's May 13 commencement convocation. "His ability to effectively craft policy that protects consumers, encourages competition and is grounded in fairness and equality makes him a model of information-age leadership."
Occasionally, representatives of foreign governments are asked to share their experiences with graduating classes. At Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Premier Jennifer M. Smith of Bermuda told the commencement audience, "You are in charge of your own destiny. Who better than you knows how to use scarce resources? Who better than you knows when to compromise and when to enlist the help of others? These are the characteristics of a good leader."
However, the timing isn't always perfect for foreign dignitaries. For example, Howard held a special convocation May 23 so that South African President H.E. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki could address the university's community.
Local officials are also well represented on the commencement circuit. At Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., Chief Justice Henry E. Frye, the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of North Carolina, gave the May 6 commencement address.
"The elevator to success might be out of order," Frye advised the graduates. "You might have to take the stairs. You'll need strength, good health and fitness. Take them [the stairs] one at a time."