HBCU Howard University recently announced that President Joe Biden will serve as the commencement speaker at this year’s ceremony.
The president will be the seventh sitting U.S. president to speak at a Howard University commencement ceremony. Scheduled for May 13, it is the 155th Howard graduation ceremony and will be on the HBCU’s Upper Quadrangle on the main campus.
Along with delivering a speech, President Biden will also be awarded an honorary doctorate; the Doctor of Letters will be given to the president in recognition of his contributions to humanities and society.
In a statement, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, the 17th president at Howard University, expressed his excitement about the president’s upcoming participation in the HBCU’s celebrations.
“This honorary Doctor of Letters is much deserved for his years of transformational service as U.S. Senator, Vice President, and now as President of the United States,” said Dr. Frederick. “We are excited to receive the President as this year’s distinguished guest and recognize him for his relentless work uplifting our communities that have been historically left behind.”
“I look forward to honoring President Biden, our honorary degree recipients, and graduating seniors at the Commencement Convocation,” he added.
The announcement of President Biden’s upcoming role in the 2023 Howard University Commencement ceremony comes a few days after Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech at the HBCU.
Returning to her alma mater, the vice president took to the stage to deliver a 25-minute address at a Howard University rally. In her first appearance since the announcement of her reelection bid alongside President Biden, Vice President Harris spoke at the Fighting for Reproductive Rights event about the threat to abortion rights in the U.S.
Previously, Vice President Harris also made an appearance at the HBCU in March to speak about the importance of supporting small businesses in the country.
Since their appointment in 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has made securing funds for HBCUs across the country a focal part of their agenda. In Dec. 2021, the administration announced that $3.7 billion would go towards relief funding to the universities after the COVID-19 pandemic. Over one billion dollars in debt was also discharged by the Department of Education, providing debt relief to 45 HBCUs.
In January of this year, the Department of Defense also announced a partnership with Howard University, declaring that the HBCU is set to lead a new university-affiliated research center. With their new role, Howard University became the first HBCU in history to lead a U.S. Air Force-sponsored research center.
