Jesse Jackson Brings HU Graduates to their Feet

Hampton, VA -The sky was gray, but the smiles from 1,031 graduates brightened the 137th Hampton University Commencement exercises held on May 13. The unseasonably cool weather also did not damper the warm smiles and cheers from parents, grandparents and other family members of the graduates in Armstrong Stadium.

The Commencement keynote speaker the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the graduates to go out in the world and make those family members proud.

“Your diploma is your mother’s red rose,” said the civil rights leader at the ceremony held on Mother’s Day..

He told the graduates they are part of a legacy that began in Jamestown with the first Africans who arrived there.

“I wish Queen Elizabeth could have been here today, to see this class,” Jackson said.  “Four hundred years later, you are overcomers.  You come out today as engineers and teachers and on your way to law school and MBAs and medical school.”

Jackson urged the graduates to embrace their past, look towards the future and make a difference.

“You are called upon to preserve and serve this present age; to make life options better for the next generation” said Jackson, president of the RainbowPUSH Coalition.  “You must leave more than you found.”

He went on to say that while the graduates are free they are still not equal.  He said that in every state there are more black men in jail than in college and that many urban cities have “second-class schools and first-class prisons.”  Jackson charged the graduates to go out and make a difference for themselves and for the strong and gallant women who have gone before them.

“Do something noble, tech somebody, help somebody, don’t look back unless you are going to help someone up,” he said.

By the end of Jackson’s address the graduates were standing, shouting and cheering.

“I thought the speech was very positive and very inspirational. I felt a personal charge to do what he said was necessary,” said Donald Williams, who received a bachelor’s degree in music engineering.

Parents and grandparents of the graduates were also enthused with Jackson’s words.

“I was very pleased with Jesse Jackson’s speech.  I was very impressed with it because when he ended it, he left with a charge,” said Jessie Wilson, HU Class of 1950, and grandparent of Justin Merrick, who received his bachelor’s degree in music.  “I just think that’s what our young people need to hear; that they realized that, ‘Gee, we must do something’.”

HU President Dr. William R. Harvey challenged the graduates to have a well-rounded life.

“As you depart Hampton University, I challenge you, each in your own way, to build upon your Hampton University education productive careers in which you make the most of your natural gifts; to build a richly satisfying personal life with room for laughter, but strength to confront sadness; to engage the community in order to make it a better place for yourselves and your neighbors; and to make a commitment to grow and to continue learning for the rest of your life,” Harvey said.

Senior class president Maya Guntz responded to Harvey’s challenge with a spirited speech that recounted the Class of 2007, Quintessence VI’s, journey at Hampton University and their plans to confront the world ahead.

During the ceremony the two graduating seniors with the highest grade point averages were recognized.  The valedictorian, Gretta Ashley Moody, is from Pikesville, Md. and received her degree in advertising and the salutatorian, Austin Newsome, is from Durham, N.C. and received his degree in biology.

Awards were also presented to two alumni who have, “let their lives do the singing.”  The Outstanding-Alumnus-at-Large award was presented to Retired Lt. Col. Claude Vann, III, who served the U.S. Army for 21 years and is currently a senior organizational development facilitator for the Northrop Grumman Corporation.   The Outstanding Twenty-Year Alumnus award was presented to Jennifer Borum Bechet, an attorney and legal journalist in Franklinton, La.

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