President Joe Biden addressed the graduating class at Morehouse College on Sunday, acknowledging their protest voices regarding the Israel-Hamas war and expressing his heartbreak over the scenes from the conflict in Gaza.
“I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” he reassured the students, some of whom wore keffiyeh scarves along with their black graduation robes. “Your voices matter, and I assure you, I hear them.”
Biden emphasized the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling for an immediate cease-fire to end the fighting and bring back the hostages taken during Hamas’s attack on Israel. These comments, made towards the end of his speech that touched on American democracy and his role in protecting it, marked the president’s most direct acknowledgment of the campus protests happening nationwide.
While some faculty and supporters at Morehouse opposed Biden’s stance on the war, leading to backlash against his commencement address, others showed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza by wearing keffiyeh scarves. The graduating class also displayed flags and symbols representing various global conflicts, prompting discussions on racial justice and the need for American intervention to end the violence.
During the commencement ceremony, Rev. Claybon Lea Jr. thanked the graduating class for being “woke” and aligned with the current spirit of the times. The valedictorian, DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher, emphasized the importance of recognizing the suffering on both sides of the conflict in Gaza and called for an immediate cease-fire as a Morehouse man and as a human being.
After Fletcher’s speech, Biden stood and shook his hand in acknowledgment. The president’s outreach to Black constituents, including his graduation speeches at Morehouse in Atlanta and an NAACP dinner in Detroit, is part of a broader effort to engage with voters crucial for his re-election bid against former President Donald Trump.
