On
Saturday, at the Howard University in Washington D.C, Nigerians made
history. Of the 96 graduating Doctor of Pharmacy candidates, 43 of them
were Nigerians and of the 27 awards given, 16 went to Nigerians.
NB: Photo is a depiction. Credits: www.vuu.edu
IT
did not make headlines. For major news network, it also did not get any
mention. Even when major newspapers reported the event, what caught
their attention was on what President Barack Obama said when he
delivered the commencement lecture at Howard University, Washington DC.
But there was a major highlight that was ignored. A report said of the
96 graduating Doctor of Pharmacy candidates, 43 of them were Nigerians
and of the 27 awards given, 16 went to Nigerians.
Howard
University also awarded a Doctor of Humanities degree to actress and
activist Cicely Tyson, a Doctor of Laws to Ambassador Horace G. Dawson, a
pioneering member of the U.S. Foreign Service and founding director of
the Howard’s Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center, and a Doctor
of Science to Dr. L.D. Britt, chairman of the Department of Surgery at
Eastern Virginia Medical School.
It
awarded more than 1,300 bachelor’s degrees, more than 300 master’s
degrees, and over 100 Ph.Ds. The top five areas of concentration were
psychology, history, political science, social work and mathematics.
Additionally, more than 400 students received professional degrees in
law, medicine, pharmacy and dentistry.
Howard
University has the only dental and pharmacy colleges in the District of
Columbia. The graduates represented 46 states and 35 countries. The
youngest graduate at the ceremony was 20-years-old and the oldest was
74.
Founded
in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is
comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more
than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional
degrees. Since 1998, the University has produced two Rhodes Scholars,
two Truman Scholars, a Marshall Scholar, 30 Fulbright Scholars and 11
Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on campus African-American
Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.
Speaking
at the event, Obama emphasized that his election has not created a
“post-racial society” despite improved race relations.
Stressing
the need to keep pushing for change, he gave the students at the
historically black university impassioned advice on how to “shape our
collective future.”
Chief
among that advice: Vote, “not just some of the time but all of the
time.” He added: “When we don’t vote we give away our power.”
He
described the university as a “centerpiece of African-American
intellectual life, and a central part of our larger American story.”
Arguing
that the U.S. — and the world — is a “better place” than when he
graduated from college in the early 1980s, he said there is still work
to be done, citing employment, achievement and justice gaps for
African-Americans.
“Be
confident in your heritage. Be confident in your blackness,” he told
the graduates. “There’s no one way to be black. Take it from somebody
who’s seen both sides of the debate about whether I’m black enough.”
Obama
told the graduates to remember the ties that connect African-Americans:
“That is our particular awareness of injustice, and unfairness, and
struggle. … That means we cannot sleepwalk through life.
“We
have cousins, and uncles, and brothers, and sisters, who we remember
were just as smart and just as talented as we were but somehow got
ground down by structures that were unfair and unjust, and that means we
have to not only question the world as it is, and stand up for those
African-Americans who haven’t been so lucky.”
That empathy should extend to “all people who are struggling,” he said.
Finally,
he advised the grads that creating change requires organization and
strategy. That strategy has to include voting, Obama added:
“People
try to make this political thing really complicated … you know what?
Just vote. It’s math. If you have more votes than the other guy, you get
to do what you want.”
Moreover, he said change requires compromise and “listening to those with whom you disagree.”
Obama
said when he received a bachelor’s degree in 1983, there were no Black
CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and few Black judges. He said it was
important to note the progress America has made in race relations since
then.
“To
deny how far we have come would be a disservice to those who went
before. There’s still so much work to do, so many miles to travel,”
Obama said. “America needs you to gladly, happily take up that work.”
Howard
University President Wayne A. I. Frederick said President Obama was
awarded a Doctor of Science degree (not doctor of laws or letters) to
underscore how much the Affordable Care Act means to this country as a
whole. He urged graduates to embrace Obama as a personal role model and
to emulate his trademark graciousness.
In
his remarks, Obama addressed “a justice gap when too many Black boys
and girls pass through a pipeline from underfunded schools to
overcrowded jails.” However, he emphasized that passion alone was not
enough to cement lasting change.
“If
you care about mass incarceration, what are you doing to pressure the
Congress to pass the pending legislation that might alleviate it?” Obama
asked. “Passion is vital, but you’ve got to have a strategy. And your
plan better include voting, not just some of the time, but all of the
time.”
Obama
credited two Howard University legal icons, Thurgood Marshall and
Charles Hamilton Houston, for their leadership in overturning Jim Crow
segregation laws.
“The seeds of change for all America were sown here,” Obama said.
Speaking
from his own experience, Obama encouraged African Americans to continue
to embrace their heritage and to “be confident in your Blackness.” Even
so, he noted that there was no one way to be Black, and no litmus test
for authenticity.
“Look
at Howard,” Obama said. “One thing most people don’t realise about
Howard is how diverse it is. You shatter stereotypes.” -THE NATION
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