Morgan State University’s Spring Commencement Celebrated Transformation and Excellence
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Posted By: Reginald Culpepper on May 20, 2024 A young man from a mining region of Ghana traveled abroad to become an engineer and leveraged that education to become one of the world’s most influential businesspeople, then chancellor of western Africa’s top-ranked university. A mother, educator, wife, and pastor of a church in Baltimore found inspiration in her father’s attainment of a Morgan State University master’s degree last year at age 80, then joined him and her three brothers as a Morgan alum by earning a master’s degree from the College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies. A bright Marine Corps veteran learned to apply himself fully to his studies and realize his full academic potential as a nontraditional student at Morgan, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. He is headed to Austin, Texas, now, to work for Google as a software engineer. These and countless other examples of the transformative power of higher education were showcased at Morgan’s 147th Spring Commencement Exercises, during the School of Graduate Studies ceremony at Murphy Fine Arts Center, on May 16, and during the Undergraduate ceremony today, May 18, at W.A.C. Hughes Memorial Stadium, on Morgan’s campus. More than 800 doctoral, master’s degree and baccalaureate graduates — including 219 Latin Honors graduates — were called to the platform to receive their Morgan diplomas this spring. Jubilant guests at the Undergraduate Exercises filled the seats around the basin of Hughes Stadium, undampened by the trickling rain, in celebration of Morgan’s first undergraduate class to enter the University during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the highlights of the event, attendees were treated to a videotaped message of congratulations to the nation’s newest HBCU graduates from Vice President Kamala Harris. Sir Samuel Esson Jonah, the Ghanaian engineer mentioned above, gave the keynote address for the Undergraduate Exercises. Jonah, and Valerie LaVerne Thomas, Ed.D., a Bachelor of Science in Physics graduate of Morgan’s Class of 1964, received honorary doctorates at the ceremony. Dr. Thomas, who grew up in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill neighborhood and overcame gender and racial discrimination to become a high-achieving technologist, inventor and executive at NASA, spoke about the importance of her Morgan education to her later career success, including a patent she received for 3D imaging technology still used by NASA today. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Reginald Culpepper
President, Fulfillment and Web Services, HBCUCONNECT Clark Atlanta University class of 1998 Member Since September 2000 |
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