President Obama is sending the Howard University class of 2016 off with the graduation gift of a lifetime.
On Thursday the White House announced that the POTUS will address this year’s HU graduating class, who will also present him with an honorary degree, as they prepare to make their way out into the world. Roughly 1300 undergraduate students and an estimated 400 graduate students will be in attendance to hear the President speak and as one would expect, the campus is buzzing with excitement.
“I was ecstatic,” HU graduating senior Jazmyn Cadogan of Columbia, MD tells Essence about her reaction to hearing the announcement. “My friend sent me a screen shot of the news and the first thing I did was confirm it…and then called my mom to tell her.”
The address will mark the first time the President has delivered a commencement speech at a Washington, D.C.-area college and needless to say, the students, staff and faculty of the prestigious HBCU are all honored to have him send off their seniors with words that they’ll surely carry with them as they begin the next phase in their lives.
“I feel honored to witness the President speaking at my commencement. I know it means a lot to my class to have the first Black president speak at our HBCU. Given that it’s also his last year in office, it really couldn’t be more special. We’re going out with the biggest bang ever!”
And indeed, he is.