Morehouse students criticize Biden as commencement speaker: ‘A political pawn to get Black votes’

Morehouse College, a nearly 160-year-old historically Black college in Atlanta, announced on Tuesday that Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its commencement ceremony in May. Though Morehouse initially extended the invitation in September, Biden’s acceptance comes after a tumultuous week for the president, in which college students across the nation have engaged in sustained anti-war protests in solidarity with Palestine.

Related: Israel, Gaza and divestment: why are Columbia students protesting?

The Guardian spoke to Morehouse students who criticized the school’s decision to host Biden, and others who had mixed feelings about the upcoming address.

Anwar Karim, a sophomore and political science major, said that when he found out that the president would speak at graduation, he was “utterly disappointed, but not surprised”. He said that he had been active with other students in speaking out about injustices around the campus, including the Israel-Gaza war and local issues in Atlanta such as the development of the Cop City law enforcement training center.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable for [a historically Black college and university] that prides itself on social justice,” Karim said. “We always want to talk about [Morehouse alum] Dr Martin Luther King Jr, and we always want to talk about the history of activism and leadership that this school has. And yet this decision does not reflect that history of social justice.”

Some students condemned Biden and his administration not only for the president’s actions supporting the war in Gaza, but also for what they say looks like an attempt to turn the students’ graduation ceremony into a campaign stop. “It’s just not a smart move to make, to just allow your students and your school to be used as a political pawn to get Black votes,” said Malik, a Morehouse senior who asked that his last name be withheld.

Lonnie White, a Morehouse junior, said that students have created a petition for the school to rescind the invite. Alumni have also circulated their own petition.

In response to the backlash, Morehouse’s president, David A Thomas, wrote in a statement to students, faculty and staff: “This moment transcends Morehouse; it coincides with a critical juncture in our nation’s history as we navigate an election year marked by contention and divisiveness. As an institution and a community, we bear a profound responsibility and obligation to be the beacon of hope and progress in these challenging times.”

Morehouse’s provost and senior vice-president of academic affairs, Kendrick Brown, called a faculty meeting to be held on Thursday to discuss concerns about Biden as a graduation speaker. Brown concluded his email to faculty by saying: “Please know going into this conversation that the college does not plan to rescind its accepted invitation to President Biden.”

Karim said that the decision to invite the author of the 1994 Crime Bill, which introduced the explicit notion of Black men as “superpredators” and caused long-lasting damage to Black communities, was not in line with the school’s image or conducive to the students’ success.

“We want somebody on that stage on May 19 that reflects not only us as young Black men and college students, but also reflects us as Morehouse men,” Karim said. “Morehouse men are supposed to be men of consequence. They’re supposed to be leaders. They’re supposed to be the people who go out into the world and stand up for something. When everyone else in the room accepts what is told to them, they’re supposed to be the ones who have a moral fabric.”

White echoed this sentiment: “To have Biden come here, to this campus, to this area, especially during an election year – it’s definitely pandering. We can’t invite anybody else that would actually have an insightful message to the Black students graduating? We have to have Mr 1994 Crime Bill?”

Malik said that students would probably have pushed back on inviting “the architect of mass incarceration” regardless, but the decision to invite Biden in light of the Israel-Gaza war was particularly problematic.

“If this was a conversation we were having in September then maybe I wouldn’t be too shocked,” he said. “To announce it in the same week where literally there are uprisings of students happening all across the country? I just honestly don’t know why they made this decision.”

Some people are curious about how the president will use the opportunity to reach students, many of whom will be voting in a presidential election for the first time.

“I am open to hearing what he has to say, and seeing if it juxtaposes President Obama’s [commencement] speech that really degraded Black men, and felt like he was talking down to us,” said Calvin Bell III, a graduating senior and Rhodes Scholar finalist. “I’m interested in seeing if [Biden’s] speech will be a campaign speech or if it will be a speech to allow us to wrestle with the issues at the forefront. That will certainly have major implications on the way I vote going into November.”

Days after Biden’s acceptance of the invitation to speak at Morehouse went public, people across Atlanta, including some Morehouse students, built an encampment on Emory University’s campus, following in the footsteps of several other protesters at colleges nationwide.