President Joe Biden announces opening of Morehouse College

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – President Joe Biden will become the second sitting U.S. chief executive to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday morning.

Biden is following in the footsteps of his former boss – then-President Barack Obama – who delivered Morehouse’s commencement speech in 2013.

Commencement Sunday is Morehouse’s 140th graduation exercise. Biden’s speech at Morehouse is the second time he has given a commencement address at an HBCU. Last year, Biden spoke at Howard University, the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris.

LIVE UPDATES:

10:18 a.m. | United Negro College Fund CEO and Morehouse graduate Michael Lomax receives honorary degree.

10:12 a.m. | Speaking before Biden, Morehouse 2024 major DeAngelo Fletcher addresses the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. He calls for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip. Biden applauds.

9:57 a.m. | West End Park protesters began marching. Atlanta police officers monitor the demonstration.

9:20 a.m. | Students and teachers are seated. Biden is on stage, ready to deliver the opening speech.

9:19 a.m. | Biden takes the stage to applause.

9:10 a.m. | Protesters gathered at West End Park near the Morehouse campus.

8:45 a.m. | The beginning begins.

8:35 a.m. | President Biden’s motorcade is seen arriving at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Biden’s appearance at Morehouse is not without controversy. On May 8, several students from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) gathered at Morehouse, a nationally known HBCU, to protest his speech.

Protesters said they disagreed with Biden’s support for Israel in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Some Morehouse alumni circulated a letter online condemning school administrators for inviting Biden and soliciting signatures to pressure Morehouse President David Thomas to rescind it.

The letter claimed that Biden’s approach to Israel amounted to support for genocide in Gaza and was out of step with the pacifism expressed by Martin Luther King Jr., Morehouse’s most famous graduate.

Before the start, Thomas said quiet, non-disruptive demonstrations would be tolerated, but reiterated his commitment to disrupting the ceremony if disruptions became more serious.

The White House has hinted that Biden will reference the concerns of students and faculty at the historically all-male and historically black college about its approach to the war. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “stay tuned” when asked whether the Democratic president would address concerns that have sparked weeks of student protests on college campuses across the country.

Nearly every street around campus was closed for the event. As the packed crowd gathered just before graduates began entering the quadrangle, Vice Provost Mel Foster warned, “While we respect everyone’s right to free speech, Morehouse College has issued guidelines to ensure we are in compliance with the law. »

Some graduates showed their support for Palestinians in Gaza by tying kaffiyehs around their shoulders over their black graduation gowns. A student wrapped himself in a Palestinian flag.

This weekend marks the president’s first visit to the Peach State following a campaign rally in March.

Biden arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday.

Several politicians, including Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Mayor Andre Dickens, Representative Nikema Williams, Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts, and more, greeted Biden on the tarmac Saturday before his departure in procession.

He then stopped at Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a black-owned restaurant that opened nearly 80 years ago, to briefly address about 50 supporters. A 2024 Morehouse graduate introduced it.

The president joked that he was surrounded by “Morehouse Men.”

RELATED: President Biden arrives in Atlanta ahead of campaign event and Morehouse keynote address

The president is scheduled to depart from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. He is traveling to Detroit to speak at an NAACP dinner.

Atlanta News First will broadcast the entire Morehouse College commencement, including remarks from President Biden. Watch live at 9 a.m. by downloading the ANF+ app on Roku, AppleTV, FireTV or Youtube. Just search for “Atlanta News First” wherever you stream!

Last month, Morehouse announced that it had invited Biden to give the speech, but almost immediately after the announcement, students, faculty and alumni began expressing concern about Biden’s visit to campus .

Morehouse faculty voted to give Biden an honorary degree before his commencement speech. Several people who met him on the tarmac, including Warnock, are Morehouse alumni.

Morehouse’s speech, and a separate one Biden will deliver later Sunday in the Midwest, are part of a wave of outreach to black voters by the president, who has seen his support among those voters weaken since their strong support helped him come to power. Oval Office in 2020.

Georgia and Michigan are among a handful of states that will help decide the expected November rematch between Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump. Biden narrowly won Georgia and Michigan in 2020 and needs to repeat — with strong Black voter turnout in both cities.

Jean-Pierre said Biden was looking forward to Morehouse’s speech, as he does all of his commencement speeches. He wrote his remarks himself, with help from senior advisers, she said.

“When it comes to this difficult moment that we are going through as we talk about the protests, he understands that there is a lot of pain,” Jean-Pierre said. “He understands that people have a lot of opinions and he respects that people have a lot of opinions.”

Biden and former President Donald Trump will also be in Atlanta on June 27, 2024 for a historic presidential debate hosted at CNN’s Atlanta studios.

The debate will be broadcast live on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max and CNN.com, at 9 p.m.

Both Biden and Trump are the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, setting the stage for a historic rematch of their 2020 campaigns. So far, they have polled well within the margins of error for every poll in election season, making Georgia a real draw.

Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and information as Georgia continues to play its role at the forefront of national politics. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.