Cornell William Brooks, president of the NAACP, returned to his alma mater May 2 to deliver a rousing commencement address about social involvement.
Describing the class of 2015 as the “Class of Now” during his address at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, he reflected on events that have made national headlines such as the deaths of Frederick Gray, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin.
“This is an extraordinary moment. This is an extraordinary time. This class arrives at a powerful moment in history — uncomfortably situated between the past and present.”
Brooks also recounted his circuitous route to Jackson State.
As a high school senior in Georgetown, S.C., he received a number of letters from colleges nationwide, including several Ivy League schools. He also received one from JSU offering him a scholarship. Brooks tossed it.
Then, another letter came from JSU, welcoming him for fall enrollment. He recounted his father’s explanation: “ ‘Boy, when I saw that letter in the trash can I forged your signature and sent it in.’ He added, ‘Son, never throw away money.’ ”
The moral of the story, he added, “is that I believe you should go to a historically black college. It will benefit you;
it will shore you up.”
Following the address, JSU President Carolyn W. Meyers conferred degrees on more than 700 undergraduates, the largest graduating class in the university’s history. Another first was the graduation of 20 students from JSUOnline, the university’s digital degree program. The night prior, 352 students received graduate degrees in ceremonies at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.
—L.A. Warren
“This is an extraordinary moment. This is an extraordinary time. This class arrives at a powerful moment in history — uncomfortably situated between the past and present.”
— NAACP President Cornell William Brooks