Harris congratulates HBCU graduates in video message for graduation season
WASHINGTON — Graduate students at historically black colleges and universities across the country are receiving well wishes via a video greeting from a prominent fellow alumna: Vice President Kamala Harris.
“As a proud HBCU graduate, I know firsthand the value of attending an institution like yours,” the vice president said in a congratulatory video that has already been met with shock and applause at graduation ceremonies.
The surprise video, which debuted at a handful of HBCU commencement ceremonies this past week, will appear at about half of all HBCUs in the country, according to the White House.
‘You leave here having learned that you can do and be anything. And that you have a duty to be excellent. To work to improve the condition of all people. And to fight to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms,” Harris said in the pre-recorded message.
Harris is the first HBCU graduate elected to the vice presidency and has been embraced by the close-knit communities surrounding many of these historic schools since her time in national politics. Last year, she included HBCUs in a nationwide tour to rally young voters to “fight for basic freedoms and rights.”
“We were thrilled to hear the message,” said Quinton Ross, president of Alabama State University, which aired the video during graduation ceremonies earlier this month. “Everyone was excited when her face appeared on the screen to deliver that message.”
The Biden administration has allocated a record $7 billion in funding for HBCUs, an investment the Biden campaign has highlighted in its outreach to Black voters.
Harris’ message to graduates comes as the White House faces intense criticism and protests from young voters on many college campuses over its handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. Students are also dissatisfied with the state of education at home, as many universities struggle with increased scrutiny of DEI programs by conservative activists and lawmakers and the fallout from the Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action.
But Harris’s opening message is not about these current issues; Instead, she celebrates students’ academic achievements.
“We need your voice and we need your leadership,” Harris says in the video. “In our schools, hospitals, courtrooms, as tech founders, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists and leaders at the highest levels of government. We need you to continue working toward a better future for our nation and our world. And you are ready.”
Dietra Trent, executive director of the White House Initiatives on HBCUs, said the vice president is sending the right message, “especially in an environment where the country as a whole has, to some extent, rolled back some of the gains made by people of color. and especially African Americans have made.”
Trent cited restrictions on the education of African American history and strict election laws introduced in some states as examples of policies that negatively impacted Black Americans.
The White House has received a large number of requests since the beginning of this year to have Harris speak in person at the HBCU commencement, Trent said.
“This is the COVID class. These are students who came to college in 2020, so this class of 2024 is really just a special class because they faced obstacles that, honestly, many of us have never faced when it comes to education” , said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat. who has led the way in outreach to HBCUs and young voters of color.
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Matt Brown is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on social media.
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