The fervor and passion that seized the University of Michigan community upon Barack Obama’s election in November 2008 has been rewarded. According to the University of Michigan News Service, President Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States of America, will deliver the 2010 commencement address at the University of Michigan this upcoming spring.
Now, just over a year into his presidency, Obama has decided to accept the invitation to speak at the University of Michigan.According to AnnArbor.com, two University of Michigan graduates, special assistant to the president Eugene Kang and White House advisor Valerie Jarrett, influenced the president’s decision to visit the University. He will also speak at Hampton University, a historically black college in Virginia, and a yet-to-be-named military academy. Last year, Obama spoke at the University of Notre Dame, ArizonaStateUniversity, and the U.S. Naval Academy. His visits to the two former institutions created a stir of controversy; at Notre Dame, a fellow speaker refused to accept an honorary degree from Notre Dame alongside Obama because of the president’s pro-choice stance on abortion. ArizonaStateUniversity, on the other hand, did not even offer Obama an honorary degree. The University of Michigan plans to award him with an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.
The ceremony will take place on May 1, 2010 at 10 a.m. Approximately 3,500 graduating students will receive degrees, with an expected attendance of 40,000 people in Michigan Stadium. Charles L. Bogren, Co-Chair of the University of Michigan College Republicans, said, “While I may not agree with many of Obama's policies, it is very impressive for the University to have gotten the sitting President to deliver the commencement speech.I don't believe that this speech is a negative, as I hope it will lead to a real plan of action on some of the most pressing domestic issues, something that we have yet to see from this administration outside of the infamous health care bills. Every senior I have spoken to, Republican, Democrat, and apathetic, have all said how excited they are to have the President at their graduation.”
The support for Obama from the majority of the student body is still noticeably strong. Carol Chan, a graduating senior who will enter The University of Michigan Pharmacy School next year, said, “I am very excited for Obama to speak at my commencement! It seems like a lot of people are very surprised and excited as well. I have already had many requests for a spare ticket to come see the president. In fact, my brother who was not going to come at first will be changing his plans so he can see the president.”
Bogren hopes to hear Obama touch on some key issues, “I believe that there are some issues that Obama must address in his speech, particularly given the setting. It will be interesting to hear what economic plans he discusses. It is only fair to the new graduates to be told what Washington is going to do to help, or at the very least not hinder, their efforts to join the workforce. Given Michigan’s dismal economy and the often cited ‘brain drain,’ I hope that Obama will also lay out some concrete plans on education reform.”
Obama will be the fourth president to visit the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan is famous for its presidential visits – Lyndon B. Johnson introduced his vision for the Great Society in his speech to the graduating senior of 1964, U-M alumnus Gerald R. Ford announced his intention to run for re-election in September 1976, and George H.W. Bush visited the University of Michigan in May 1991. In addition to these presidential visits, in 1960 then-Senator and future-President John F. Kennedy visited the University of Michigan to announce his plan for the United States Peace Corps and to encourage students to volunteer. Hopefully, Obama’s visit to the University of Michigan can glean similar historical significance in the years to come.
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6 comments
Given that Howard University also has a School of Law, was the Law School from which the great Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall graduated, among many other historical facts, I am quite surprised to see this error on your part..Gayle Thigpen-Allen, M.A.
daughter of a Howard University School of Dentistry alumnus
sister of a Howard University School of Law alumnus