President Obama will deliver the keynote address at Howard University’s commencement ceremony next month, the school has announced.
“It is an extraordinary honor and privilege,” Howard President Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a news release Thursday. “President Obama’s own legacy gives the Howard community great expectations for the leadership footprint it will leave on America and the globe.”
Obama will receive the honorary Doctor of Laws degree, the school’s highest honor, from Howard at the May 7 ceremony. The university is also giving honorary degrees to Ambassador Horace Greeley Dawson Jr., actress Cicely Tyson and physician L.D. Britt.
According to the university, it will award more than 1,300 bachelors’ degrees, more than 300 master’s degrees and more than 100 Ph.Ds on graduation day.
Howard’s website currently has a countdown clock ticking until commencement day.
Obama will become the sixth sitting U.S. president to deliver the keynote address at a Howard University commencement. He is also set to deliver a commencement speech at Rutgers University in New Jersey on May 15, the first one by a sitting president at the school.
