After it became clear that some students at Morehouse, the all-male historically Black institution in Atlanta, would protest President Biden’s commencement address on Sunday, Davida Morgan Washington and her husband offered some gentle-but-firm advice to the graduate in their family: Don’t engage.
“I do not expect you to participate” in the protests, she said she told her son, Kollin Washington, who is receiving his bachelor’s degree in cinematography on Sunday. He, in turn, guaranteed her that he would steer clear of the fray.
Another parent, Chiara King, warned her son against demonstrating. Though she was upset by the images of destruction in the Gaza Strip and saw valid reasons for students’ demonstrations against the war, she said she felt Mr. Biden’s visit to the storied campus was a huge honor and wanted to hear what a sitting president would say to the Class of 2024.
“He does have compassion for the children that have been lost in this,” she said of her son. “But this day is truly about him enjoying the moments that he has studied so hard for.”
Her son, Christian Shields, agreed. In an interview Friday, he said his reasons for avoiding protests were largely familial — he wanted his loved ones to enjoy the ceremony.
“The commencement, it isn’t for us, it’s for them,” said Mr. Shields, who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics. He added a practical caveat: “We want to keep the commencement to a nice, short and sweet hour and a half, two hours. We don’t want anything to happen.”
In the days and hours before Mr. Biden’s address, the style and scale of protests against his visit were both an open question and widely-discussed topic in parent group forums. Across the country, colleges and universities have been roiled by protests against the war between Israel and Hamas. Multiple — including Emory University, another Atlanta-area institution — moved their graduation ceremonies to off-campus locations to avoid major demonstrations.
But Morehouse has seen few signs of sustained protest — students did not establish encampments on campus or hold long-term demonstrations. Tensions around the president’s visit have largely played out in classrooms and auditoriums. Students and a group of alumni expressed their disdain in a handful of letters to Morehouse’s president, David Thomas, asking him to rescind the invitation to Mr. Biden. Some faculty members threatened to boycott the ceremony altogether.
In response, campus leaders and a handful of White House officials held meetings with students to ease tensions and encourage peaceful protest. Mr. Thomas said that he would stop the ceremony if demonstrations became too disruptive.
And parents have taken their own precautions, too. Ms. King said that she had a safety plan in place for her family members attending commencement, including both of her octogenarian parents. They aimed to arrive at the university’s campus near downtown Atlanta around 4 a.m. on Sunday, five hours before the ceremony. On Thursday, they shot graduation pictures on campus to avoid doing so in crowds when the ceremony ended.
The thoughts of many Black parents were even captured in popular culture. In a Saturday Night Live episode that aired in early May, cast member Kenan Thompson, who played a parent of a Columbia University student, said he supported student protesters — as long as those students were not his children. His daughter, he added, “better have her butt in class.”
“I’m in support of y’all’s kids protesting. Not mine,” his character said in the cold open skit. “My kids know better.”
Kaelyn Johnson, president of the Morehouse Parents’ Council’s Georgia and Alabama region, said she has spent the better part of the last few weeks fielding concerns from parents across the country who were concerned about protests that could disrupt their day. Though her son is a junior at Morehouse, she said she is concerned for all of the students who are graduating — and their parents.
“These are my sons,” Ms. Johnson said. “Regardless of how many kids you have there.”
