President Biden applauded a call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip Sunday while attending the commencement of Morehouse College in Atlanta on Sunday.
Valedictorian Deangelo Fletcher, who spoke before Biden’s commencement address, stopped short of any direct rebuke of the president but called for an “immediate and a permanent ceasefire.”
“It is only right for the class of 2024 to utilize any platform provided to stand in solidarity with peace and justice,” Fletcher said while evoking the activism of Morehouse alumnus Martin Luther King Jr.
“The Israel-Gaza conflict has plagued the people of its region for generations,” he added. “It is important to recognize that both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the wake of October 7.”
Biden, 81, has pressed for a pause in the fighting in Gaza but has affirmed support for Israel in its war against Hamas — something that has roiled progressives.
In advance of his commencement address, some faculty and students at the historically black, all-male institution openly revolted against the invite for Biden amid their frustrations with the Israel-Hamas war.
Earlier this month Steve Benjamin, head of the administration’s Office of Public Engagement at Morehouse, huddled with students who were upset with the Biden invite given the war raging half a world away, NBC reported.
Benjamin sought to impress upon the students that Biden’s address will not function as a campaign speech, but instead center on their achievements as students.
A small group of faculty members have reportedly vowed not to attend the commencement address.
“I’ve spoken with several faculty members who say under no conditions are they going to sit on a stage with Joe Biden,” Andrew Douglas, a political science professor at Morehouse previously told NBC.
“It’s on everybody’s mind.”
Biden’s visit to Morehouse marked his first significant ventures onto a college campus since anti-Israel protests began taking elite institutions by storm, though notably anti-Israel protests at Morehouse were generally more tame than other campuses such as Columbia University.
Anti-Israel protesters have already erupted at several commencement speeches, including comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s address to Duke University earlier this month.
Morehouse College was set to award the president with an honorary degree after 50 of 88 faculty reportedly voted in favor of that.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre teased Biden’s speech as “an opportunity to lift up and to give an important message to our future leaders.”
“It will meet the moment. And I think you will hear directly from the president on how he sees obviously the future of this country, and also the community that they represent,” she added.
Biden’s speech came amid political difficulties in the Israel-Hamas war as well as lackluster polling numbers with younger and black voters.
Biden has a 71% to 13% edge with black voters over President Biden, down from the 87% to 12% score he notched in 2020 election exit polls, according to an NBC News April survey.
Only 36% of voters between the ages of 18 to 34 expressed high interest in the 2024 presidential election, in yet another potential warning sign for the president.
Prior to his speech, Biden announced some $16 billion in fresh funding for historically Black colleges and universities.
Former President Barack Obama previously spoke at Morehouse College in 2013. Biden is the first president to deliver the college’s commencement address in 11 years.
Biden is also set to deliver a second commencement address on May 25 at the US Military Academy at West Point.
