The national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a graduate of Morehouse College, today praised students and faculty who respectfully expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and protested President Biden’s appearance during the historically black college’s 2024 commencement.
CAIR Deputy ED: Biden “should not be speaking at the alma mater of Doctor Martin Luther King.” (Video)
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, a 2009 graduate of Morehouse College, said:
“As a graduate of Morehouse College and a civil rights attorney whose work has been inspired by the values of our historic institution, I am incredibly proud of students and faculty who silently protested President Biden’s commencement presence and expressed the Black American community’s solidarity with Palestinian people facing genocide in Gaza.
“Although my beloved institution made an error in judgment by welcoming President Biden to speak despite predictable opposition and controversy due to his support for the genocide in Gaza, graduating Morehouse students made the best of the situation over the course of several weeks, culminating in today’s respectful and peaceful acts of protest and solidarity.”
During today’s commencement, some faculty and many students, including the valedictorian, wore or carried symbols of Palestinian culture, including flag pins, the keffiyeh and at least one large flag.
When President Biden was introduced, some alumni seated in the crowd rose and applauded while almost all students stayed in their seats. Some students and at least one professor turned their backs in a silent protest while President Biden spoke.
Class of 2024 valedictorian Deangelo Fletcher received applause for demanding an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire.
Outside of campus, several hundred Atlanta activists and community members, including students from Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta University, and at least two Morehouse faculty members held a peaceful protest march to Morehouse.
Mitchell added, “President Biden should listen to the Morehouse community, including the Class of 2024 valedictorian Deangelo Fletcher, and the many other Americans who want an immediate and permanent ceasefire that Benjamin Netanyahu, enabled by President Biden, has consistently opposed. The genocide must end, and President Biden is the person who must end it.”
Mitchell and other alumni had previously called on the school’s leadership to fully protect the right of students to express their concerns about the president’s support for the Gaza genocide, including through peaceful protests.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com