Morgan Students Celebrate 130th Commencement

- University Awards Record Number of Doctoral Degrees -

Morgan State University celebrated its 130th Commencement on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. in the W.A.C. Hughes Memorial Stadium on the main campus.

This year’s commencement speaker was the Honorable Elijah Cummings of the Seventh Congressional District of Maryland. A native of Baltimore, Congressman Cummings, has served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives since 1996. He currently is a member of the House Government Reform Committee, is the Ranking Member of the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee and is a member of the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee. He is also the Immediate Past Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“The university could not be more proud of its graduates,” said Morgan President Earl S. Richardson. “Commencement is a celebration of the commitment and dedication of our students and their families. It is, for many of them, the realization of their dream.”

More than 900 degrees were awarded at this year’s commencement, including a record 39 doctorates. Among the graduates was Jan L. Williams, the first PhD recipient in Business Administration from the Earl G. Graves School of Business.

“I am very excited to be the recipient of the school’s first PhD in Business Administration,” Williams said. “I am proud to follow in the footsteps of individuals making history at Morgan State University.” Williams is a relative of legendary Morgan coach, Edward P. Hurt.

Another distinguished graduate was Branden Reid of Baltimore, Md. A graduate of Loyola Blakefield High School, Reid was the valedictorian of the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and has been accepted to PhD Biomedical Engineering programs at Johns Hopkins University, Harvard, and MIT.

“Many individuals urged me not to go to Morgan,” said Reid. “However, after doing two summer programs (in the Physics department) and witnessing the amazing accomplishments of their graduates, I was set on attending Morgan. And honestly, I have never regretted it.”

The university awarded four honorary doctorate degrees during Commencement 2006 to Congressman Cummings, D. James Baker, President and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences; John R. Bryant, the Presiding Prelate of the Fifth Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church is Los Angeles; and posthumously to Victorine Q. Adams, the first African-American female elected to the Baltimore City Council.

Unlike past years, individual degrees were conferred to all graduates during the main commencement exercise.