Commencement Highlights History and Progress There was Shanna Green, who received her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. Green endured a childhood riddled with abuse in Baltimore’s foster care system and group homes, made her way to Morgan with the guidance of caring mentors and pastors, and started an organization to help Morgan students who emerge from foster care. There was the father and son pair among the engineering graduates: Samuel Aimufua earned his Master of Science degree in transportation and urban infrastructure studies, and Osas Aimufua earned his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. MSU degree candidates and faculty cross Welcome Bridge. (May 17, 2014) he numbers alone were enough to grab one’s attention at Morgan’s 138th annual Spring Commencement exercises, which took place this past May 17 at the University’s Hughes Stadium, on the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling. By MSU President David Wilson’s count, more than 1,300 candidates received degrees during the University’s 2013–14 academic year, including a record 52 doctoral graduates and the first two students to complete Morgan’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program. Add the impressive stories behind statistics like these; the attendance of the 50th anniversary class, the Class of 1964, in gold caps and gowns; and the two guest speakers who are first African Americans in their high positions — Calvin G. Butler Jr., CEO of
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Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, and Eric H. Holder Jr., U.S. attorney general — and a truly historic event was evident. Among the candidates on the stadium field was Nicholas Edwards, a graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and a recipient of Morgan’s prestigious Regent’s Scholarship. The 3.9 gradepoint average he earned on the way to getting his bachelor’s degree in information science and systems, and the confidence he gained by scoring in the 95th percentile on the Graduate Management Admissions Test, helped secure his acceptance to the University of Virginia School of Law. He has deferred attendance at the law school to enroll in Wells Fargo’s securities analyst training program.
There were nontraditional students, such as Shardé Harrison of Baltimore, who earned her bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences after a 10-year academic journey in higher education, including time off to be primary caretaker for her grandmother. She plans to become a teacher now in the Baltimore City Public Schools. There was Kemi Akinrimisi, who received her bachelor’s degree in biology, as relatives who had traveled from Ondo Town, Nigeria, looked on proudly from the stands. The Commencement speaker, Calvin Butler Jr., told these and the other candidates about the failures he experienced in his exceptional career, on the way to his current position as head of the nation’s oldest gas utility. Butler, a first-generation college student, told the degree candidates, “If I can do it, so can you…. With such a rich history and