President of Morehouse gives speech before commencement of Undergrad

David Thomas, parent of a D’Amore-McKim graduate, both received honorary degrees and delivered the keynote speech at the undergraduate ceremony at Fenway Park on Sunday, May 5.

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This is part of our Northeastern University 2024 coverage commencement.

Morehouse College and Northeastern University may seem like drastically different schools. One is a historically black men’s liberal arts college in Atlanta. The other is a global research university known for its experiential learning programs.

But they have something in common, David Thomas, president of Morehouse College, said Sunday during his speech at Northeastern University’s undergraduate program in Fenway Park.

“It may not seem obvious at first glance, but both institutions are unique and distinguish themselves in what they do best,” said Thomas.

Thomas, a recipient of an honorary doctorate, has a long history in higher education. He was a dean and professor at Harvard, Georgetown and the University of Pennsylvania before joining Morehouse in 2018.

During his speech, Thomas shared his thoughts on what he’s learned throughout his career about dreams, goals and failures – from the “dream killer” that pushed him to give up his childhood goal of becoming President of the United States, to his inability to to become dean. from Harvard Business School, which led him to become president of Morehouse.

He also reflected on the challenges the class of 2024 has faced, from COVID-19 that affected many of them early in their academic careers at Northeastern to the current global struggle. That’s why Thomas said this class is “stronger than any generation of students we’ve seen in the last 40 years.”

“Yet Northeastern has emerged stronger from this period,” he said. “Northeastern’s distinctive competencies in the field of experiential education, the focus on bringing together theory and practice. … What makes Northeastern unique is in greater demand than ever before, because they provided light.

“At Morehouse we have an expression that we are a candle in the dark,” he said. “In that respect we are a sister of Northeastern. You have been a candle in the dark.”

Thomas concluded his speech by urging graduates to find the humanity in others and “not see them as the other.”

“The highest purpose of education,” he said, “is to create individuals who are willing to protect the humanity of the people of this planet, to understand that we are all connected in our humanity.

“It starts with empathy,” he says. “It comes with respect… and it has to come with courage, not just to see people’s humanity, but also the courage to stand up for people’s humanity – especially in the moments we’re seeing right now. … We must all have the courage to act and protect humanity, otherwise we will lose our humanity.”