ATLANTA — Morehouse College’s faculty voted in favor of conferring an honorary doctorate on President Joe Biden during its upcoming graduation ceremony, where he is slated to deliver the commencement address.
But dozens of faculty members either voted against the honor or abstained from voting, amid frustrations with some of the president’s policies and the school’s decision to host him as its commencement speaker.
The motion to award Biden the honorary degree passed 50-38, with roughly a dozen faculty members opting to abstain from the vote, according to two faculty members on the call.
The White House declined to comment, and Morehouse did not return a request for comment.
Morehouse leadership announced plans for Biden to receive the honorary degree last month, a decision it said was first made in September, prior to the historically Black college inviting Biden to serve as its commencement speaker.
But procedurally, administration officials overlooked a key step in the process, in which the faculty must vote to authorize that decision.
“It is imperative to clarify that the recent decision to convene to vote to award Biden an honorary degree is not in question because of current political affairs. The decision to call for a faculty vote is due to a mistaken oversight in the process, which traditionally includes a faculty vote that usually takes place in September,” Morehouse said in a statement last week.
Still, the new timing of the vote — coming as college campuses nationwide saw protests over the war in Gaza — turned a typically mundane faculty vote into a vehicle for the staff to, once again, voice their opposition to Biden’s visit.
In the week leading up to the vote, a small group of faculty members circulated a letter stating their opposition to the honorary degree, citing in part Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.
“We recognize the honor that typically comes with having the most powerful elected person in the world speak at Morehouse. At this time, however, salient policies of the United States government are responsible for the suffering of millions of people around the planet,” the letter read.
Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of the Biden-Harris re-election campaign and a Morehouse alumnus, said Biden “deserves” to be recognized by Morehouse, citing his track record that ranged from appointing the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to overseeing the lowest level of Black unemployment in history.
“In my eyes, he’s earned an honorary degree,” Richmond said.
In response to some of the the sustained opposition over Biden’s visit to campus, Morehouse arranged a meeting last week between a small group of students and faculty and Steve Benjamin, who heads the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Some attendees expressed concern over the controversy surrounding Biden’s policy toward Israel and his handling of the war in the Gaza Strip taking center stage at Sunday’s ceremony, and implored Benjamin to ensure the president’s commencement address doesn’t turn into a campaign speech.
A White House source familiar with Biden’s commencement address plans said the president will “focus on the students” during his remarks while also using the speech to “address their concerns.”
