On Sunday Morehouse College will graduate the first white valedictorian in its 141-year history — Joshua Packwood, who maintained a 4.0 grade-point average at the all-male, historically black college, and who has already accepted a job offer from Goldman Sachs.
Mr. Packwood, who grew up in a poor neighborhood in Kansas City, Mo., told CNN that he had attended a predominantly black high school, and that trouble in his own family led him to live for a time with the family of a black friend. He turned down a full scholarship to Columbia University to attend Morehouse because he had become interested in African-American studies.
He said his experience at the college had been overwhelmingly good, and CNN described him as popular among his classmates. But he said some students — even some of his friends — were unsettled by the idea of his becoming Morehouse’s valedictorian.
“I think some of our alumni are a little nervous” about Mr. Packwood’s having earned the honor, said Sterling Hudson, the college’s dean of admissions. The administration, however, has embraced Mr. Packwood’s achievement, mentioning him in the second paragraph of its graduation news release.
“Mr. Packwood is deserving — he has earned this,” says Robert Franklin, the college’s president, in a CNN video clip. “We are committed to merit, to hard work — no matter who it might be.” —Lawrence Biemiller
