May 16, 2008

Morehouse College Will Graduate Its First White Valedictorian

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

Comments

1. I hope his experience is better than the one the White valedictorian had at Virginia St. University. Her accomplishments weren’t even acknowledged at the ceremony.

   — DrMink    May 17, 11:55 AM    #

2. They are now going to take over . Our women will be next.

   — dan brown    May 18, 08:20 AM    #

3. What you mean “our women,” Kemo Sabe?

   — Landrum Kelly    May 19, 06:16 AM    #

4. I think it’s interesting that the article mentions that many are concerned about a white student being valedictorian of Morehouse, but it never says what their concern is. Talk about the elephant in the room!

   — raymond    May 19, 06:37 AM    #

5. Morehouse, the alma mater of Martin Luther King,Jr is a very hostile environment for gays. The recent history of the failure of the administration to take swift action in a case of the vicious beating of a student who had expressed an erotic interest in another student while in the shower is a true measure of the attitudes on campus. Morehouse must not be allowed to clean up its image by diverting public attention to the non issue involving the race of the 2008 valedictorian. If any institution of higher education should be leading the nation toward quality integrated education, it should be Morehouse.

   — DAVID J. HARRIS    May 19, 08:44 AM    #

6. It is nice to see recognition for Mr. Joshua Packwood. Race should not be the criteria for recognition. Unfortunately, HBCUs do discriminate other races but shout when it happens to them.

   — kvc    May 19, 09:46 AM    #

7. Although this is a positive sign in many ways, the reactions to it really show what a mess this diversity stuff has become.

   It’s created more “damned if you do’s” & “damned if you don’ts” than could ever lead to anything other than confusion & controversy.

   I teach at a private liberal arts college whose diversity mission creates problems for HBCUs, thereby reducing diversity in regard to the array of institutions likely to survive in the long run.

   The word “diversity” itself will continue to thrive & survive, but it’s bizarre that the primary beneficiary of all of this is an undefined term__ it ain’t even human.

   — Ken    May 19, 10:04 AM    #

8. We are reminded of the persistence of racism in higher education whenever a story like this is seen not as an occasion for celebration, but as an opportunity to present anecdotal evidence of the supposed racism (or other failings) of Black Americans. Historically, Black institutions of all sorts have been far more open to and welcoming of white persons than the other way around. West Virginia State University (where I am now an administrator), opened its doors to white students in the mid-1950s and now serves a diverse but predominantly (ca. 85%) white student body. State laws have often prevented other Black state-related institutions from acting with this boldness (West Virginia State was punished at the time by loss of its land-grant status, now recently restored), but white students are now commonplace at many formerly all-Black schools (and remember who it was who segregated these schools in the first place). My son grew up on the campus of Tougaloo College, matriculated as a freshman, and graduated in 1987 with senior honors in history and political science. He was an RA in a residence hall and pledged Omega Psi Phi fraternity. For him, especially when he was attending public county schools, the campus was not a source of racism, but a refuge from it. A close look at the history of Black campuses would show that his experience was by no means unique. So, good for Morehouse, and good for Mr. Packwood, who has every reason to be proud.

   — john teeuwissen    May 19, 10:47 AM    #

9. I’m confused by all of the ambivalence concerning Mr. Packwood’s achievement. Didn’t Morehouse’s most famous alumnus say something about the content of a person’s character as opposed to their skin color? Also it would do well for my African American brethren to remember that, despite all of the publicity to the contrary, the initial philosophical idea of integration was intended to create a door of opportunity that swung both ways.

   REJ

   — Dr. Raymond E. Janifer    May 19, 03:45 PM    #

10. I think that Mr. Packards achievements are very admirable. But it’s hard to read some of the comments that those black men made. How do you attend a school that is suppose to stand for equality and change and make such comments. I just graduated from a 80% white institution and it was hard but I made it. why in 2008 are we hung up on race and not this mans academic achievement in a place where he saw hardly no one that was like him. For black people to have gone through so much racism and then to become racist is so ridiculous to me. I think people get the reason for the civil rights movemnet confused. It was not only for African Americans to have rights, but to also share these rights with people of all races and try to live in a place with peace and EQUALITY. oh and Our women you sound like a clansmen in the 1960s talking about white women. I know Dr King didn’t die so that comment would come out of your mouth. Congrats Mr. Packard you have achieved a wonderful accomplishment.

    — Talitha Warren    May 20, 04:01 PM    #

11. Congratulations Mr. Packwood.

    — Mary    May 23, 01:51 PM    #

12. It should come as no surprise the reactions of “some” of the students of Morehouse to Mr.Packwood. Black people grow up in this society and our reactions to race are natural responses to difference. Mr.Packwood’s description of his Morehouse experience as “overwhelmingly good” is evidence that he couldn’t have faced extensive racism from the students there. As a former Morehouse student considering the mission of the college, I think the responses of a lot of the students is one of suspicion and curiosity. The dominant culture(i.e. “white”) sees views most/all black men with suspicion so, when a white person becomes the “minority” it’s not surprising he would be viewed the same way. We naturally ask “Why are you here?”; “What are your intentions?”. Many of us see this as a beginning to an end of our institutions in the same way we see white presence in “black” neighborhoods as the end to our cultural landscapes. While we know that none of this reduces Mr.Packwood’s accomplishments and that it’s unfair to diminish his position i think even he understands that this is not the society that we(black people) created but what we take part in.

    — Jason Washington    Jun 1, 09:25 AM    #

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