Faculty at Morehouse College are in uproar over plans for President Biden to deliver the school’s commencement address next month.
Professors at the historically black college say Biden’s ongoing support or Israel amid the war in Gaza is too much, with some saying they will not be seen next to the Democratic president.
“I’ve spoken with several faculty members who say under no conditions are they going to sit on a stage with Joe Biden,” Andrew Douglas, a political science professor at Morehouse told NBC. “It’s on everybody’s mind.”
Douglas is a member of the school’s 15-person faculty council, which recently penned a letter to Morehouse president David A. Thomas expressing their “disappointment” with Biden’s selection.
On Thursday college leaders held an emergency call to see if the fallout could potentially be contained, the network reported.
“From our perspective, really having a sitting president come to Morehouse offers an incredible opportunity,” Morehouse Provost Kendrick Brown, who led the call told the network.
“This is something that is in line with Morehouse’s mission and also with this objective of being a place that allows for engagement of social justice issues and moral concerns.”
Biden and his team are girding for widespread anti-Israel protests during his remarks. On Wednesday Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the issue of commencement disruptions head on.
“I understand this is a different moment in time that we’re in. But he always takes this moment as a special time to deliver a message, an encouraging message, a message that’s hopefully uplifting to the graduates and their families,” she said.
“And we’re going to continue to have these conversations that I’ve just mentioned, with the different communities about what’s happening right now. We get it. It’s painful.”
Colleges and university throughout the country are facing major challenges as their campuses are convulsed by sit-ins and protest encampments from anti-Israel students and faculty.
Some, like the University of Texas at Austin, have responded with a heavy hand, squashing demonstrations with mounted police. Many more schools, however, have elected to simply let students run wild.
Columbia, where the national imbroglio began, has attempted to chart a middle course. University President Nemat Shafik originally called in the NYPD to clear the encampment, but has mostly allowed it to reconstitute since.
Biden is also scheduled to give a commencement address at West Point.
