It was a celebration of the completion of academic achievement, and a step toward returning to a semblance of normalcy as the University of the District of Columbia held its first in-person Commencement ceremony since 2019. Held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C. on Saturday, May 14, 743 graduates representing six schools and colleges marched in the procession for the final stop on this part of their academic journey.
Among the students, 74 graduated summa cum laude; 51 graduated magna cum laude; 92 cum laude and 104 with honors. Seven graduates had double majors, and there were 28 undergraduate and 22 graduate students who finished with a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The UDC Law class of 2022 received their hoods at the UDC Theater of the Arts on Friday, May 13, symbolizing the completion of their J.D. program, before participating in the University’s Commencement program on Saturday. In a surprise announcement, evening program representative DeMarcus Freeman presented a $6,700 gift to the class of 2023 on behalf of the class of 2022. Freeman said the gift “represents a hundred-dollar commitment from each of the graduates”
The Commencement also marked the 50th graduation anniversary of the class of 1972 from UDC’s legacy institutions —D.C. Teacher’s College, Federal City College and Washington Technical Institute.
“The overarching vision of the District of Columbia is for our students to reach their highest levels of human potential,” President Ronald Mason Jr. told the audience. “From professional certifications to doctoral and professional degrees, we provide our students with multiple pathways to success. So, today is about the fruit of our labor, our graduates. This is your moment. Today we validate your aspirations and recognize all you have accomplished and achieved. Today we celebrate you.”
Graduates, parents, and guests beamed with pride during UDC’s 45th Commencement Ceremony steeped in tradition with the Presentation of Colors and the University of the District of Columbia Chorale singing what has been dubbed the Negro national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Attendees also heard remarks from 2022 class speaker Kalisha Dixon, who received her degree in architecture.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin L. Crump was the commencement address speaker and the received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the ceremony. He is also the founder and president of Ben Crump Law. He has been listed among the Most Influential People in 2021 by TIME 100, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and the 2014 National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Newsmaker of the Year. He is often referred to as Black America’s Attorney General.
As the keynote speaker, Crump shared the encouraging words of his grandmother, who inspired him saying. “If you ever get a chance to speak truth to power, you do it, baby. That’s what I’m doing today, graduating class of 2022, because you all are powerful. You can’t even fathom how powerful you are going to become in this world. You are going to do things that you can’t even imagine. You all are going to change the world.”
“We believe with everything in our heart that you are going to do it. And now that you have been blessed with this great education from the University of the District of Columbia, I implore you not to just use this degree and education to try to become rich in life but rich in spirit. You must live up to our ancestors’ legacy. You all are the dream of enslaved people, you all are the prayers they prayed for, and you are the answered prayers. You were the hope when they had no hope. That’s what you are.”
Crump is known for being at the forefront of several high-profile civil rights cases, including Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Stephon Clark. Most recently, he represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and the residents of Flint, Michigan, affected by undrinkable water.
Crump credits students for getting involved in civil rights cases by putting pressure on lawmakers and the media to address and cover injustices, which has helped lead to convictions.
“Doesn’t it seem like everything was shut down except implicit bias and police brutality during this pandemic?” Crump asked during his address. “While we were all at home relegated to “Eyewitness News” and social media, we watched Ahmaud Arbery in March 2020 be lynched for jogging while Black, and then after that, we witnessed our sister Breonna Taylor be killed because the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department was executing an unnecessary and illegal no-knock warrant at her house at one o’clock in the morning. Then we saw the tortured video of George Floyd narrating the documentary of his death, saying I can’t breathe 28 times and calling out for his mother.”
The attorney thanked the graduates for being his “co-counsel” and helping ensure that Floyd’s family received “some measure of accountability, some measure of respect, some measure of defining their legacy and some measure of justice.” He also thanked them for their marches and protests, which “made sure we got convictions in the case of Ahmaud Arbery and the police officer who kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck.”
“You all made sure my legal team got a verdict of guilty. We couldn’t have done it without you. That will be your legacy; COVID-19 won’t be your legacy, class of 2022,” he said.
Crump encouraged graduates to continue to take a stand when they witness injustices in support of the community and the next generation.
“Dr. King said there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither popular nor politically correct and not even safe, but there comes a time that one must take a position because it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “Graduating class of 2022, it is the right thing to do to stand up for our community and speak up for our culture. We have to fight for our children’s future, the children yet unborn, until hell freezes over and then we have to be ready to fight on the ice.”