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Black graduate students at Harvard University will soon be a part of a first-of-its-kind ceremony. On May 23, the prestigious university will hold an individual ceremony for black graduate students, according to a report by The Root. The ceremony, which took a year to plan, celebrates “fellowship,” not “segregation,” Michael Huggins, a graduate student who will receive a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School this month, told The Root. “This is an opportunity to celebrate Harvard’s black excellence and black brilliance,” Huggins told the online publication. “It’s an event where we can see each other and...

Shepard Smith, a Fox News anchor since 1996, revealed last week that he had no intention of opening up about his sexuality the way he did during an April speech at his alma mater.Speaking at a conference, Smith was tapped to talk on a panel titled “It Starts With MEek,” one that was meant to promote inclusivity and diversity. According to a report made by the Clarion-Ledger, Smith changed his speech at the last minute to reflect the crux of the conversation and decided to tell his own story of inclusivity and diversity.“It wasn’t until seven, or eight, or nine...

President Donald Trump will be the commencement speaker for the May graduation ceremony at the prominent Virginia evangelical Christian school Liberty University. The Christian Broadcasting Network broke the news Wednesday morning that President Trump will return to Liberty, having spoken there last year during the Republican primary season. "I look forward to speaking to this amazing group of students on such a momentous occasion," said Trump to CBN News. "Our children truly are the future and I look forward to celebrating the success of this graduating class as well as sharing lessons as they embark on their next chapter full...

Can it be that the federal government has been waging war on for-profit colleges because, with all their problems, they still make traditional institutions of higher learning look bad? For example, the Obama Administration famously created a “gainful employment” rule for for-profits to follow in which they would be barred from receiving Pell grants if their graduates were not “gainfully employed” after graduation. How many private non-profits let alone public colleges could live up to such a standard? At a Cato Institute conference examining for-profit higher education, economist Richard Vedder showed that a comparison of just two schools—the public University...

People Love This Girl Who Walked Out Of Her High School Graduation Ceremony “I got my diploma and there was no reason for me to stay for the rest of it.” ... [A]s soon as she got her diploma, she walked right out of the building. “I walked out because I got my diploma and there was no reason for me to stay for the rest of it,” she said. “I didn’t want to sit with all the people. That’s a lot of traffic to sit in after.” ...

As I was driving my wife to her hair salon near the Air Force Academy, I noticed huge police presence all around the Academy. As I left her there, I was listening to Michael Savage, when they interrupted with news about the F-16 Thunderbird crash. The first announcer said that Obama was given only a warm reception for his graduation speech. Then I realized why my neighbor, a major at the Academy stayed home today! I was baffled as to why so many people were parked all over the hills and looking toward Falcon stadium with cameras. It finally dawned...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged college graduates who seek to "preserve liberty" to do so by fulfilling the duties of their daily vocations rather than attempting to achieve sweeping political goals. "At the risk of understating what is necessary to preserve liberty in our form of government, I think more and more that it depends on good citizens, discharging their daily duties in their daily obligations," Thomas said Saturday during a commencement address at Hillsdale College, a small liberal arts college in Michigan.

Saudi King Salman could not hold back his emotions as he attended the graduation of one of his sons, Prince Rakan who finished high school studies in Riyadh. “I attend this graduation not only as Rakan’s father, but a father to all the students,” King Salman said during a speech he delivered. King Salman has made a habit of attending all his sons' graduation ceremonies, a sign of the importance the king places on education. Before the ardha (sword dance) ceremony, Prince Rakan presented a sword to his father, which caused the King to get emotional seeing his last son...

It’s commencement season, America, and you know what that means: Michelle Obama is screwing up a bunch of ordinary people’s lives again. This year, the first lady has caused hassle and hardship for many families of seniors graduating from Jackson State University, reports local ABC affiliate WAPT-TV. To accommodate Obama’s schedule, officials at the historically black school in the capital of Mississippi have rescheduled the graduation ceremony from April 30 to April 23. They’ve also moved the time — twice, angry parents say.

Marine veteran banned from his daughter's school after objecting to Islam lesson and now looks set to miss her graduation A Marine veteran who was barred from his daughter's school after objecting to a lesson about Islam wants the ban overturned in time to attend her graduation. John Wood and his wife Melissa have filed a civil rights complaint against La Plata High School in Maryland, claiming the district forced their 16-year-old daughter to take classes that promote Islam over Christianity and Judaism. The lawsuit also says Wood was barred from the school after complaining about the curriculum. Wood now...

SENATOBIA, Mississippi — Several people who cheered for family members at a recent high school graduation ceremony are now facing charges for “disturbing the peace.” Police at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where Senatobia High School’s graduation ceremony was held, said the superintendent asked the crowd not to scream and to hold their applause until the end. Linda Walker, Ursula Miller and two other people were asked to leave the ceremony because they were screaming and cheering. “When she went across the stage I just called her name out. ‘Lakaydra’. Just like that,” Ursula Miller told WREG. Miller said she was...

Get this: Conservatives give better graduation speeches than their more liberal-minded counterparts. After reviewing two commencement-speech anthologies - "The World is Waiting For You," which features 18 speeches by liberals, and "Remembering Who We Are," which showcases 30 conservative speeches - Washington Post blogger and book critic Carlos Lozada gives five reasons why conservatives do a better job. First, he writes, conservatives are more likely to speak to graduates as individuals, rather than as members of a movement or generation. Whereas liberal speakers say things such as, "you are the first generation that ...," conservative speakers are more likely to...

Emma Sulkowicz, known for carrying a mattress around campus for what she claims is a protest of Columbia University's failure to punish her rapist, is hoping to cash in on her alleged art project. Sulkowicz told the New York Times after her graduation on Tuesday — where she carried her mattress across the stage — that she would sell the mattress if offered. "If some sort of museum wants to buy it, then I'm open to that," she said, "but I'm not going to just throw it away." Sulkowicz has for the past year carried her mattress around for course...

Student activist Emma Sulkowicz made headlines last fall, pledging to carry her mattress around Columbia University’s campus until the administration expelled her alleged rapist, Paul Nungesser. That didn’t happen. Tuesday, both students were scheduled to graduate. So Sulkowicz, with the help of her friends, carried her mattress in the processional, continuing her protest. According to The Columbia Daily Spectator, the school’s administration emailed seniors on Monday saying, “Graduates should not bring into the ceremonial area large objects which could interfere with the proceedings or create discomfort to others in close, crowded spaces shared by thousands of people.” Sulkowicz disregarded this...

For years, Sharon High School parents had help finding their sons and daughters among the sea of gowns on graduation day: boys all sported deep maroon, while girls wore pristine white. But last year, students approached principal Jose Libano with a proposal: end the tradition, which alienated some students. Now, all graduates wear maroon. Around the region, longstanding customs of assigning graduation colors by sex are giving way to new realities, driven by transgender student activists and supportive educators and classmates of all stripes. The change reflects a growing awareness that simple categories of male and female do not fit...

Though he is among the earliest of those in the Millennial generation- individuals born from 1982 through 1997- and is now older than 30- David Weliver is the creator and editor of the website MoneyUnder30.com. He speaks from first-hand experience when he says that finding a source of income, i.e. work, has got to be Priority #1 once you graduate. “If you don’t have a job lined up right out of college, you need to focus on your career search.” In addition, he says you should take time to “project what your life is going to look like in 6...

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would mandate that high school students receive CPR training before they graduate. AB 319 will be heard in a committee hearing on Wednesday. Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez, D-Chino, introduced the bill in February. The bill calls for statewide school districts and charter schools to implement a curriculum on how to perform CPR and using an automated external defibrillator. This training would be offered in physical education classes or another course needed for students to graduate. The program would be developed by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. In emphasizing the...

DENTON (CBS 11 NEWS) – The announcement that Governor Greg Abbott will be the keynote speaker at the University of North Texas’ commencement ceremony has been met with an online backlash from students. Nearly 2,000 people, as of Monday evening, have signed an online petition asking the university’s president to replace Abbott as the commencement speaker. Hundreds have also joined Facebook group called “Abbott Free UNT.” “Abbott doesn’t represent the campus on many levels,” said senior UNT student A.J. Aguinaga, who now plans to skip the ceremony. Aguinaga is among several students who organized the petition. “I do not think...

Reports that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did not graduate from college have provoked a stream of broadsides, most of them misleading. For starters, he left after three and a half years “in good standing,” according to all accounts. That would put him just a half year shy of graduation, with roughly five courses to make up. In an era in which many collegians get their degrees in six years, it is easy to forget that, not long ago, four was the standard. “A little more than half of students who enter four-year colleges earn a bachelor’s degree from the same...

I heard a sound byte today from the FOX internet ...