Morehouse College will welcome Dr. Cornel West, American philosopher, scholar of African American studies, and activist, as its keynote speaker for the 141st Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 9 a.m. on the College’s Century Campus.
West will also receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the institution.
West’s speech will culminate a week of undergraduate and alumni reunion events, celebrating the class of 2025, as well as milestone alumni anniversaries, including 10th President of Morehouse College, Robert Franklin ’75; Morehouse Board Chair, Willie Woods ’85; former U.S Congressman, Cedric Richmond ’95; American attorney, political commentator, and politician, Bakari Sellers ’05; as well as business executive and art enthusiast, George Wells ’00.
Additionally, honorary doctorates will be presented to two exemplary individuals whose lives reflect a legacy of scholarship, leadership, storytelling, and justice:
Ava DuVernay: An award-winning filmmaker, director, and storyteller, celebrated for Selma, 13th, When They See Us, Brown Sugar, and Origin. She is the highest-grossing Black woman director in U.S. box office history.
Dr. David A. Thomas: The retiring 12th president of Morehouse College holds the distinction of raising more funds than any other president in the College’s 158-year history. Under his leadership, Morehouse has nearly completed a record-breaking $500 million ‘Making Men of Consequence’ capital campaign and experienced unprecedented growth in national and global influence.
Additionally, an honorary Bachelor’s degree will be presented posthumously to Dennis O. Hubert (1911–1930), a sophomore divinity school student at Morehouse College who was lynched by a racially charged mob on June 15, 1930, at the age of 18 on the playground of Atlanta’s segregated Crogman School.
Morehouse College will honor his life and legacy with a posthumous honorary degree. The traditional Baccalaureate Service will occur at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel.
This year’s speaker is Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley ’08, Ph.D., an esteemed scholar, humanitarian, and pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts. It is one of the nation’s oldest open and affirming Black Baptist congregations, founded by formerly enslaved Africans during Reconstruction.
Crowley is a nationally recognized expert in religion, theology, and queer theory.
He serves as a Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, a Founding Faculty Affiliate of the Global Human Rights Program at Harvard Kennedy School, and the 2024–2027 Visiting Professor and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter in England.