Photo by Jordan Turner, C3 Member

By Elijah Megginson, Managing Editor of Print

 

The final night of New Student Orientation (NSO) for Morehouse’s incoming class became an extremely controversial night as activist Shaun King delivered a polarizing message during their Spirit Night.

 

King left the class of 2028 perplexed during their final day of NSO. 

 

“If any of you call Joe Biden your Morehouse brother I will slap you in the face,” he said.

 

Spirit Night is typically meant to be a day filled with remembrance of the past. The newly inducted freshman class finishes their NSO experience with words and encouragement from alumni, and they are greeted with a party in Forbes Arena. The event is supposed to mark the class’ ability to finally don their Morehouse paraphernalia as they have earned their spot among the Men of Morehouse.

 

Instead, the freshmen heard King’s disdain toward Morehouse. He strongly opposed the college’s decision to award an honorary degree to President Joe Biden; he even went as far as to call it shameful. He insinuated that this decision was a key factor in the resignation of the college’s 12th president, David A. Thomas.

 

“Fifty percent of the faculty demanded that they not give Joe Biden an honorary degree,” King said.

 

King believes Thomas stepped down instead of dealing with the criticism sparked by the decision to give Biden the honorary degree.

 

King also called Biden the father of mass incarceration and genocide. Freshmen students like Cornell Casey II were shocked by King’s speech.

 

“It’s supposed to be Spirit Night,” Casey said. I kept hearing the staff say that, and I got confused. I saw security come out of the corner and I was like, ‘Is he supposed to be saying this? Was this not planned?’”

 

King introduced Wanda Cooper Jones, the mother of the late Ahmad Aubrey who was shot and killed while jogging in Glynn County. She sat in the middle-center area of the Martin Luther King International Chapel. She had an empty seat next to her in memory of her late son.

 

King challenged the freshmen to appreciate the opportunity to attend an institution that allows black men to thrive while also understanding that there are young black men who never got that chance.

 

He pledged to Jones that she would have “800 sons” who will one day cross that stage and become Morehouse Men upon graduation. King had high hopes for the Class of 2028’s production.

 

His predictions for this class were that they will have the lowest dropout rate of any Morehouse class in history, the president of the college by the time they graduate will be one of the best in college history, and this class will contribute legendary leaders to the world.

 

King quoted Bible scripture Matthew 16:26, saying, “It is worth nothing for a man to have the whole world if he loses his soul.”

 

He challenged his audience to never lose sight of themselves and to be critical about the world they live in. He stressed to the Class of ’28 the importance of being a more complete and empathetic human being. 

 

“Morehouse men are more than a body, acknowledge your soul,” King said. 

 

He followed it by saying white people “don’t hate you, they hate that they’re not you.”

 

Issa Rabb, incoming Morehouse freshman, loved King’s message.

 

“He spoke firmly, and I loved the part where he brought Ahmad Aubrey’s mother,” Rabb said. “It was all great to me.” 

 

King asked the freshmen class if they believed in what he was saying; they collectively chanted, “Yes, sir.” King said he loves Morehouse and even has a son in the incoming class who was in attendance.

 

King closed saying, “I don’t speak to get invited back, I speak to spread the truth.”

 

Copy Edited by Journalism Department Chair, Ron Thomas and Editor-in-Chief, Colin Royal