The separate graduation is an effort to highlight the aforementioned struggles and resilience it takes to get through those.
“This is an opportunity to celebrate Harvard’s Black excellence and Black brilliance,” Michael Huggins, a soon-to-become Masters graduate from Harvard’s Kennedy School, “It’s an event where we can see each other and our parents and family can see us as a collective, whole group. A community.”
“This is not about segregation,” He added. “It’s about fellowship and building a community. This is a chance to reaffirm for each other that we enter the work world with a network of supporters standing with us. We are all partners.”
Recently, across America, there have been incidents of racism – both in comments and violence – at college campuses. Hopefully, the ceremony reminds people that minorities have to encounter certain challenges that others don’t.