Kenneth I. Chenault gracing the Yard today serves as a step up from last year's Oprah Winfrey phenomenon for many students and faculty, but a step down for others.
Graduating seniors, as eager as they are to receive their degrees, have differing views on Chenault being this year's graduation orator.
"We should have been on the yard!" a graduate exclaimed during Howard University's 104th commencement." It rained, then it stopped raining and we were still inside," graduate with a bachelor in science degree Alyssa Neal said. "It was frustrating but it's not the most pressing issue of my life right now.
Nominated unanimously by the Presidential Search Committee, Bowling Green State University's first black president Sidney Ribeau, will transition into a new phase of his career as he assumes the position of 16th president of Howard University on August 1.
According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, in 2007 Howard University had a within six-year graduation rate of 60 percent, up two points from the rate the journal reported in 2006.
This is 16 percent above the national average graduation rate for blacks across the country which is 44 percent.
The responsibilities that fall upon some student leaders may take away from the time typically given to school work. For some, major activities may affect these students' ability to graduate in four years.
Although some leaders are able to complete their undergraduate career in the standard four years, others find it more difficult.
In the summer of 1974, sophomore, Lloyd Duggan had no idea that all of the time he was spending with freshman Jerri Patrick would someday result in a trip down the aisle.
For the young couple, it seemed college was the perfect starting ground for a lasting relationship.
