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The m aro o
Senator Ford Named 2011
Commencement Speaker
106 & Park Live at Next
Hump Wednesday
Gerren Keith Gaynor
Managing Editor
gerren .gay nor @ gmail .com
I n what seems to be a
shocking turn of events,
Morehouse College’s Office
of Communications has an
nounced that Sen. Ophelia
Ford of Tennessee will be the
2011 commencement speaker.
This unforeseen news comes
at a huge disappointment to
the student body and admin
istrators, who were hopeful
that President Barack Obama
would grace Century Campus
on May 15 in, what would
have been, an historical mo
ment for the institution.
Spelman College’s recent
announcement of First Lady
Michelle Obama as its com
mencement speaker added
salt to the womb, as many
Morehouse students be
lieved it was a strong indi
cation that President Obama
would soon announce his
visit. However, the recent
news that the first lady will
no longer attend Spelman’s
commencement brings an
anticlimax to the “Spel-
house” community—both
institutions left in dismay.
While Ford is unknown to
most constituents outside of
Tennessee, the senator has
kindled popularity among
many Morehouse students
for an infamous Youtube
video in which Ford is rep
rimanding a group of regu
lators during a General Wel
fare Committee meeting. In
the video, a pugnacious Ford
chastises regulators over new
state fees on the funeral in
dustry. In the video an intim
idating Ford hollers at regu
lators asserting, “you don’t
know how hard it is to get
death certificates,” and her
most notorious phrase, “what
you’re saying ain’t hittin’ on
nothin’ with me.”
According to the More
house President’s Office,
Obama was unable to at
tend commencement due to
“conflict of scheduling” in
light of the recent turmoil
in Libya and the U.S. in
volvement in a United Na
tions sanction on Libyan
President Moammar Gah-
.
dafi. “This is quite a disap
pointment to the Morehouse
community, however, we
look forward to welcom
ing President Obama to the
campus in the near future,”
See SENATOR, page 2 ►
Nicolas B. Aziz
Editor-in-Chief
nickbaziz@yahoo.com
S tudents in attendance at
the next “Hump Wednes
day” will have the opportu
nity to be on live television.
Popular Black Entertain
ment Television (BET) daily
countdown show “106 &
Park” will be broadcasting
live from the steps of Kilgore
student center during next
week’s show.
The show will appropri
ately be named “106 & West-
view” for the day. This Hump
Wednesday coverage is a part
of a special that the program
plans on doing for the next
four weeks. Morehouse will
be the first stop on the pro
gram’s HBCU tour.
The live taping of the show
will have all of the amenities
of the regular in-studio edi
tions including the “wild-out
Wednesday” competition and
the search for the “1 i vest au
dience member.”
According to sources from
BET, the show will also fea
ture “a very special guest.”
This guest will be inter
viewed live on the steps of
Kilgore and will also per
form one of the songs on the
countdown.
This information has cre
ated a large buzz among stu
dents of the AUC.
“I really hope it’s Lil’
Wayne,” Jared Salsbury, a
junior economics major at
Morehouse said. “Although
I’ve heard he’s never allowed
on Morehouse campus again
after performing “Pu&%y
Monster” at homecoming a
few years ago.”
“I hope Chris Brown is
coming,” Thirstoya Wil
liams, a sophomore Eng
lish major at Spelman said.
“Some may be scared to host
Chris Brown these days but
I think he is still mentally
stable and ev
eryone in the
AUC would
appreciate
him coming
and showing
love.”
BET collab
orated with the
Campus Alli
ance for Stu
dent Activities
(CASA) in
planning this
live broadcast.
Co-chair of
CASA Luke Yancy is excited
about bringing BET to cam
pus.
“Their representatives
contacted me at the begin
ning of the semester and said
they wanted to bring 106 &
Park to the ‘House,” Yancy
explained. “We immediate
ly began taking the steps to
making this happen.”
106 & Park hosts Raquel
“Rocsi” Diaz and Terrence
“Terrence J” Jenkins are also
excited to host the show at
Morehouse.
“This is about to be crazy...
we’re about to host 106 &
park live on a college cam
pus,” Jenkins said. “This is
revolutionary.”
Jenkins admitted that there
is one particular thing that he
is a little more excited about.
“I already asked the net
work and they said 1 could
bark and hop on air with ‘the
bruhz,”’ Jenkins said. “I as
sumed there would be no bet
ter way to celebrate 106 air
ing on a college campus.”
The show will begin at its
normal time of 6 p.m. EST.
The first 100 students in at
tendance will receive a free
limited edition “106 & West-
view” t-shirt.
After visiting Morehouse,
106 & Park will travel to
Hampton University for “106
& Cemetery,” Howard Uni
versity for “106 and Sixth”
and then Jenkins’ alma mater
North Carolina A&T State
University for “106 & Mar
ket.”
Jenkins said that he is hap
py to end the tour at his alma
mater and feels that AUC
will be the perfect location to
begin the tour.
“The AUC is such a unique
place,” Jenkins said. “I can’t
wait to get down to the A and
experience the abundance of
energy that the students have
to offer!”
Michelle Obama Cancels Spelman Commencement Plans
The First Lady scheduled to make an unanticipated emergency trip to Japan
Ta’Tiana Miles
Staff Writer
tnm92 @yahoo.com
T he students of the class
of 2011 at Spelman Col
lege had something extra
to celebrate on March 25.
Not only are they graduat
ing from college, but also
they would have one of the
most prominent and influ
ential Black women in the
world speaking at their com
mencement: our nation’s
First Lady, Michelle Obama.
The news was announced
via the Spelman College web
site last week. Immediately,
students starting posting
tweets on Twitter and posting
on their walls on Facebook
about how excited they were
to hear First Lady Michelle
Obama speak at their com
mencement. This is an ex
citing time not only for the
students graduating, but also
for all students at Spelman
College. However, it was an
nounced on March 31 that the
First Lady had to cancel her
special guest appearance at
graduation.
The First Lady and the
President have to take an
emergency trip to Japan to
discuss vital ways to rebuild
the country back to its once
glorified state after the earth
quake disaster and nuclear
power plant damage. She
will be there from April 27
until May 16 and will unfor
tunately miss Spelman’s com
mencement by only one day.
The First Lady released
a statement expressing that
she was very saddened that
she would have to miss
the commencement. How
ever, she knows Spelman’s
motto this year is being a
global citizen and making a
choice to change the world,
and with that she hopes
Spelman students will for
give her and understand her
reasons.
“We have the vital oppor
tunity to change the circum
stances of Japan,” the First
Lady said, “and we should
take that opportunity to re
store the lives that have been
damaged and to bring back
a sense of stability for this
country.” Spelman women
embody the standards of
excellence that are a part of
the college’s strategic plan,
including the three c’s: civil
ity, commitment, and con
sistency.
“I believe that Spelman’s
dedication to bringing well
educated, civil, committed
and consistent women to the
professional and intellectual
workforce is a noble one,
and though I cannot be there
to help usher these beautiful
and intelligent young woman
into the next chapter of their
life, I want to remind them of
the reason I cannot be there:
I am busy trying to embody
the values that Spelman is
trying to instill in them,”
Obama said.
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