Over 250 SU graduates received degrees this summer

Over 250 graduates received degrees during Southern University summer commencement on Friday July 27 in the Felton G. Clark Activity Center.
Catherine Salter of Baton Rouge was honored as Chief Student Marshall for obtaining a 3.8 grade point average–the highest in the summer class. Salter, an English Education major plans to become a teacher.
Earl Graves, founder and publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine and one of business journalism’s 100 Business Luminaries of the 20th Century gave the commencement address. Graves told students that they had the greatest opportunities that any generation of African Americans had ever known.
“The possibilities for you to succeed are endless but you must not forget those who have paved the way for you to prosper. It is up to you to touch at least one life in the same way,” Graves stated.
Graves, author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller, How to Succeed in Business Without Being White, reminded the graduates they have to take an active role in organizations such as the NAACP in trying to eliminate racism in America.
“We live in a time where John Rocker gets standing ovations at baseball games for his bigotry, while Tiger Woods is cheered when he missed a putt,” Graves stated.
Graves also told students that affirmative action is the greatest tool for social equality this country has ever produced but it has become a target of intense scrutiny in recent years.
“The White community has had affirmative action all their lives and it is naïve to suggest that racism does not find its way into corporate boardrooms, government, and schools,” said Graves.
Graves, who presently serves as chairman of Pepsi’s ethnic marketing committee and a supervisory committee member with Daimler-Chrysler Corporation, offered each graduate a subscription to Black Enterprise Magazine under the condition that they become members of the Southern University Alumni Association.
“One of the best ways to promote opportunities for African Americans is by contributing to historically black colleges,” Graves concluded.
A Native of Brooklyn, New York and the 1999 recipient of the 84th NAACP Spingarn Medal, Earl Graves received an honorary doctorate in business presented by Chancellor Edward R. Jackson.