Do the Hard Things
The venue was Cramton auditorium, the Opening Convocation was scheduled to start by 11.00am that cool Friday. By 10.00am the auditorium was filled to capacity by students and friends of the University that even Faculty members had to scramble for seats when they made a procession into the hall which was already in frenzy. The Opening Convocation is significant in the University calendar, because its serves as the official beginning of another academic session. The high point of the opening procession was when members of the Board of Trustees, President Swygert and the guest orator Congressman Harold E. Ford.
President H. Patrick Swygert opened the observance by welcoming the distinguished guests as well as members of the Howard University family. He specifically welcomed members of the Board of Trustees led by Dr. Floretta Dukes McKenzie and the guest orator the Honorable Harold Ford who was also to be conferred with an honorary degree. President Swygert also talked about the achievements of the university in the past year; he mentioned that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the school opened its doors to 70 transfer students from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. He said for the class of 2009, the school admitted 65 National Achievement scholars and there was also an increase in the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) average of the freshman class. Dr. McKenzie thereafter assisted the University president in decorating Hon. Ford.
In his thought provoking lecture which he tagged "Do the hard thing", Congressman Ford advised students to look out for the positive in every situation. He counseled us the Class of 2009 to always strive for hard work and excellence. He said," When we do the hard things, America will be safer and stronger”. He advised students against exhibiting non-chalet attitude. He also said we should learn different languages, so we could communicate with people from different races. He said there will be a lot of challenges for us being minority students, because it is easier for the rich to get government attention while the poor may have to wait for long. He also talked about the lack of respect people now have for America’s policies and that the United States is facing a world that is hostile to them. The ceremony ended with the pinning of freshmen with the official Howard University badge and the recitation of the college song.
