274 ADDRESSES AND STATE PAPERS

We are a nation of realists and pragmatists. We recognize that to
have better states, we must have better men. We are optimists whose
faith affirms that we need not accept in the realities of today, the dic-
tates of tomorrow.

We believe in tomorrow! And with education, involvement and com-
mitment each tomorrow may be a better one.

REMARKS AT COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES, MORGAN

STATE COLLEGE, BALTIMORE

June 5, 1967

Dr. Jenkins, Members of the Graduating Class and Faculty, Dis-
tinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

May I express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to partici-
pate in this commencement, and my great appreciation for the degree
conferred upon me today. I shall cherish this honorary degree even
while I remember that it is bestowed as much in tribute to the office
as it is to the man who holds it.

This traditional ceremony has a special significance today, marking
as it does Morgan State College's centennial year.

One cannot help but wonder what the founders of Centenary Bib-
lical Institute would think of the graduating class of 1967, the cur-
ricula, the faculty and the campus of Morgan State College. The col-
lege they started has expanded far beyond even the dreams held for
it in its modest beginnings 100 years ago. Its success has been most
recently publicized through national recognition of Morgan as one
of the five best institutions of higher learning in the United States
that were founded originally to serve only Negroes.

Just as the original charter purpose of the Centenary Biblical In-
stitute to provide only ministerial training was too narrow, so was
the admission policy which limited the student body to one sex, one
race and one nationality. Gradually, as the school and its curricula
expanded, so did its admission policies. Today qualified men and
women of all races, creeds and nationalities meet here to study, to
exchange ideas, to explore the sciences and the humanities.