COMMENCEMENT, MORGAN STATE COLLEGE 275

Much of the success, the tangible facilities which we see about us,
has resulted from a succession of unusually energetic Trustees and
unusually vigorous College Presidents. The name of the College itself
exemplifies this tradition. For it was Littleton Morgan, this institu-
tion's first Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who provided the funds
for the Centenary Biblical Institute to broaden its curriculum and to
accept women as students. The Board members today are just as
vigorous and dedicated advocates for the school as were their prede-
cessors.

I regard it as a singular tribute to the devotion of this Board, as well
as to the man and his commitment to the college, that only two days
before Dr. Carl Murphy's death, I received a letter urging immediate
appropriations for the Commerce Building, a letter dictated from his
hospital bed.

Surely the Trustees and the faculty have contributed greatly to the
school, as they have to the community. So have the alumni — the
graduates past — such as this year's honored alumna, Senator Wel-
come.

But this is a commencement, a celebration of past efforts achieved
and new efforts to come. While it is fitting that we honor past bene-
factors, it is more a time to honor present graduates.

My remarks to the 1967 graduating class of Morgan will be brief,
but I do have one message I would like to leave with you.

It may come as a shock to you, but through your forbearance, your
determination and your aptitude, you have just joined another minor-
ity! You have become a member of the educated elite. You have been
parted inseparably from the majority who are without this experience
and this diploma.

Welcome to this minority, and do not conclude that it is so very
different from all others. It, too, has its allies and its enemies. It, too,
has its opportunities and its pitfalls. It, too, is a two-edged sword that
expects greater achievement because it assumes greater advantage; de-
mands better performance because you are fewer in numbers; and
will not let you rest, lest you be overwhelmed.

There is one special difference. By joining the minority of educated
men and women, you will now be welcome to join other minorities,
even more selective and more esteemed. Consider them carefully. For
these are exclusive clubs of a special order and require from their
members a special commitment which no degree can confer. Each