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Commencement Speakers & Honorees
Commencement 2025 Speakers & Honorees
Join us in-person May 15-18, 2025 at our annual Commencement Weekend Celebration.
Morehouse College will welcome Dr. Cornel Ronald West, renowned philosopher, theologian, and political activist as its keynote speaker for the 141st Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 9 a.m. on the College's Century Campus.
Dr. West's speech will culminate a week of undergraduate and alumni reunion events, celebrating the class of 2025, as well as milestone alumni anniversaries, including 10th President of Morehouse College, Robert Franklin ’75; Morehouse Board Chair, Willie Woods ’85; former U.S Congressman, Cedric Richmond ’95; American attorney, political commentator, and politician, Bakari Sellers ’05; as well as business executive and art enthusiast, George Wells ’00.
The traditional baccalaureate service will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, 2025, in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. The speaker will be Reverend Brandon Thomas Crowley ’08, Ph.D., pastor of the The Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts.
Our Honorees
An award-winning filmmaker, director and storyteller, Ava DuVernay; David Thomas, Ph.D., the 12th President of Morehouse College; the late Dennis O. Hubert (represented by Imam Plemon El-Amin, Family Representative); and Dr. Cornel West, American philosopher, scholar of African American studies, and activist will each receive the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of their dedicated leadership in advancing the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships and educational support for African American students.
We will also having an unveiling dedication for our Oil Painting Honorees, Dr. David Anthony Thomas, retiring President of Morehouse College, and the First Lady of Morehouse College, Mrs. Willetta Lewis.
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For a complete list of commencement events and supporting information, visit morehouse.edu/commencement/schedule.
Our Speakers & Honorees
Learn more about this year's baccalaureate & commencement speakers, as well as, our ceremonial honorees.
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Dr. Cornel West
Dr. Cornel West
2025 Commencement Speaker
Dr. Cornel West, affectionately known to many as Brother West, will be our keynote speaker for the 141st Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 18, 2025.
Dr. Cornel West, the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary, is a renowned philosopher, author, and activist whose career spans teaching at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and whose scholarship focuses on philosophy, religion, African American critical thought, and social justice. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard and the first Black person to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton, Dr. West is best known for his influential books Race Matters and Democracy Matters, as well as his memoir Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. He has authored or edited over 30 books, contributed to public discourse through media, music, and film, and is celebrated for his passionate advocacy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of truth, love, and justice. In 2024, Dr. West ran as an Independent Presidential Candidate and delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Scotland, further cementing his role as a leading public intellectual and champion for civil rights and democracy.
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Reverend Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley
Reverend Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley
2025 Baccalaureate Speaker
The Reverend Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley is an African American pastor, author, and nationally recognized scholar in religion, theology, and queer theory, serving since 2009 as Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts—one of the nation’s oldest open and affirming Black Baptist congregations. He is a Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, a Founding Faculty Affiliate of the Global Human Rights Program at Harvard Kennedy School, and the 2024–2027 Visiting Professor and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.
Dr. Crowley holds advanced degrees from Boston University, Harvard Divinity School, and Morehouse College, and is ordained in both the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention of America. A respected thought leader, he serves on multiple editorial boards, is an inaugural member of the Smithsonian’s Council of Religious Practitioners and Scholars, and sits on the board of the Black Religious Scholars Group. His debut book, Queering Black Churches, published by Oxford University Press in 2024, became a top-ranking bestseller in Religion and Christianity. Dr. Crowley’s ministry and scholarship have been featured in major national media, and he continues to shape a more inclusive and liberating future for communities worldwide.
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Ava Duvernay
Ava Duvernay
2025 Honorary Degree Candidate
Ava DuVernay. An award-winning filmmaker, director and storyteller, celebrated for Selma, 13th, When They See Us, Brown Sugar, and She is known as the highest-grossing Black woman director in U.S. box office history.
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Dennis O. Hubert
Dennis O. Hubert
2025 Honorary Degree Candidate
Dennis O. Hubert was a former sophomore divinity school student at Morehouse who was lynched by a racially charged mob on June 15, 1930, at the age of 18 in Atlanta. The College will honor his life and legacy with a posthumous honorary bachelor's degree.
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David A. Thomas, Ph.D.
David A. Thomas, Ph.D.
2025 Honorary Degree Candidate
David A. Thomas, Ph.D. The retiring 12th president of Morehouse College holds the distinction of raising more funds than any other president in the College's 158-year history. Under his leadership, Morehouse has nearly completed a record-breaking $500 million 'Making Men of Consequence' capital campaign and experienced unprecedented growth in national and global influence.
Dr. Cornel West
2025 Commencement Speaker
Dr. Cornel West, affectionately known to many as Brother West, will be our keynote speaker for the 141st Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 18, 2025.
Dr. Cornel West, the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary, is a renowned philosopher, author, and activist whose career spans teaching at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and whose scholarship focuses on philosophy, religion, African American critical thought, and social justice. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard and the first Black person to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton, Dr. West is best known for his influential books Race Matters and Democracy Matters, as well as his memoir Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. He has authored or edited over 30 books, contributed to public discourse through media, music, and film, and is celebrated for his passionate advocacy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of truth, love, and justice. In 2024, Dr. West ran as an Independent Presidential Candidate and delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures in Scotland, further cementing his role as a leading public intellectual and champion for civil rights and democracy.
Reverend Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley
2025 Baccalaureate Speaker
The Reverend Dr. Brandon Thomas Crowley is an African American pastor, author, and nationally recognized scholar in religion, theology, and queer theory, serving since 2009 as Senior Pastor of the Historic Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts—one of the nation’s oldest open and affirming Black Baptist congregations. He is a Lecturer in Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School, a Founding Faculty Affiliate of the Global Human Rights Program at Harvard Kennedy School, and the 2024–2027 Visiting Professor and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.
Dr. Crowley holds advanced degrees from Boston University, Harvard Divinity School, and Morehouse College, and is ordained in both the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the National Baptist Convention of America. A respected thought leader, he serves on multiple editorial boards, is an inaugural member of the Smithsonian’s Council of Religious Practitioners and Scholars, and sits on the board of the Black Religious Scholars Group. His debut book, Queering Black Churches, published by Oxford University Press in 2024, became a top-ranking bestseller in Religion and Christianity. Dr. Crowley’s ministry and scholarship have been featured in major national media, and he continues to shape a more inclusive and liberating future for communities worldwide.
Ava Duvernay
2025 Honorary Degree Candidate
Ava DuVernay. An award-winning filmmaker, director and storyteller, celebrated for Selma, 13th, When They See Us, Brown Sugar, and She is known as the highest-grossing Black woman director in U.S. box office history.
Dennis O. Hubert
2025 Honorary Degree Candidate
Dennis O. Hubert was a former sophomore divinity school student at Morehouse who was lynched by a racially charged mob on June 15, 1930, at the age of 18 in Atlanta. The College will honor his life and legacy with a posthumous honorary bachelor's degree.
David A. Thomas, Ph.D.
2025 Honorary Degree Candidate
David A. Thomas, Ph.D. The retiring 12th president of Morehouse College holds the distinction of raising more funds than any other president in the College's 158-year history. Under his leadership, Morehouse has nearly completed a record-breaking $500 million 'Making Men of Consequence' capital campaign and experienced unprecedented growth in national and global influence.