John Silvanus Wilson Jr., executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, will deliver the commencement remarks at Texas Southern University's ceremony on Saturday, May 14. Wilson will address the May 2011 graduates at 9:30 a.m. CDT in the Health and Physical Education Arena located on the Texas Southern campus in Houston.
During the ceremony, Wilson will share the Obama administration's new vision for strengthening the capacity of historically black colleges and universities and the support it has provided to help fulfill that vision. He will emphasize how HBCUs must continue to play an important role in reaching our national goals, especially the President's 2020 college completion goal. He will challenge the 830 graduates to "climb, lift and build!"