PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (August, 8, 2020) – “Graduating in the summer of 2020, you have survived something that very few will have ever experienced—a confluence of events that could have derailed your plans. You have endured a pandemic of enormous worldwide import; a significant local public health emergency that shut down your classes unexpectedly; a curtailment of many of your social activities; an economic crisis; and social upheaval brought on by police brutality. Therefore, I hope you and your family understand and appreciate the impact of your courage, endurance, and resilience.”

Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) President Ruth J. Simmons opened up the university’s 109th Summer Commencement “Virtual Experience” with those inspiring words for graduates watching online with their families and friends.

“You are here today because your character has been tested, and your fortitude and intelligence prevailed. These qualities that you have honed here at Prairie View will give you sustenance throughout your lives,” she went on to say in the nearly five-minute-long address, a part of the commencement video that went live on the website at 10 a.m.

During the ceremony, PVAMU welcomed 251 candidates for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees to its alumni ranks, bringing the total number of graduates from the university to 76,494 in its 143-year history.

“We owe to those who came before and those who follow us, obligation to pay attention; to speak up in the face of bigotry and exploitation; to do all that we can to ensure that our freedoms are preserved and enhanced,” Simmons said in her heartfelt message to students.

In 2020, PVAMU students and the world endured the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and the heightened awareness of system racism. Author, activist, and commencement speaker Robbie Tolan encouraged students to propel forward, learning from the lessons of “Preparation, Perspective, and Purpose.” Tolan, a former Major League Baseball player, earned his degree from PVAMU in December 2019, a little more than ten years after being shot by a police officer outside of his parent’s Bellaire home.

“While trying to pick up the pieces of my life that were all over the place, and when I believed I no longer had purpose, I was forced to look at things from a different vantage point,” he said. “During that decade-long battle, I fought so hard for justice for myself, and to have a voice, that I didn’t realize that I was fighting for more than just myself. I was realizing and living my purpose as becoming the voice for the voiceless.”

Tolan said the graduates would join an “elite and anointed” group of Prairie View alumni who are changing the world for the better, while helping others, a message reverberated by Simmons.

“The history of this university is replete with examples of valiant efforts to treat human beings as they deserve to be treated. Having studied here, you carry with you a stronger sense than most of what could be lost if we give in to bigotry. Those who benefit from the bravery of pioneers who remove barriers to freedom and opportunity do not get a free pass. It is your turn to stand up, turn back the tide of racism, insist on equal rights for all, and defy those who would debase and violate the rights of others. Those who came before you at Prairie View, who fought for your rights, now speak to you across the ages. Their strength and their truth can never be muted. Their voices can never be silenced,” she said.

###

The virtual celebration in its entirety can be viewed below and on PVAMU’s official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/pvamu. President Simmons’ full address can be viewed here. 

To read about some of PVAMU’s notable spring 2020 graduates, visit www.pvamu.edu/commencement/graduates.