“Blackalaureate”
1st June 2017
The National Association of Scholars (NAS) presents a photo essay on a “black only” commencement exercise at Brown University. Known as “blackalaureate,” the event was held at a Providence hotel the day before actual commencement. Graduating African-American students were inducted into something called Onyx, an organization that celebrates the “transition from Black student to Black Alumni.”
During the real commencement, all the black and other “students of color” (except Asians) marched at the front of the processional, with the white students behind. According to NAS’s reporter, since 1979 Brown’s black students have been showcased at the front of the procession. Now, however, the lead group has expanded to include Native Americans and other students of color. This apparently does not include Asian or Asian American students, who were dispersed throughout the procession.