On 17 May 2008, moss@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Moss) wrote:
>http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/16/white.valedictorian/index.html
>
>Story Highlights
>
>* Joshua Packwood, 22, will become first white valedictorian of Morehouse
>College
>
>* He turned down Ivy League scholar****p to study African-American studies
>
>* Throughout his life, Packwood always gravitated toward the black
>experience
>
>* Packwood: "I don't think ethnicity makes the difference; it's what's in
>his heart"
>
>
>By Dana Rosenblatt and Don Lemon
>CNN
>
>ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Joshua Packwood knows what it's like to be a
>minority.
>
>This weekend he'll be the first white valedictorian to graduate from the
>historically black, all male Morehouse College in the school's 141-year
>history.
>
>Morehouse, in Atlanta, Georgia, is one the nation's most prestigious
>universities of its kind. For more than a century, the school has prided
>itself on personifying the dream of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., one
o=
f
>the school's most notable alums, by producing "Morehouse Men" -
intelligen=
t
>and successful black leaders.
>
>"Because I'm one of the only white students, it's easy to call me 'the
>white boy,' I'm naturally going to stand out," says Packwood.
>
>But Packwood, 22, doesn't stand out solely because he is white or has
>maintained a 4.0 grade point average. For those who don't know him, what
i=
s
>surprising is that a Rhodes Scholar finalist turned down a full
scholar****=
p
>to Columbia University to attend the all-black men's university.
>
>This came naturally to Packwood, who attended a predominantly black high
>school.
>
>"A large majority of my friends, like all my girlfriends have been
>minorities," says Packwood. "So it was very, it was kind of strange that
I=
>always kind of gravitated to the black community."
>
>Packwood fit in immediately at Morehouse. His charm, movie-star good
looks=
>and chiseled physique made him popular among students. He was elected
dorm=
>president and to class council during freshmen year - and was a favorite
a=
t
>campus fa****on shows. White valedictorian makes history =BB
>
>He also gained worldly experience studying and traveling abroad.
>
>Life hasn't always been easy for Packwood. He grew up in a poor area of
>Kansas City, Missouri, where he says he found himself gravitating to the
>black community at a young age.
>
>Adolescence was rough. His mother's second marriage to a black man ended
i=
n
>divorce and family tension forced him to seek refuge with his best
friend'=
s
>family - who were black and middle-class.
>
>The experience of living with his best friend's family had a profound
>effect on Packwood, who says he saw a "different side of black America."
>
>During his teens, Packwood says he got into his share of fights and even
>landed in jail a few times. Still, his grades were good and eventually
>earned him a full scholar****ps to Morehouse College and Columbia
>University.
>
>Against the advice of some family members, Packwood gave up the
scholar****=
p
>to an Ivy League school. He felt the true college experience was at
>Morehouse - where he believed he would get more than an education.
>
>"I gained this interest in African-American studies and I thought that
>Morehouse would probably be the best experience," says Packwood. "I think
>of it in terms of 'study abroad.' If I really want to learn it, if I
reall=
y
>want to understand it - maybe it's best if I immerse myself in the
>culture."
>
>"Mr. Packwood is deserving. He has earned this," says Dr. Robert
Franklin,=
>the president of Morehouse. "We are committed to merit, to hard work - no
>matter who it might be."
>
>For the most part, Packwood says the experience among his Morehouse
>brethren has been overwhelmingly good - with the exception of a few
>negative comments.
>
>"One guy came up to me and told me -- he didn't like the fact that I was
>here," recalls Packwood. "He absolutely didn't like the fact that I dated
>black women."
>
>"So I heard him out, and said, 'I appreciate your opinion but don't agree
>with what you have to say,'...and now we've become, not necessarily
close,=
>but very cool," Packwood says.
>
>That student, Vinson Muhammad, says he was curious about the reasons why
>someone like Packwood would choose to attend an all-black college.
>
>"I don't necessarily sup****t him being here, but because he's here and we
>can't discriminate against other races, I sup****t him and his mission to
b=
e
>successful in life," says Muhammad, a junior. "I just kind of wish he had
>done it at a different institution."
>
>Even though he received the sup****t of school administrators, Packwood's
>scholastic success did not come without some controversy. When word got
ou=
t
>that he might become the next valedictorian, some of his classmates -
even=
>friends - were admittedly chafed.
>
>"They approached me and said, 'Yeah, I have a problem with you being
>valedictorian. I know you've earned it and even though I know you on a
>personal level - I like you a lot - but it disturbs me that out of
roughly=
>3,000 black men - there's not one that's done as well as or better than
yo=
u
>academically,' " says Packwood.
>
>Still, the majority of students told CNN that he earned his accolades and
>they stand behind him. Some say, if anything, Packwood's academic success
>should serve as a lesson to his fellow students.
>
>"I think that it should be a wake-up call to an all black campus," says
>Muhammad. "At Morehouse we're supposed to be at the top as black men. We
>only have a few white students and to see a white student will rise to
thi=
s
>- is something unsettling to me because it shows that we need to work
>harder."
>
>Campus administrators say that black or white, Packwood's experience is
>consistent with the school's mission: to produce future leaders.
>
>"I think some of our alumni are a little nervous about a white student
>graduating from Morehouse with all of its rich history for producing
>African-American male leaders. But I don't think it's contradictory at
>all," says Sterling Hudson, the dean of admissions.
>
>Overall, Packwood says his experience is the best proof of Morehouse
>success, because the school was able to produce a white valedictorian -
>against the odds. He's eager to quote the school's most notable alums.
>
>"What Morehouse stands for at the end of the day, and what Dr. King
>epitomized, it's not about black or white, it's about the content of [a
>person's] character," says Packwood. "It's about me, representing
Morehous=
e
>in that light -- not as a white man or a black man."
>
>His experience was so positive that Packwood's younger brother, John,
will=
>follow in his footsteps when he enrolls as a freshman at the college next
>year.
>
>Could this type of recruitment signal a new trend for Morehouse and other
>historically black colleges and universities?
>
>"We're not aggressively pursuing white students," says Hudson. "But like
>every other college, we're interested in diversity. So, if a white
student=
>becomes interested in Morehouse - of course we are going to treat him
like=
>any other student."
>
>For now, Packwood is enjoying his rise to the top. This week, he started
>his first job with the prestigious investment banking firm Goldman Sachs
o=
n
>Wall Street.
>
>But he'll be back at Morehouse Sunday wearing his cap and gown along with
>the 500 members of his graduating class. Not as a white man or a black
man=
>- but as a Morehouse Man.
>
>"The interesting thing about Josh's experience is that he had a full
>Morehouse experience," says Hudson. "When he marches across the stage on
>May 18 and receives his diploma, he's going to be a Morehouse Man in
every=
>way -- except ethnicity."
>
>"I don't think ethnicity makes the difference; it's what's in his heart."
The lower half of 1 black valedictorian is worth 10 complete white
valedictorians.
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