At HU, Obama plants seeds of hope, success

[Blue_Tires]

At HU, Obama plants seeds of hope, success

HAMPTON — President Barack Obama came to "the Real HU" on Sunday, and from the outset, he kept it real, venturing where some say he often treads too lightly: He went black.

Obama completely understood when Hampton University President William R. Harvey said: "Mr. President, welcome to "the Real HU."

That reference to Hampton's rival, Howard University in Washington, D.C., brought loud cheers from the partisan crowd.

This was far different from the Obama speech last week at the University of Michigan.

This was Virginia, a stronghold of the Confederacy, a birthplace of the emancipation of runaway slaves and the capital of the black middle class.

Raymond Gambrill, a Baltimore native who graduated with a major in biological sciences, appreciated the tailored message. Gambrill attended the Ann Arbor, Mich., speech for the graduation of his brother, Michael.

"It was a blessing to see him twice," Gambrill said. "Today, he delivered a touching speech that hit home to African-Americans. He challenged us to uplift our people as well as to hold us to the same standard."

Obama noted HU's place in history, and mentioned campus traditions such as Ogden Circle.

Some would credit the president with having more knowledge than HU's most recent homecoming queen, who was selected while attending a satellite campus. In the midst of that controversy, in which Homecoming Queen Nikole Churchill wrote a letter to Obama, a student newspaper item questioned whether Churchill needed to ask for directions to Ogden Hall.

"I know my University 101," Obama said on Sunday.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/hampton/hampton-university/dp-local_hu-obama-squires_0510may10col,0,7376813.column