Jackson, Mississippi – The First Lady will deliver the address at Jackson State University’s 139th Spring Commencement Ceremony. Mrs. Obama will address more than 1,000 graduates as well as their friends, family and members of the university community.
Jackson State University was founded in 1877 as a four-year public university; it is one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Mississippi and a Historically Black University originally established to educate newly freed African Americans to become ministers and teachers. Mrs. Obama has delivered remarks on an HBCU campus each year she has served as First Lady.
Echoing the call of the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative, Jackson State University and the Jackson Public School District collaborated to form the first laboratory school in the Jackson area. Since 2013, Blackburn Laboratory Middle School has partnered with JSU in an effort to transform Blackburn into a highly successful middle school for replication and study of successful practices in the district, state, and nation.
