From now on, it’s Dr. Kaepernick to you.
Yes, that’s as in Dr. Colin Kaepernick, the former Super Bowl QB who’s been blackballed from the league for five years over his kneeling in protest of police violence. He may never throw a football in an NFL game again but the league’s collusion against him hasn’t stopped him from winning recognition for his activism in the years since. The latest accolade? He’s getting an honorary doctorate from HBCU Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Kaepernick will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Morgan, the Baltimore campus also known for graduating Black Enterprise founder Earl G. Graves Sr., former NAACP president and U.S. Rep Kwiesi Mfume (D-Md.) and music exec Kevin Liles. The university said it’s recognizing Kaep for the obvious: his commitment to social justice both during his playing career and the various business, media and social justice ventures he’s been involved in over his five-year shadow ban from football.
Kaep is the most famous, but not the only person getting an honorary degree from Morgan at its 145th commencement ceremony this Saturday. Playwright and filmmaker David E. Talbert–who got his bachelor’s degree from Morgan in 1989 and will also deliver this weekend’s commencement address, is getting an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Talbert has produced 14 plays that went on national tours and been nominated for 24 NAACP Image Awards.
Morgan is also recognizing David Burton, another alumnus who led a coalition of HBCU graduates and supporters that sued the state of Maryland over the historic underfunding of its four HBCUs. The case dragged on for 15 years but culminated last year in a historic settlement with the schools for $577 million.