Michelle Obama urges NC A&T grads to seek change
Greensboro, N.C. — The historic action by four students that led to desegregation at lunch counters more than half a century ago shows how young people can change their world for the better, first lady Michelle Obama told a crowd of 15,000 at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's graduation Saturday.
"Congratulations. You all have worked so hard, and I know you have grown so much, and you have come to truly represent represent something called Aggie pride," Obama told the more than 1,200 new graduates of the historically black university in Greensboro.
In 1960, four N.C. A&T students put their careers and lives on the line by sitting down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter a few miles from campus. They asked to be served coffee and were refused, but they returned day after day in greater numbers. Others across the South followed their example until the company eventually ended separate treatment of black and white customers.
"It all started because a small group of young people had eyes open to the injustices around them," Obama said. "They were fighting so all of you and me could have opportunities that they couldn't even imagine."
The first lady urged the newest N.C. A&T graduates to become similarly active in civic life.
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