On Sunday, Senator Reverend Warnock delivered the keynote commencement speech to Paine College’s Class of 2025 in Augusta, Georgia

Senator Warnock encouraged the Class of 2025 to make their life’s project longer and larger than their lifespan, give themselves over to a mission that is larger than themselves

Paine College is one of ten Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) in Georgia; Senator Reverend Warnock is a 1991 graduate of Morehouse College and is the only sitting U.S. Senators to graduate from an HBCU

Senator Warnock has secured $664 million for Georgia’s HBCUs to date, part of $17 billion in federal investments championed by the Senator since 2021

Above: Senator Warnock addresses the Class of 2025 at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia

Photo credit: Rob Davis, Augusta Chronicle

Augusta, Georgia – On Sunday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) delivered the commencement address for the Class of 2025 at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. Paine College is one of ten Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) across Georgia. The Senator commended Paine College for its rich history, academic excellence, and commitment to fostering Black leadership across industries. 

During the college’s 143rd commencement ceremony, Senator Warnock, an alum of Atlanta’s Morehouse College and the only sitting U.S. Senator to graduate from an HBCU, urged the graduates to make their life’s project longer and larger than their lifespan and give themselves over to a mission that is larger than themselves. In a moment in which there are those in power trying to silence the voices of young people, Senator Warnock charged the graduates to not allow them to silence their voices or squash the activist spirit that fuels peaceful protest in pursuit of social change. 

In recognition of his lifelong commitment to service, moral leadership, and the pursuit of social justice, Paine College awarded Senator Warnock the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters during the ceremony, as well as a plaque of appreciation for delivering the keynote address.

Above: Senator Warnock and Paine College President Dr. Lester McCorn

Photo credit: Rob Davis, Augusta Chronicle

Additionally, the Senator highlighted the important role of HBCUs in helping shape the next generation of changemakers, as well as his work to successfully secure $664 million in federal funding for Georgia’s HBCUs, part of $17 billion in investments the federal government has delivered to HBCU campuses throughout the nation since the Senator came to the Senate. 

Over the weekend, Senator Warnock also addressed the Class of 2025 at Virginia Union University, an HBCU in Richmond, Virginia. 

Watch video of Senator Reverend Warnock’s address to Paine College’s Class of 2025 HERE.

Key excerpts from media coverage of Senator Warnock’s commencement address can be found below:

FOX 54: Sen. Warnock joins Paine College’s 2025 graduation ceremony

• The campus of Paine College was filled with cheers and tears Sunday as graduates turned over their tassels. […] The commencement had prominent speakers, from alumni Michael Thurmond to Senator Raphael Warnock.

• The senator was the lead commencement speaker, and emphasized the need for more funding in college education, specifically HBCUs.

• “Let’s face it, these kids are coming out of school at a difficult time in our nation, we’ve got to invest in higher education, invest in Technical and Community Schools. I’m an HBCU graduate, and what you get in these schools is a commitment to bringing head and heart to the work of community service, social change,” said Senator Warnock.

The Augusta Press: Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks at Paine College convocation ceremony 

• Paine College’s HEAL Complex welcomed hundreds of visitors, Sunday morning, mostly the families of students, as it celebrated its 143rd Commencement Convocation.
  
  
  
• Sen. Warnock, a close friend of McCorn’s and a fellow Morehouse alumnus, would have normally been speaking from the pulpit in Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday. His exhortations to graduating students during his address were delivered with comparable enthusiasm.
  
  
• “As an HBCU (historically Black college/university) graduate, I know the unique history of places like Paine College. I know what you represent, I know the sacrifice that it took to get you here,” Warnock said.
  
  
• The senator referred to his own personal history in encouraging grads to persevere amid what he called “a difficult time in our nation.”
  
  
• “I wanted to recognize that it is difficult. Many of them had to work really hard, had to push against financial and other restraints just to get this far,” he said, alluding to his own work in Washington, including his membership in the Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. “But I hope that my own story might be an example, a model, of how you keep pushing even when you don’t have the answers, and when you’re working and doing the work very often, help comes in unexpected places, and I’m trying to do that work every single day in the United States Senate.”

WRDW: Sen. Warnock gives keynote speech at Paine College graduation

• Despite the rainy day, Paine College still celebrated its graduates Sunday. Hundreds of students walked across the stage today to celebrate their academic achievements, and on Mother’s Day, nonetheless. Senator Raphael Warnock was the keynote speaker at commencement.

• “America is great because of its diversity, and here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to fight for that kid who was me growing up in public housing down in Savannah, GA. But I’m also going to fight for the poor, white rural kid who’s growing up in communities that have been too long forgotten about and overlooked,” said Warnock. 

• He also talked about what he has done to help schools like Paine College thrive.

Interested media can view photos of Paine College’s commencement ceremony in the Augusta Chronicle HERE.

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