Joshua Packwood

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Joshua Packwood
Born	Joshua Packwood Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Residence	New York City, New York, USA
Nationality	American
Education	Bachelor's Degree
Alma mater	Morehouse College
Occupation	Wall Street
Employers	Goldman Sachs
Known for	first white valedictorian of Morehouse College

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2008)

Joshua Packwood became the first white valedictorian of Morehouse College, a historically black college, in its 141-year history ^[1] at the age of 22.^[2]

Packwood held a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and graduated with a degree in economics. Morehouse's president, Robert Franklin, stated in his February 2008 inauguration speech that Packwood "happens to be Euro-American and brings much-appreciated diversity to our campus."^[3]

Packwood said that "Gaining a different perspective on issues and a different philosophy on life" was a principal reason for his attendance at Morehouse, and that attending provided him with "a never-ending stream of motivation and inspiration in terms of the students," that "Morehouse is a special place," that "students come here with a mission," and that "that mission is what really drew me to the school."

When asked what he had learned about African Americans from his experiences at Morehouse, Packwood stated that his foremost lesson was "how diverse African Americans are" and "how diverse the people of the African diaspora are," while noting that he had been "absolutely amazed" at the "diversity of beliefs and religion" at the school, and admitting that after four years of congenial interactions at the school, "I still can't give you the definition of 'black', I still can't sum up what 'black culture' is."

Packwood described how his Morehouse peers viewed him "as a brother" and that he was "proud to call every single one of them 'my brother'." He went on to state that Morehouse was not really about race but its mission. Packwood stated that, although Morehouse's mission was born of the problems surrounding race in America, those problems are not its defining aspect; instead it seeks to raise up servant leaders. Packwood said that his experiences at Morehouse had been "overwhelmingly positive" and that he believed America indeed still had issues of prejudice and racism to overcome.^[4] Packwood also noted that some students objected to his presence, especially when he was found out to be the valedictorian.^[1]

[edit] Bibliography

External images
	Packwood at Morehouse
	Packwood (2nd from right) with classmates
	Packwood (far left) with multicultural siblings

• Alison Go, "White Valedictorian Makes Morehouse History", U.S. News & World Report, 12 May 2008. Available online. Archived by WebCite®.
• Errin Haines, "2008 valedictorian is different kind of 'Morehouse Man'", 11 May 2009, Associated Press. Available online. Archived by WebCite®.
• Dana Rosenblatt and Don Lemon, "White valedictorian: A first for historically black Morehouse", 16 May 2008. Available online. Archived by WebCite®.
• National Public Radio, "Valedictorian Makes History", 14 May 2008. Audio available online.

[edit] References