Richard Collins III, the Bowie State University student who was supposed to graduate on Tuesday, was instead honored by a cap and gown draped over a seat in the front row during the commencement ceremony.
Collins was stabbed to death at a bus stop at the University of Maryland while he was visiting friends in an attack that is currently being investigated by the FBI as a possible hate crime, as his attacker, Sean Christopher Urbanski, was reportedly a member of a racist Facebook group.
— Honor student banned from graduation, threatened with arrest over shirt —
“We gather this morning with heavy hearts,” Bowie State University President Dr. Mickey L. Burnim said during the graduation, which was incidentally held at the campus of the University of Maryland. “One of our graduates, in the prime of his life, has fallen victim to an unprovoked assault in yet one more manifestation of the senseless violence permeating our society.”
Burnim also called for a moment of silence in order for the students to ponder “what each of us might do to promote greater peace, harmony and love that seems to be so lacking in our country, in our world today.”
Collins was awarded his bachelor’s degree posthumously, with his family accepting the diploma in his place.