▁used ▁to ▁select ▁the ▁six ▁comm enc ement ▁speak ers . ▁To ▁qual ify ▁for ▁the ▁competition , ▁students ▁first ▁had ▁to ▁achieve ▁a ▁high ▁grade ▁point ▁average . ▁They ▁then ▁wrote ▁ess ays ▁and ▁gave ▁or al ▁present ations ▁which ▁were ▁grad ed ▁by ▁a ▁seven - member ▁fac ulty ▁committee . ▁Of ▁the ▁ 4 4 ▁present ations , ▁Du ▁Bo is ' s ▁received ▁by ▁far ▁the ▁highest ▁score . ▁Morgan ' s ▁also ▁ranked ▁among ▁the ▁top ▁six . ▁Some ▁committee ▁members , ▁however , ▁object ed ▁to ▁having ▁two ▁African - American ▁students ▁speak ▁at ▁gradu ation . ▁After ▁a ▁he ated ▁debate , ▁the ▁committee ▁voted ▁to ▁replace ▁Morgan ▁with ▁a ▁white ▁student . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁members , ▁James ▁B . ▁Th ayer , ▁res igned ▁from ▁the ▁committee ▁in ▁protest , ▁writing ▁later , ▁" We ▁had ▁a ▁wonderful ▁opportunity ... and ▁it ▁was ▁a ▁bitter ▁thing ▁to ▁see ▁it ▁lost ▁by ▁the ▁vote ▁of ▁one ▁who ▁thought ▁the ▁man ▁[ M organ ] ▁des erved ▁the ▁place , ▁but ▁ex cluded ▁him ▁because ▁of ▁his ▁color , ▁or ... on ▁account ▁of ▁the ▁other ▁man ' s ▁color ." ▁ ▁Career ▁▁ ▁So on ▁after ▁gradu ating ▁from ▁law ▁school , ▁Morgan ▁was ▁admitted ▁to ▁the ▁Su ff olk ▁bar . ▁He ▁opened ▁a ▁law ▁practice ▁at ▁ 3 9 ▁Court ▁Street ▁in ▁Boston . ▁ ▁Civil ▁rights ▁work ▁▁ ▁While ▁still ▁a ▁student , ▁Morgan ▁showed ▁an ▁interest ▁in ▁civil ▁rights ▁activ ism