Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will speak at Howard University’s commencement ceremony on May 11, the school announced Thursday evening.
"Returning to Howard always feels like coming home to me," Reed said in a news release posted on the university's website. "No source, with the exception of my family and my faith, have played a more important role in any success that I have had in my career than Howard University."
In a video message posted on the university’s Twitter page, Reed thanked the school’s President Wayne Frederick, whom he called a friend, for extending the invitation to speak at the ceremony.
Reed, a 1991 graduate of the university, will also receive the Presidential Medal of Achievement.
“His body of work in a life dedicated to public service and commitment to higher education exudes our motto of truth and service,” Frederick said in the release.
The university’s decision was met with online criticism, with some citing the ongoing federal investigation into Reed’s administration.
A grand jury issued several subpoenas last year, demanding information about credit card spending by Reed and his office, as well as records related to city travel. Some of the subpoenas followed reports by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News about hundreds of thousands of dollars in questionable purchases on city credit cards when Reed was mayor.
An AJC investigation also revealed Reed, his director of human resources and council members handed out bonuses in 2017 that cost taxpayers more than $800,000. Internal investigations into the bonuses found they violated city ordinances and the state constitution, which prohibits governments from using tax dollars for gifts.
Reed has not publicly commented on the investigation.
RELATED|Some Spelman students upset Atlanta mayor is commencement speaker
Thursday’s announcement also came as the AJC reported Reed’s former city attorney, Cathy Hampton hired dozens of outside law firms that were paid millions in public funds.
In 2017, Hampton used her consulting company to bill one of those firms, Paul Hastings LLP, nearly $100,000 — while she was a city employee, an AJC investigation has found. The firm then invoiced the city for Hampton's fees without naming her or her company, describing them only as "outside professional services."
City code limits when employees can work for outside vendors and when the earnings must be disclosed to prevent even the appearance of a conflict between their official duties and private interests.
MORE|Atlanta's former city attorney billed $90,000 in secret consulting deal
— Staff writers Stephen Deere, Dan Klepal and J. Scott Trubey contributed to this report.
In other news:
About the Author
