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Home • News

Tracee Ellis-Ross Joins Michelle Obama to Celebrate College Signing Day with Students in Harlem

The First Lady recently kicked off her third annual College Signing Day tour as part of her "Reach Higher" Initiative.
Tracee Ellis-Ross Joins Michelle Obama to Celebrate College Singing Day with Students in Harlem
The White House
By Rachaell Davis · Updated October 27, 2020
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First Lady Michelle Obama is keeping her promise to actively encourage young people across America to pursue higher education.

A Princeton graduate herself, the First Lady recently kicked off her third annual College Signing Day tour as part of her “Reach Higher” Initiative. The program is driven by Mrs. Obama’s efforts to “inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school.”

This year’s run of College Signing Day events recently touched down in Harlem, NY, where FLOTUS spoke to an audience of nearly 4,000 high school students who have been accepted to a college or professional training program at the Harlem Armory.
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President Obama’s personal goal in support of the Reach Higher initiative is for the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020 and Mrs. Obama made sure to congratulate the group of students in attendance for helping to make that goal a reality.
“We all know that completing your education past high school is the most important thing you can do to reach your dreams, that’s why we’re here. So while you all might be in awe of us, let me tell you, we are in awe of you,” she told the energetic audience of high school seniors.

@MichelleObama and I representing our colleges (@BrownU and @Princeton) at #CollegeSigningDay! Thank u to #FLOTUS, @MTV, @ReachHigher2020 and @BetterMakeRoom for having me, it was incredible!

A photo posted by Tracee Ellis Ross (@traceeellisross) on Apr 27, 2016 at 8:07am PDT

Also in attendance for the event was Black-ish star and Brown University graduate Tracee-Ellis Ross, who proudly wore her Brown t-shirt as she briefly addressed the crowd. Actor Robert De Niro, comedic actress Melissa McCarthy and Vice President Joe Biden were also on hand for the event.

 

The First Lady is scheduled to host over 1,000 College Signing Day events across the country throughout the month of May.

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TOPICS:  Michelle Obama Tracee Ellis Ross