Department of English & Philosophy cadets honored author Toni Morrison by performing her works during a dinner hosted by the West Point Association of Graduates on March 22. Cadet Krystal Onyema sang "He Is By" from the opera Margaret Garner (libretto by Toni Morrison) and seven other cadets read passages from her novels, including Beloved and Home.
Watch video of the presentations
"I never expected this kind of welcome," Morrison said after the cadet presentations. "You have amazed and pleased me -- every single one of you."
To conclude the evening, Cadet Brandi-el Cook presented Morrison with a plaque featuring photos of Roscoe Robinson, the first black four-star general in the U.S. Army, and Henry O. Flipper, the Academy's first black graduate.
"You have in your hand the preliminary history of African Americans at West Point, and the great things they went on to do," El-Cook said.
Read about Morrison's lecture earlier in the day
