President Barack Obama delivered the commencement address to graduates of Morehouse College on Sunday, making history as the first African-American president, addressing the alma mater of men including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

About 500 graduates gathered in the rain, along with their families, to hear the president speak, about his own challenges growing up without his father, and exhorting the Morehouse men to be the best husbands, boyfriends and fathers they could be.

Before delivering his remarks, Pres. Obama received an honorary Morehouse degree. Referring to the honor, the president told the students, who assembled in the rain for graduation ceremonies: “I finally made it.”

President Obama, First Lady Address Graduates At HBCUS

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers the commencement speech during the Bowie State University graduation ceremony at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland May 17, 2013 in College Park, Maryland. Mrs. Obama received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree before addressing the 600 graduates of Maryland’s oldest historically black university and one of the ten oldest in the country.