Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) returned to her alma mater Howard University on Saturday to deliver the commencement address to the 149th graduating class of America’s oldest historically black college.

In her speech, Harris advised graduates to create their own opportunities, to speak out against injustice and to spark positive change in the world in whatever profession they choose.

ADVERTISEMENT

Though Harris never mentioned President Trump by name, her speech clearly critiqued his administration.

“You are graduating into a very different time than it was when you arrived a few short years ago,” Harris told a crowd of almost 2,200 graduates in caps and gowns. “At a time when men, women and children have been detained at airports in our country simply because of the God they worship, speak truth and serve…because we need you, our country needs you, and the world needs you."

Harris also mentioned during her speech that she had her initial experience running for office as a freshman at Howard when she was elected as a representative to a student council for liberal arts majors.

Howard is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. President Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaGOP senator blocks Schumer resolution aimed at Biden probe as tensions run high D-Day for Trump: September 29 Obama says making a voting plan is part of 'how to quarantine successfully' MORE gave the Howard commencement address as a presidential candidate in 2007, and then again as president in 2016.

Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American appointee to the nation’s highest court, was a graduate of Howard University’s law school. The university also presented an honorary doctorate degree to civil rights champion Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957.