When Dorian Joyner Jr.’s dad told him that he would soon be joining him at Morehouse College , the freshman thought it meant that his father would be coming for a visit.
In actuality, his father meant that he would soon be joining him as a student at the Atlanta campus, he told WXIA-TV.
The younger Joyner and his father, Dorian Joyner Sr., will both be graduating from Morehouse College this Sunday after spending three years together on campus. President Barack Obama will be speaking at the ceremony.
While the elder Joyner initially attended the school from 1984 through 1988, he dropped out early to build his career, according to a profile on the Morehouse website. Years later, after his oldest son had began attending Morehouse, he decided he wanted to re-enroll and complete his degree.
While his son was initially shocked by his dad’s decision, he said he liked having him around on campus.
"We used to have a support system. Sometimes he would come to my room to ask about a problem or a class or a professor to take," the younger Joyner told WXIA-TV.
In fact, the younger Joyner, an English major, said being on campus with his father, a religion major who plans to attend law school, was actually “natural."
“We rarely see each other, because we have class and we have our own lifestyles. He have a job; I have a job; he have a social life, and I have a social life,” he said in a Morehouse video. “But when we on campus, we see each other as students and also as father and son.”
The duo isn't the only family to graduate together.
Earlier this month, father and mother Jeff and Christina Crise, and son and daughter Josh and Amada Crise, all graduated from Des Moines Area Community College, according to local Iowa outlet KCCI News.
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