For months faculty at Morehouse College have looking forward to President Barack Obama speaking at commencement. But only full-time professors — and not adjunct professors — will get to hear him.

Security constraints and limited space mean only full-time professors will participate in graduation this year, spokeswoman Elise Durham said.

Commencement will be May 19 on campus. There will be about 9,500 seats, including nearly 550 for the graduating class, Durham said.

Only those with tickets may attend, and each graduate was given 12 tickets, Durham said.

Previously graduates received four tickets each and the rest of the seats were open to the public.

Adjuncts work part-time and have become more common at colleges in recent years because they are cheaper to employ than tenured or tenure-track professors.

Obama’s speech at Morehouse marks the first time a sitting president will deliver a commencement address in Georgia since 1938 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at the University of Georgia.

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