Actions

Civil Rights Leader Ernest Green went to MSU on anonymous scholarship

Posted

A civil rights activist and Michigan State University alum, Ernest Green, has returned to campus as the Homecoming Grand Marshal.

Ernest Green was one of nine African American students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. He became the first black student to graduate from the school and then attended MSU. He said, "I received a letter that an anonymous donor who had granted me a scholarship to Michigan State. Being a kid from Arkansas, I had to look up, where was Michigan State? Sixty years later, here I am, Grand Marshal of the homecoming activities."

The anonymous donor turned out to be then-MSU President John Hannah. Green says he looks forward to speaking with students and alumni this weekend.

The homecoming parade steps off Friday in East Lansing.