Medgar Evers, an alumnus of Alcorn State University, was one of the key leaders of the civil rights movement in Mississippi. He was assassinated on June 12, 1963 in the driveway of the home. He was 38 years old.
Seven years after Evers was assassinated, a new senior college of the City University of New York was founded in Brooklyn. It was named after Medgar Evers. Today, the college enrolls about 6,500 students in undergraduate programs. While the college was founded too late to be considered a historically Black college or university, Blacks make up 83 percent of the student body. Women are 74 percent of all students.
This spring Medgar Evers College will grant an honorary degree to its namesake, Medgar Evers. Mylie Evers-Williams, who was married to Medgar Evers and continued his civil rights work after his death, will be at the college’s commencement ceremony on June 2 to accept the honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree.
