MUW To Commemorate 50th Anniversary Of Desegregation

COLUMBUS, Miss. (PRESS RELEASE) — Beginning in September, Mississippi University for Women will launch a year-long commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of its desegregation.

Themed “Those Who Dared,” events during the year will honor the six women who were the first African-American students to enter the university in 1966.

They included Diane Hardy, Barbara Turner and Laverne Greene as undergraduates and Jacqueline Edwards, Mary L. Flower and Eula M. Houser as graduate students.

All were from Columbus.

“Much undergraduate research has gone into documenting events surrounding the 1966 enrollment of those who dared to break barriers then existing,” said Dr. Jim Borsig, president.

“Our student research, led by Dr. Erin Kempker of history and Derek Webb, university archivist, as well as Dr. Beverly Joyce of art, has been instrumental in constructing a record of those days.

The research will be showcased at a number of events in the fall and spring.”

In addition, the university is planning events that will bring its first African-American students to campus to be honored. A Sept. 15 convocation, which will formally begin the year of commemoration, will include a keynote address and a special ceremony recognizing the six women who were pioneers.

In the spring of 2017, The W will unveil a new front-campus landscaped feature that will also honor its 1966 pioneers.

“The W, since its 1884 founding, has always been a daring idea,” Borsig said, noting that it was established for women who at that time had no other options for attending a public college.

“’Those Who Dared’ reflects the pioneering spirit that established Mississippi University for Women and acknowledges the words of one of our famous alums, Eudora Welty, who said ‘all serious daring starts from within.’”

“What stands out to me when I look at what we have done to prepare for this important commemoration and moment, is that all of it has been student-driven and student-powered,” said Dr. Kempker.

“The physical exhibit, the anthology and painting were created by students with the support and guidance of faculty.  The research work that went into uncovering this history and the oral history projects that have been ongoing for two years were done entirely by students with the help of faculty.  In discovering and explaining this history to the public, students gained important communication and research skills, but also learned how to empathize and understand the world from the perspective of someone else.”

Projects related to the history of integration on campus will be unveiled at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 15 in Art and Design.  These projects include a walking exhibit in locations around campus that tells the story of integration from the perspective of the students themselves, a painting by Alex Stelioes-Wills and his students and an anthology of student work that includes archival research and oral histories.

In addition, The W’s Common Reading Initiative has selected “Brown Girl Dreaming,” by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jacqueline Woodson, as a book to be read by the campus to further the discussion of themes surrounding “Those Who Dared.”

“The commemoration truly is a campus-wide collaboration to highlight the many doors our first African-American students opened for those who followed,” Borsig said.

For more information, see www.muw.edu/pioneers.