Myrlie Evers joins the Alcorn State University Faculty, Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence
Alcorn State, MS (January 31, 2012) – President M. Christopher Brown II announced today Myrlie Evers will return to Alcorn State University as a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence. “Our students and faculty will have the opportunity to interact in once-in-a-lifetime lectures and archival research projects,” states an elated President Brown. “Words are inadequate to express our excitement about Mrs. Evers is coming home to teach our students, write about her tenure at the NAACP, and relaunch the Medgar, and now Myrlie Evers Institute.”
Widely known for her work on civil rights and racial justice throughout the United States and the world, Mrs. Evers will spend her time at Alcorn engaged in offering seminars in the Department of Social Sciences, preparing her archival papers for library deposit, and developing a research center focused on scholarship and convenings related to social justice and civic engagement. Additionally, Mrs. Evers will travel throughout Mississippi and beyond offering lectures and public discussions on her portfolio of work.
“My relationship with Alcorn State University is at the core of who I am,” says Mrs. Evers overwhelmed with emotions. “Stepping onto Alcorn’s campus changed my life. Medgar and I were actively engaged in the student life at Alcorn – we wanted only the best for our fellow classmates. To have the opportunity to return to the campus and once again influence the lives of Alcornites – young people – is indeed an honor.”
“I met and married my husband on Alcorn’s campus. It means so much to me now, to be able to continue our work. Alcorn is and has always been an educational epicenter. Teaching eager minds to care and do more not only in their communities, but internationally. I am honored to serve and advocate for my University,” says Evers proudly.
A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Myrlie Evers became a symbol of courage as well as tragedy in the civil rights movement, and went on to become a championed leader of civil rights herself. She was the first African American woman to head the Southern California Democratic Women’s Division and was co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus.
Mrs. Evers chronicled the life of Medgar Evers, and the civil rights struggle in Mississippi in a co-authored book, For Us, the Living and anchored a special HBO production, Southern Justice, the Murder of Medgar Evers. Other books include Watch Me Fly: What I learned On the Way to Becoming the Woman I Was Meant to Be, and most recently, The Autobiography of Medgar Evers: A Hero’s Life and Legacy Revealed Through His Writings, Letters, and Speeches.
Mrs. Evers will be formally introduced to the Alcorn community at the 2012 Heritage Convocation on February 7th at 10 a.m. in the Oakland Memorial Chapel where Judge Glenda Hatchett will present the convocation address. A private luncheon will also be held with university friends and donors immediately following the Convocation. Mrs. Evers will begin her tenure as Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence after President’s Day.
“We are delighted to have this intellectual leader in civil rights come home and look forward to the huge contributions she will make in honoring and sustaining the legacy of her late husband and enhancing the strong academic profile of the University,” says Brown. “Her return aligns to our institutional efforts to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of her husband Medgar, and to erect a statue in his honor.”
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Alcorn State University is a premier comprehensive land-grant university that develops diverse students into globally-competitive leaders, and applies scientific research through collaborative partnerships which benefit the surrounding communities, state, nation and world.
