A Michigan State University alum who was at the center of a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement will be this year’s MSU Homecoming Grand Marshal.
Ernest Green was a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students whose 1957 admission to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas drew international attention.
Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus tried to block Green and his classmates from entering the school, but was rebuffed when President Eisenhower dispatched federal troops to integrate the school.
Green told WKAR in 2015 that his graduation attracted a special visitor.
“Sitting with my family was Dr. (Martin Luther) King,” Green recalled. “I’m one of the few people in the world that Martin Luther King attended his high school graduation.”
Ernest Green graduated from MSU and later served as assistant secretary of labor in the Carter administration.
He will take part in the MSU homecoming festivities the week of October 1.