Medgar Evers was assassinated 63 years ago, never realizing two dreams.
One was to become a lawyer. The second was to run for Congress. The first dream became a reality, at least for Evers’ family, when Mississippi College School of Law posthumously awarded him an honorary law degree on May 15.
Law school dean John Anderson said the school is “humbled and honored that its name will now be forever linked with that of Medgar Wiley Evers through the awarding of this Honorary Doctor of Laws degree.”
The awarding of the honorary degree was part of the college’s celebration of its bicentennial and its law school’s 50th anniversary.
Evers, who fought in World War II, sought admission to the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1954, one of the first Black applicants.
When Mississippi’s Attorney General J. P. Coleman questioned where Evers would stay while attending the segregated university, he replied, “On the campus, sir. I’m very hygienic. I bathe every day, and I assure you this brown won’t rub off.”
The all-white institution rejected him because of his race. Evers consulted with the NAACP on whether to sue.
He had hopes. Six years earlier, Ada Lois Sipuel had won her landmark legal battle to attend the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
But the NAACP was so impressed with Evers that the organization hired him as its first full-time field secretary for Mississippi. From his start in December 1954, he put 40,000 miles on his Oldsmobile, helping revive NAACP branches, organize new ones and register Black Mississippians to vote.
In 1962, he helped James Meredith enroll as an undergraduate at the University of Mississippi, effectively breaking the color barrier he had faced eight years earlier.
On June 12, 1963, Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in northwest Jackson. It took 31 years for his killer to be brought to justice.
Evers’ daughter, Reena Evers-Everette, said her father’s dream was to attend law school.
“That rejection fueled his passion to fight for desegregation in the South for the rest of his life,” she said. “This honor means so much to us as his family members and honors our father’s life and all that he advocated for in a powerful way.”
On stage during the presentation of the Honorary Doctor of Laws degree are, from left, MC Provost and Executive Vice President Mike Highfield, Chris Daniel, Wanda Evers, Carolyn Evers Cockrell, Reena Evers-Everette, MC President Blake Thompson, and MC Law Dean John Anderson. Credit: Mississippi College School of LawState Treasurer David McRae, who delivered the keynote address to graduates on May 15, said Evers’ “enduring legacy and dedication to fairness and equality are inspirations for all Mississippians, and this recognition is a meaningful step in honoring a man who continues to impact both our state and nation.”
Although Evers never got the chance to run for Congress, his brother, Charles, ran for Congress in 1968 because of his brother’s dream. He won more votes than anyone else in the Democratic primary but lost in the runoff.
Former dean of the MC law school, Patricia Bennett, said Medgar Evers’ “courage, intellect and strong moral compass encapsulate everything MC represents. Our hope is that this moment acknowledges his incredible legacy and his aspiration to pursue a legal education.”
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