As college graduations take place statewide, the Mississippi College School of Law presented a posthumous honorary degree to one of the state’s iconic civil rights leaders.
During Friday’s commencement ceremony, the family of Medgar Wiley Evers was presented with the degree along with a framed citation commemorating the late Evers’ life, leadership, and impact.
“MC Law is humbled and honored that its name will now be forever linked with that of Medgar Wiley Evers through the awarded of this Honorary Doctor of Laws degree,” MC Law Dean John Anderson said.
Evers, who was the NAACP’s first field secretary in Mississippi, applied to the University of Mississippi School of Law but was denied admission in 1954 due to his race. He went on to become one of the most powerful voices for equality nationwide before being assassinated outside his Jackson home in 1963.
“It was a dream of our father’s to attend law school, but he was denied that opportunity,” said Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Evers. “That rejection fueled his passion to fight for desegregation in the South for the rest of his life. 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.”
Accepting the degree were Evers-Everette and other family members, including Wanda Evers and Carolyn Evers Cockrell. Chris Daniel, a 2002 graduate of MC Law who proposed the degree initiative and has longstanding ties to the Evers family, accompanied the family for the presentation.
“I felt a connection to Medgar as a fellow war veteran,” Daniel explained. “It’s apparent to me that he would have been a great law school student and lawyer had he been given the same opportunity I received.”
As Daniel noted, Evers served in the Army during World War II. His activism also included efforts to end segregation at the University of Mississippi and on public beaches in Mississippi. He also led various voter registration drives across the state, helping Black residents register and overcome discriminatory barriers that restricted their right to vote.