STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Dr. Richard E. Holmes became the first African-American student at Mississippi State University when he entered the school on July 19, 1965.
On Sunday, MSU will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Holmes' enrollment with an open house in his honor at the Colvard Student Union on campus in Starkville.
Holmes earned a liberal arts degree and a master's degree in microbiology at MSU. He graduated from medical school at Michigan State University in 1977.
In 1991, MSU renamed its Office of Minority Affairs for Holmes. That same year, he and wife Judie endowed a scholarship for MSU minority students
After practicing medicine in Alabama, Holmes returned to Mississippi and he and Judie located in Columbus. In 2003, he began a stint as a staff physician at MSU's Longest Student Health Center.
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