Mississippi State University’s first Black student, Dr. Richard Holmes, has passed away at age 82.
Holmes, a native of Starkville, integrated Mississippi State when he enrolled on July 15, 1965. He went on to earn an undergraduate degree in liberal arts and a master’s degree in microbiology at the university.
“My wife and my four children, all now MSU students, join me in mourning the death of a man who profoundly and positively influenced our university,” Mississippi State President Dr. Mark Keenum said. “Dr. Richard Holmes was a man of courage, vision, and patience who enrolled at this university on July 19, 1965. Later, he earned the honor of being our first Black National Alumnus of the Year.”
Holmes continued his academic career at Michigan State University, where he earned his medical degree. He went on to serve as an emergency room physician in Birmingham, Ala. Holmes moved back to Mississippi and joined his alma mater’s Longest Student Health Center in 2003 as a staff physician and later earned an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
In 1991, Mississippi State recognized Holmes’ campus achievements and medical career by naming the university’s cultural diversity center in his honor. Holmes and his wife, Judie, later endowed a minority scholarship fund that also carries his name. A lifelong Bulldog, Holmes was named the 2006 National Alumnus of the Year.
In August of this year, Keenum led Mississippi State’s dedication and ribbon-cutting for the Dr. Richard E. Holmes Plaza, which he described as “a place where everyone can find opportunity and belonging” and a space for “community, conversation, connection, and friendship.”
Holmes’ storied relationship and love for MSU didn’t begin in 1965. Rather, it was in 1957 when he was 13 years old. He stood on the corner of Main Street and Washington Street in Starkville and watched the Mississippi State homecoming celebration parade through the streets of his hometown.
“As I witnessed the pomp and ceremony of the parade, I heard the exuberance of the crowd and the melody and lyrics of the Mississippi State fight song,” Holmes recalled during a 2005 speech. “At that moment, destiny was set in motion. I did not know when. I did not know how, but I knew at that very moment that I someday would be a Mississippi State Bulldog.”
Holmes said he was met with acceptance rather than animosity when he set foot on campus as a student at Mississippi State. His journey proved effective in the larger civil rights movement taking place during his college years.
“Mississippi State University would never be the same. For the first time in history, Mississippi State’s face would reflect the face of the nation,” Holmes said. “Let me make this crystal clear: I came into Mississippi State because it is my home and No. 2, Richard E. Holmes loves Mississippi State University. I will always be a loyal Bulldog.”
