Civil Rights veteran speaks during Founders’ Day

Guy King
Staff Writer

Today, Jackson State University celebrates its past, current progress, and future developments as a university with the 137th Annual Founders’ Day Celebration. The convocation and Bell Ringing Ceremony was held at 10 a.m. at the H.P. Jacobs Administration Tower Lawn and Quad.

The keynote speaker for this year’s convocation is Hank Thomas, a civil rights veteran and a 1961 Freedom Rider. Thomas, a Jacksonville, Fla. native, joined the 1961 Congress of Racial Equality Freedom Ride at the age of 19, and was a student at Howard University. He was imprisoned at the Parchman State Prison Farm for his participation in the May 24, 1961 Montgomery, Ala. to Jackson, Miss. Freedom Ride.

Thomas was honored at a Freedom Fighters Appreciation Banquet at the Willie Galimore Community Center in 1992. He was formerly a Vice Chair of the Piney Woods School in Mississippi, and now serves on the board of trustees of Talladega College and Morehouse Medical School.

Freshman social work major and Jackson, Miss. native Morgan King stated that she was excited that a former Freedom Rider was speaking to the university. King stated that her grandmother participated in a freedom ride while attending Jackson College.

Jackson State was founded on Oct. 23, 1877 as  Natchez Seminary, under the auspices of the American Baptist Home Mission Society of New York for the purpose of educating Mississippi’s newly freed slaves. The school began with only 20 students and operated for 63 years as a private church school.

“I will most definitely be in attendance at this year’s Founder’s Day convocation. This is so important to me, because I bleed blue and white and to celebrate the history of the university I love is something to remember,” said Laura Coleman, a sophomore mass communications major from Jackson, Miss.

Some seniors attending the convocation look forward the annual event.

“I have attended every convocation since fall of 2011,” said Bria King, a senior biology major from Jackson, Miss. “I feel that it is important to learn where we came from as a university and how far we have come with the improvements and changes that have been made on campus since my freshman year.”

The university celebrates Founders’ Day to honor those who fought and died for students of Jackson State University to have the right and equal opportunity to obtain an education.

The university canceled classes from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. so students, faculty, and staff members would have the opportunity to witness a celebration of the founding of Jackson State.

Click here to see the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_hQoSsQ7w