Changes in Black Student Life at Mississippi State: 1971 to Today

In the late 60s and early 70s, Mississippi state had an integrated student body, but the integration stopped there– there were black students, but they were barely treated like students. Sports, Greek life, extracurriculars, the faculty, and worship were all still segregated or did not welcome Black students at all. The article, “Stereotyped Role' Describes Black Students,” explores the stereotypes and privileges, literal and societal, afforded to black students in 1971, and reveals how they were treated as tokens rather than students. It also offers insight as to how the students felt, as it interviews them directly. The article, and the statements of the students therein, bring up several points to discuss, including:

There was no NPHC Greek life at MSU, and Black Students didn't feel like they belonged in existing Greek organizations.
At one point, there were as many as four pageants on campus, with Miss MSU being segregated, and multiple others established by and for black students.
The student association wasn’t integrated and often worked in direct opposition to the better interests of Black students.
Due to rampant racism on campus, and Black students having nowhere as a safe space, they would regularly agree to meet in the YMCA, and it acted as a black student union.
There was no black faculty at MSU.
Black students were turned away from worship and sent to a segregated church.
There were no black athletes on campus; black students would rather attend games at Jackson State to support a team they could see themselves in.
Student life as a whole wasn’t integrated, and there was a staunch divide between Black students and the rest of the university in the early days of integration.

Campus culture at the time was a mixed bag as to whether white students were aware of these issues, and in a follow up article, “Feature Describes Blacks,” that includes student response, it is mentioned that “[the article “Stereotyped Role’ Describes Black Students”] is also interesting to other students to find that a minority group of people even have something to say.” At the time of writing of the original articles, racism was so deeply ingrained in society that black students were regularly considered tokens rather than human beings, and this was held up by individual people, as stated, students were surprised to realize that minority students had opinions. Some students recognized this fact, while others never even considered or realized that there were black students on campus, let alone that they were not treated well. Luckily, at MSU the historical mindset of the campus has always been calm, if not kind, meaning that none of this was particularly violent. Integration at MSU has massively evolved since then, and we continue to improve to this day. As of Fall semester 2024-25, at Mississippi State:

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was chartered in the fall of 1974, and was the first NPHC organization on Campus.
All 9 NPHC organizations are present on campus, and are in process of building the NPHC Plaza, a public space dedicated to their use.
Miss MSU is no longer segregated and two of the last four winners have been African American members of the student body.
The student association is integrated and inclusive
The Black Student Association is active and offers lots of events and activities for students.

The progression of integration at Mississippi State in 50 years is a fascinating story of growth, and compares and contrasts to similar stories across the United States. It is unique in how calm the story is while many institutions were not so lucky, and it is important to recognize the progress that MSU has made as an institution and continue to advocate for those who were previously underrepresented in student societies.