Contact: Mary Pollitz
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Dr. Richard E. Holmes, Mississippi State University’s first African American student, died Oct. 16 at age 82.
Upon learning of Dr. Holmes’s passing, MSU President Mark E. Keenum said: “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. 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. We were also fortunate to have him serve as a physician at our Longest Student Health Center. Dr. Holmes cast a long, productive, and impactful shadow over this institution, a shadow that also leaned forward. I will miss his company and his counsel.”
A Starkville native, Holmes graduated with two MSU degrees, a liberal arts degree in 1969 and a master’s degree in microbiology in 1973. In 1977, he earned his medical degree from Michigan State University and later served as an emergency room physician in Birmingham, Alabama.
He moved back to Mississippi and joined MSU’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 MSU’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 as a space for “community, conversation, connection and friendship.” The Holmes Plaza is located between the Colvard Student Union and the historic YMCA Building, ensuring his story as a trailblazer is always remembered.
Holmes’s 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 MSU 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,” he recalled during the 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.”
When Holmes first enrolled at MSU, rather than being met with animosity and hate, his acceptance was rather peaceful and calm just three years after James Meredith’s forced entry to the University of Mississippi.
His MSU enrollment, acceptance and academic journey was a historic milestone and a key component in the Civil Rights Movement’s push to integration.
“I did not come here for fanfare or publicity,” Holmes said in a letter to administrators and read to members of the press on July 19, 1965, “As a lifelong Mississippian, I am here to study and learn at a high-rated Mississippi University, which happens to be in my hometown.”
Years later, he recalled during a university speech, “There were no catcalls, no racial slurs. It was quiet and serene. Nothing happened; there was just curiosity and disbelief.
“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.”
View a gallery of Dr. Holmes and his impact on the university.
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(Video by University Television Center)