Mississippi State University welcomed its first Black graduate back to campus this week, almost 60 years after becoming a university alumnus.

Ryan P. Semmes, historian and Mississippi State Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library research director examines the far-reaching implications of Reconstruction in his first book “Exporting Reconstruction: Ulysses S. Grant and a New Empire of Liberty.” The 2024 University of South Carolina Press publication is part of the organization’s “Reconstruction Reconsidered” series.

Mississippi State is honoring Hal Parker Jr. as its National Alumnus of the Year during the MSU Alumni Association 2025 awards banquet Friday [May 30].