Posts tagged: profile
Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine and the first African-American student to graduate from Little Rock Central High School, continued his education at Michigan State University.
After receiving a full scholarship from an anonymous donor, he finished both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at MSU. During his time in East Lansing, he became president of the school’s NAACP chapter and was also a charter member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
After graduation, Green went on to a career in the government and private sector, including a stint as President Carter’s Assistant Secretary of Labor. He also organized a program to provide outreach for minority Boy Scouts (himself an Eagle Scout). To this day, he has strong ties to his alma mater, speaking at alumni events and funding scholarships of his own.
Later in life, Green would discover that the anonymous donor was, in fact, President John Hannah.
“My time at the university helped instill so many convictions and taught me critical and strategic thinking that has been integral to my success in life,” he said. “The scholarship to attend Michigan State University transformed my life.”
Hello all! As your original tumblr for all things MSU, I’d like to introduce a new feature as suggested by a follower, shelovesuke: I’m calling them Spartan Spirit Profiles.
Every so often, I’ll feature a current MSU student and let them share what they love about MSU. I’ve put together a simple form to fill out and encourage you to submit it along with a picture to be featured! Alumni are also encouraged to submit and can alter “Year” with their graduation year.
Submissions can be posted here. The link is also on the blog itself.
Please include the following in your submission:
1. Answers to the following questions:
Name:
Year:
Major:
Hometown:
Favorite place on campus: (feel free to elaborate on this one!)
Why you chose MSU:
Favorite Dairy Store flavor:
2. A picture of yourself decked out in your best green and white!
*Submissions are subject to edits for spelling and grammar.
PS - If you have any issues with submitting, let me know!
An elusive campus celebrity - the black squirrel with white tip.
Zeke the Wonder Dog is a unique feature to our football games here at MSU. Many things contribute to the entertainment between plays, from the Spartan Marching Band and Sparty to the dumb games on the screen (my personal downfall - the one with the three fast-moving cups).
However, while the band and Sparty can trace their beginnings back to our earlier years as a university, Zeke is a fairly new tradition with a significant gap in his history.
The original Zeke the Wonder Dog (the only one to actually be named Zeke) was a golden lab who belonged to an MSU student in the late 1970s. When Gary Eisenberg was a sophomore here, he competed with his dog in several frisbee competitions, eventually being named runner-up in the world championship. When MSU got wind of the dog’s fame, they asked Gary and Zeke to perform at a home game and their fate was sealed. Gary and Zeke would continue to be a part of MSU football until 1984, when Zeke retired because of ill health.
Football coach Darryl Rogers once stated that Zeke was the “best receiver in the Big Ten.” He also awarded Zeke with a varsity letter, making him the only non-human to receive such honors at MSU.
However, after the first Zeke died, no one bothered to replace him. It was seen as a one-off thing.
That was, until 2001, when a search began to find a new Zeke. The winner was Dexter, a black lab belonging to Jim and Terri Foley. Zeke II would reign supreme from 2001 until 2007, though he had a few health scares (including hospitalization after eating carpet) along the way.
By 2006, it was becoming clear that Zeke II wasn’t as agile as he used to be. He was developing cataracts in his eyes, which caused him to miss the frisbee more often. Zeke II had his last performance midway through the 2007 season, doing a routine while the band played a “Zeke the Wonder Dog” medley including “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
However, the Foleys had already begun training a new Zeke from puppyhood to take the cape (or whatever you want to call their little outfits). Zeke III (also known as “BooCoo”) debuted the following weekend and is the current Wonder Dog we all know and love. Zeke II is still alive and lives with the Foleys and Zeke III.
As for the original Zeke owner, Gary Eisenberg? He has become good friends with the Foleys and helped to train both dogs. In an interview with the Alumni Association, he stated that, though busy, he still tries to make it to a few games a year. “I come to all the Homecoming games,” he said to them. “It’s amazing. I’ll keep coming until I’m a creaky old guy, like the guy that comes out in the raccoon coat. It’s just a great tradition.”
And that mystery (the raccoon coat guy) is one that has always left me perplexed.
