EAST LANSING – Robert Green, Dean and Professor Emeritus of Michigan State University, is a humble man.
That’s what Vince Green, his oldest son, says.
Growing up was interesting, Green said, because the family home was visited, including civil rights icons Coretta Scott King and Andrew Young.
“It was just part of our lives,” said Green. “We met a lot of interesting people. He was just humble.”
When the East Lansing School Board voted unanimously last week to include Pinecrest Elementary in Dr. Renaming Robert L. Green Elementary School – the school Vince Green and his brother attended – Green said his father was still humble.
“He didn’t ask for it, but he’s happy to take it,” said Green. “We are excited.”
Robert Green, himself a national civil rights leader, was one of the earliest black faculty members at Michigan State University. He has a Ph.D. in educational psychology and was professor of education at MSU. In the 1970s, he became dean of the College of Urban Development, making it the first black dean of MSU.
Green and his wife, Lettie, were the first black couple to buy a house in East Lansing. They bought the house at 207 Bessamaur Drive in 1964.
“It’s important that we tell our full story,” said Elaine Hardy, diversity, equity and inclusion administrator at East Lansing.
After President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order banning housing discrimination in 1962, Hardy said Green was the first person in the nation to use that executive order and buy a house.
“This is not only important to the City of East Lansing, it is also of national importance,” she said.
Green successfully sued the Lansing Board of Realtors and was able to buy the house on Bessamaur Drive.
“That was the home my father had to fight for,” said Green, adding that his mother was also part of the fight.
“She was the backbone of us, our family,” he said.
Ron Bacon, member of East Lansing City Council, the Parks & Rec Advisory Commissioner, Adam DeLay, Human Rights Commissioner Karen Hoene and Hardy were part of a small committee that was formed about a year ago to discuss a state historical marker, those in front of the House of Greens previously owned.
The Michigan Historical Society approved the marking for the park across from the Bessamuar Drive house.
But then the committee’s conversation about the historical marker evolved into a change in the name of the school Green’s children attended.
Vince Green went to school there from second to sixth grade.
“It hit me in waves, but it’s really nice,” said Green, who learned of the proposed name change earlier this year in honor of his father and historical figure.
Hardy said the committee hopes the efforts will memorialize East Lansing’s civil rights history.
It’s personal too. Hardy’s two children attended Pinecrest Elementary and are happy that the school is now named after Green.
She will have grandchildren who also belong to the Dr. Go to Robert L. Green Elementary School.
“The importance of this to people of color, to communities of color, is enormous,” she said. “It’s a big thing for our entire community.”
A ceremony is scheduled for next month, then the name change will take place. Until then, there will be a temporary historical marker.
To contact Natallie St. Onge, send an email to [email protected].
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