STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) — Mississippi State University announced the death of Richard Holmes, the institution’s first African American student.

The 82-year-old died Friday.

The Starkville native enrolled at the university on July 19, 1965, during the Civil Rights Era.

“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.”

“There were no catcalls, no racial slurs,” he later recalled during a university speech. “It was quiet and serene. Nothing happened; there was just curiosity and disbelief.”

He graduated from MSU with two degrees. He later earned a medical degree from Michigan State University.

Open this link to read the university’s announcement.