The 15 all attended local universities and then went on to make a name for themselves in their respective industries, some of whom are well known and some of whom are probably unknown to some.
From activists to contributors to the space race, each famous alumni has left their mark on the world in their own way.
Here are some of the famous people who attended Belhaven University, Jackson State University, Millsaps College, University of Mississippi, and Tougaloo College.
Belhaven University
- Angie Thomas is the author of New York Times bestselling novels “The Hate U Give” and “On the Come Up,” both of which have been adapted into films. To support other aspiring writers, a scholarship has been established in her name at Belhaven University, covering full tuition, room and board for four years.
- Mary Hawkins Butler has served as Madison's mayor since 1981, making her one of the longest serving mayors in the United States. Hawkins Butler told the Clarion-Ledger that she plans to run for a 12th term in 2025.
- Ted Baer is an American media commentator and former president of the Episcopal Radio and Television Foundation, which produced the Emmy Award-winning CBS animated special The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Ted has appeared as a guest on Oprah, Hannity & Colmes, CNN, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC and Entertainment Tonight.
Jackson State University
- Walter Payton, also known as “Sweetness,” played 13 seasons in the NFL as a running back for the Chicago Bears. Payton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
- James Meredith was an American civil rights activist, author, and United States Air Force veteran who later became the first African-American student to enroll at the segregated University of Mississippi in 1962. He first attended JSU.
- Cassandra Wilson is a two-time Grammy Award winner and renowned jazz singer, songwriter, and producer. In 2022, Wilson was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Masters Fellowship, the highest honor the United States can bestow on a jazz artist.
Millsaps College
- Tate Reeves is an American politician who has served as the 65th Governor of Mississippi since 2020. A Republican, Reeves served as the 53rd Mississippi Treasurer from 2004 to 2012. He also served as the 32nd Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020.
- Donald Gray Triplett was a banker known as the first person in the world to be diagnosed with the neurological disorder autism. He was first diagnosed by Leo Kanner in 1943 and was identified as “Case 1.” Triplett died of cancer at his home in Forest, Mississippi on June 15, 2023, at the age of 89.
- Keith Laymon is the author of three books: a novel, Long Division (2013), and two memoirs, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (2013) and the award-winning Heavy: An American Memoir (2018). Laymon is the 2022 recipient of a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Fellows Program in recognition of “exceptional originality and dedication to creative pursuits.” His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and other publications.
University of Mississippi
- Clifford E. Charlesworth served as Flight Director at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston from 1962 to 1970. Charlesworth commanded multiple Gemini and Apollo missions, including Apollo 11, the 1969 space mission that marked the first manned moon landing. He also commanded Apollo 8, which orbited the moon, Gemini 11, which docked with the Agena satellite, and Gemini 12, which featured a two-hour spacewalk by Lt. Commander Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. All three missions took place in 1966.
- Lance Barksdale, an American MLB umpire, began umpiring in the major leagues in 2000 and joined the full-time MLB staff in 2006. Barksdale was promoted to crew chief in 2023.
- Phil Bryant served as the 64th Governor of Mississippi from 2012 to 2020. Bryant also served as Mississippi's 40th Auditor from 1996 to 2008, and then served as Mississippi's 31st Lieutenant Governor from 2008 to 2012.
Tougaloo College
- Aungjanu L. Ellis-Taylor is an American actress known for her performances in several films and television shows, such as King Richard (2021), The Help (2011), Ray (2004), and Men of Honor (2000). She has received numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
- Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, a civil rights activist active in the 1960s, was one of the Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson in 1961. Mulholland was held in a maximum security unit at the Mississippi State Penitentiary (commonly known as “Parchman Farm”) for two months. The following year, she became the first white student to enroll at Tougaloo College and served as regional executive director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
- Bennie Thompson has represented Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District since 1993. Thompson, a Democrat, served as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023. He is the first Democrat and the first African-American to serve as chairman of the committee.
