Autherine Lucy Foster to Visit, Lecture at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Autherine Lucy Foster, the first African American student admitted to The University of Alabama, will speak publicly on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m., in UA’s Alston Hall, room 10.

Co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the department of history, the African-American Studies Program, the Alabama Scholars Association, and the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusiveness at UA, the lecture is titled “Braving the Uncertain Future with Certainty.” Admission is free, and the lecture is open to the public.

Foster graduated from Miles College in 1952 but aspired to get a degree from UA. She enrolled in 1956, only to be expelled “for her own safety.” She returned to speak in the 1980s, when the Board of Trustees overturned her expulsion.

Foster enrolled in a master’s program at UA in the late 1980s while her daughter, Grazia Foster, was also enrolled. In 1992, mother and daughter graduated together, Autherine Lucy Foster with a master’s degree in elementary education and Grazia Foster with a bachelor’s degree in corporate finance.