The university is counted as a census-designated place and had a resident population of 1,017 at the 2010 census. Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist, graduated in 1948 from here. Students at the college were part of the mid-twentieth century civil rights struggle, working to register residents for voting and struggling to end segregation. Other alumni have been activists, politicians and professionals in Mississippi and other states. The University is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.