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Bob Collins

Black student gets honorary degree 63 years after she was denied college

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Here's your daily dose of sweetness:

Autherine Lucy Foster was able to walk onto the campus of the University of Alabama in 1956, four years after she applied for admission, igniting a legal battle. Three days later, she was expelled.

Last weekend, she returned to the campus, this time in a wheelchair, to receive an honorary degree. She's 89 now.

Civil Rights Pioneer Honorary Degree
This photo provided by UA Strategic Communications Autherine Lucy Foster acknowledges the crowd as she receives a an honorary doctoral degree during a commencement exercise at The University of Alabama on Friday, May 3, 2019 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The university bestowed the honorary doctorate degree to Foster, the first African American to attend the university. (Zach Riggins/UA Strategic Communications via AP)

"As we rolled across the campus today, I said, 'Gee whiz, this is a blessing in disguise to see this university permitting me to come on here and be involved in whatever they are doing today,'" she told a local TV station.

She received a degree in education from the university in 1991.

Related: An Indomitable Spirit: Autherine Lucy (Smithsonian)