Miles College on Wednesday awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Autherine Lucy Foster, an alumna and the first Black to enroll in and attend the University of Alabama.

The recognition came as Foster sat in front of a small crowd in the Brown Hall Auditorium filled with Miles College leadership, the Student Government Association and a handful of friends and family.

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“Autherine Lucy Foster was afflicted in every way, but not crushed. She was perplexed, but not driven to despair. She was persecuted, but never forsaken,” said Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, chairman of the Miles College board of trustees.

Clockwise from left: Jarralynne Agee, provost and vice president, Miles College; Bobbie Knight, president, Miles College; Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, chair of the board of trustees, Miles College; and Autherine Lucy Foster, with her honorary doctorate. (Sydney Melson/The Birmingham Times)

Miles President Bobbie Knight thanked Foster for breaking down barriers so Black students could follow their dreams. “Now, here I stand as the first female president of Miles College,” she said. “We wish this ceremony had been held many years ago, but in more ways than I can count, I am personally honored that it happened under my watch.”

Foster, 90, said her love for the institution is as strong as when she attended Miles College and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1952.

“I see all of you now and I’m just full to the brim and I’m so very happy to be here with you,” Foster said. “I don’t have to tell you that I love you. You know that I love Miles College.”

She poked fun at the attention given her. “There’s one thing about it, I think you know more about me than I do,” she said. “I’m so happy to be in your presence, and to see all of the good work you’ve done. If the Lord permits me to live a bit longer, I’m gonna see if I can’t find some way to help you do more than you’ve already done.”

The love in the room was palpable. The invocation by Dean Larry Batie followed “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” sung by Alisa Warren.

Jefferson-Snorton said Foster is someone to look up to, and an inspiration to never quit. “Our honoree’s life is an example of what it means to get back up again, even after obstacle and barrier are invented daily,” Jefferson-Snorton said.

From left, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Autherine Lucy Foster are seen prior to a civil rights rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City in May 1956. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Library of Congress)

Autherine Lucy in 1956, the year she became the first African American to attend the University of Alabama. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama Libraries)

Roy Wilkins, in a news conference with Autherine Lucy and Thurgood Marshall, director and special counsel for NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, March 2, 1956. (Library of Congress, Wikipedia)

Autherine Lucy, left, and her legal team, NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, center, and Birmingham lawyer Arthur Shores. Lucy was the first African American to attend the University of Alabama. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News)

Autherine Lucy Clock Tower in Malone-Hood Plaza on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. (Ttownfeen, Wikipedia)

Autherine Lucy’s 1956 student photo. (file)

A historic marker recognizes Autherine Lucy Foster’s contributions stands on the University of Alabama campus. (University of Alabama, Division of Strategic Communications)

Foster spoke of how she was president of the Young Women’s Christian Association during her time at Miles College, and she underlined how important her faith is to her.

“It’s always deep in my mind that ‘The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters, he restoreth my soul,’” she said, quoting the 23rd Psalm. “’He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me.”

Born Oct. 5, 1929, in Shiloh, Foster this week received her second honorary doctorate from an institution in Alabama. The University of Alabama last year awarded her a Doctor of Humane Letters.

Foster enrolled in the all-white University of Alabama in 1956 but was expelled because threats were made against her life, and riots broke out in resistance to her presence on campus. Years later the university annulled the expulsion and, soon after, Foster enrolled and graduated from the graduate program in Education.

This story originally appeared on The Birmingham Times’ website.