Rutgers Homecoming weekend honors Class of 1919 graduate Paul Robeson with the unveiling of a large 8-foot by 24-foot mural by Alonzo Adams of the brilliant scholar and athlete who died in 1976 at the age of 77. Robeson, son of a runaway slave, was a two-time All-America end on the college football team. Just the 3rd Black student at Rutgers, which began in 1767, he was the first Black varsity football player, for the school which won the first intercollegiate college game in 1869. He won 15 varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball and track. He is known to have spoken over 20 languages fluently and was valedictorian of his class, to name but some of his honors. He had a career on stage and screen and was an orator and singer, renowned for his definitive version of "Old Man River." Robeson was a staunch civil and human rights activist. The mural's home is at Sections 142 and 143 of SHI Stadium, behind the Student Section, in Piscataway, New Jersey. The unveiling took place on the occasion of the NCAA Division 1 Big Ten Conference football game between Rutgers and UCLA on October 19, 2024.
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