The Clinton School of Public Service honored civil rights icon Carlotta Walls LaNier with an honorary Master of Public Service (MPS) degree during the school’s 20th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 2.
This represents only the second honorary degree awarded in the school’s two-decade history.
Dean Emeritus James L. “Skip” Rutherford III introduced Walls LaNier, describing her as a woman whose "courage nearly 70 years ago reshaped America."
As the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine, Walls LaNier integrated Central High School in 1957 at just 14 years old. Despite the "Lost Year" of school closures and the bombing of her family home, she became the first Black woman to receive a diploma from the historic institution in 1960.
“Such an award that acknowledges public service, what I’ve seen myself doing for at least the past half century, means a great deal,” Walls LaNier said. “I was born right here in Little Rock. Its people and its geography and its ways of being shaped who I have become. Outside the Congressional Gold Medal, to be honored in my hometown, I’m not sure what award could be more meaningful.”
Her lifelong commitment to service includes founding her own brokerage and leading the Little Rock Nine Foundation, which established a scholarship endowment at the Clinton School in 2008.
Walls LaNier underscored her commitment to the next generation by making a personal donation to the Little Rock Nine Scholarship, which supports second-year MPS students.