Editing James Meredith (section)

=== Enrollment ===
The day after the riots, on October 1, 1962, after federal and state forces took control, Meredith became the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi.<ref>{{cite news | title = 1962: Mississippi race riots over first black student | work = BBC News – On this day | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/1/newsid_2538000/2538169.stm | access-date = October 2, 2007 | date=October 1, 1962}}</ref> Meredith's admission is regarded as a pivotal moment in the history of [[civil rights]] in the United States.

Many students harassed Meredith during his two semesters on campus,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/aug-18-1963-james-meredith-graduates-from-mississippi/?_r=0|title = Aug. 18, 1963 &#124; James Meredith Graduates from Mississippi|date = August 18, 2011}}</ref> but others accepted him. According to first-person accounts, students living in Meredith's dorm bounced basketballs on the floor just above his room through all hours of the night. Other students ostracized him: when Meredith walked into the cafeteria for meals, the students eating would turn their backs. If Meredith sat at a table with other students, all of whom were white, the students would immediately get up and go to another table.<ref>''The band played Dixie: Race and the liberal conscience at Ole Miss'', Nadine Cohodas, (1997), New York, Free Press</ref> He persisted through harassment and extreme isolation to graduate on August 18, 1963, with a degree in political science.<ref name="LMAWCR2010">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of African American History, Volume 1|year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=890|author=Leslie M. Alexander|author2=Walter C. Rucker}}</ref>