Mission of Medgar Evers College

Some 6,700 students at Medgar Evers College in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, are working hard to get their degrees. The school, established in 1970, is part of the City University of New York but has a unique identity.

The school is named for civil rights activist Medgar Evers, who organized voter registration efforts and fought to end the segregation of schools. He was assassinated in 1963.

We sat down with students who told us Evers's legacy has influenced their education.

The college offers associate and baccalaureate degrees in everything from computer science to religious studies. But it also provides student support beyond academics through programs like the Center for Law and Social Justice and the Male Development Empowerment Center.

While the college's mission is to honor the history of civil rights it is also about creating the leaders of the future.

Among the measures of successes here at the college: each year enrollment and the graduation rate go up. This spring an estimated 1,500 students will complete their degrees.