STUDENT CENTER OPERATIONS

The Gibbs-Green Memorial Plaza is named in memory of Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, 21, a junior pre-law major and James Earl Green, 17, a senior at nearby Jim Hill High School.  They were killed on May 14, 1970 as Jackson police opened fire on a crowd of students at Jackson State University.  Dozens of city and state policemen unloaded more than 460 rounds of gunfire into JSU’s Alexander Hall after claiming to have seen a sniper in a window on the building’s top floor. The shooting was the culmination of years of racial tension between white motorists who traveled through the JSU campus on John R. Lynch Street and JSU students.

Today, the Plaza is hub of activity and activism for students and the campus community. It is where students host voter registration drives, provide health care information, blood drives and one of their favorites “hot spots” ( leisure time with music).