Before coming to Michigan State University (MSU), Barry D. Amis attended Pennsylvania State University, University of Pennsylvania, and Middlebury College. Amis began studies for his doctorate degree at MSU in 1966. In the basement of Professor Robert L. Green’s home in 1967, Amis helped found the Black Student Alliance (BSA) and served as its first president.

The day Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Amis and other members of the BSA organized a protest. They wrote a list of grievances with the intent to make the history, culture, and participation of African Americans more integrated on campus. The next day, Amis and Green led a march of almost 2,000 students and delivered the list of grievances to university administration and met with MSU President John Hannah.

After the march, Amis was invited to speak in classes and continued to lead protests with the BSA. He also participated in campus-sponsored forums and wrote several editorials for the State News newspaper. Due to his experience, Amis became an assistant professor of English and romance languages in 1969. While finishing his doctorate degree in Spanish, Amis taught Spanish and Contemporary African American Literature, a course he developed.

Amis resigned from MSU in 1973 and traveled the world as a Fulbright professor teaching in multiple countries and universities. He returned to the States and taught at Purdue University and worked at other associations.

Today, Amis is retired and writes poetry.

(Sourced from “Alumnus reflects on legacy as student activist and a Black Student Alliance founder” by Kim Popiolek, College of Arts and Letters News, February 1, 2022.)