John W. Porter served as the 17th president of Eastern Michigan University from 1979 to 1989, and was the first Black president in the University’s history.
Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Porter recalled a successful childhood filled with academic and extracurricular achievements in a 1999 interview from the university’s archives. Porter was surrounded by supportive teachers and a principal who entrusted him with a special responsibility—ringing the elementary school bell, he said.
In the interview, Porter joked about ringing the bell being his “first school administrative job."
As a student, Porter was highly involved in school activities. He played the trombone, excelled in multiple sports, and was a member of the National Honor Society, all while maintaining strong grades and perfect attendance, he said.
“I don’t ever think I had a C,” said Porter. “I never missed a day of school.”
His positive educational experiences continued into high school, where he found tremendous support from teachers and coaches. One pivotal moment in his life came when his high school football coach introduced him to Albion College.
“He drove me 68 miles from Fort Wayne up to Albion and spent the whole day with me so I could tour the campus and see if that was a place where I could go to school,” said Porter.
At Albion, Porter left a lasting legacy, where he established several scoring records for Albion including most points in a game, a season, and a career. He was the first player in Albion's history to score 1,000 points in a career. Porter graduated from Albion College in 1953 with a degree in Political Science, and later became a member of the college's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.
“Albion was a great place [with] great people,” Porter said.
Porter reflected on growing up in an era of segregation, particularly as an athlete, in the interview. When traveling for games at Albion College, Black players were often required to stay in different hotels than their white teammates, he said.
“When we went to the state championship in 1946 in Indianapolis, Black players had to stay in a Black hotel,” Porter said.
After graduating, Porter faced a segregated job market. At the time, Lansing had not hired a single Black teacher, with the only Black educators in Michigan working in Detroit, he said. In 1953, Lansing sought to address this by hiring two Black teachers, and Porter was offered a teaching position while working as a janitor in the school district. Porter accepted the offer and began teaching in 1954.
Porter received his Master of Arts in Counseling and Guidance from Michigan State University in 1957. At age 26, he became the youngest person and the first Black professional employed by the Michigan Department of Education. Continuing his educational journey, Porter received a doctorate in Higher Education in 1962 from Michigan State University.
By 1969, the Michigan State Board of Education unanimously elected him State Superintendent of Public Instruction. At age 38, he became the youngest Chief State School Officer in the nation and made history as the first Black State School Superintendent in the United States since Reconstruction.
Porter became the first black president of Eastern Michigan University in 1979. He retired in 1989, leaving behind a legacy named after his plan for a necessary revitalization of the university — A Decade of Advancement.
Porter was appointed to his position during a time when the future of EMU seemed bleak.
“Somebody said to me that EMU is in crisis,” Porter said in the archival interview.
“There were conversations in Lansing even about whether the University should close," said Donald Loppnow, an EMU professor of social work who was director of research development under Porter in a Fall 2012 edition of Eastern Magazine.
Porter spent the first four years of his presidency advocating for the university to stay open, according to Loppnow in Eastern Magazine.
“It was about demonstrating to the Legislature that Eastern Michigan University was vital to the citizens of Michigan and served the citizens well,” said Loppnow in the article.
During the Decade of Advancement, Porter's administration increased enrollment by 7,000 students, leading to an all-time high of 25,000 total students enrolled at the university. Porter also established the College of Technology, the Olds Student Recreation Center, a College of Business in downtown Ypsilanti, and the first doctoral program in Educational Leadership.
Porter is also credited with improving the athletic programs at a time when there was discussion about EMU leaving the Mid-American Conference, including a MAC championship for the football team and a trip to the California Bowl in 1987.
Porter’s retirement was short-lived in 1989 when he agreed to become the General Superintendent of the Detroit Schools, where he developed plans to stabilize and improve the urban school system within two years.
In 1999, a decade after Porter’s retirement, the University named and dedicated the John W. Porter College of Education Building as a tribute to Porter’s contributions to the educational field, and the John W. Porter Distinguished Chair in Urban Education was endowed for over $1.5 million.
After Porter’s passing in 2012, the university held a memorial service to celebrate his accomplishments and the legacy that he left at EMU.
