Michael Schwerner - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Born and raised in a house of Jewish heritage, Schwerner attended Pelham Memorial High School in Pelham, New York. He was called Mickey by friends and colleagues. His mother was a science teacher at New Rochelle High School and his father was a businessman. Schwerner attended Michigan State University, originally intending to become a veterinarian. He transferred to Cornell University, and switched his major to sociology. While an undergraduate at Cornell, he integrated the school's chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. He entered graduate school at the School of Social Work at Columbia University.

As a boy, Schwerner befriended Robert Reich, later US Secretary of Labor, and served as his protector against bullies.

Read more about this topic:  Michael Schwerner

Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or education:

    Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number.
    Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)

    Silent waters rocking on the morning of our birth,
    like an empty cradle waiting to be filled.
    And from the heart of God the Spirit moved upon the earth,
    like a mother breathing life into her child.
    Gordon Light (20th century)

    Whatever may be our just grievances in the southern states, it is fitting that we acknowledge that, considering their poverty and past relationship to the Negro race, they have done remarkably well for the cause of education among us. That the whole South should commit itself to the principle that the colored people have a right to be educated is an immense acquisition to the cause of popular education.
    Fannie Barrier Williams (1855–1944)