McDaniel College Dedicating Plaza To 2 Civil Rights Figures

WESTMINSTER, Md. (AP) -- McDaniel College is celebrating homecoming by dedicating a plaza to two alumni known for their civil-rights work.

The dedication Saturday of McTeer-Zepp Plaza honors retired trial lawyer Victor McTeer and the late religious studies professor Ira Zepp.

McTeer is a 1969 graduate and member of McDaniel board of trustees. He was among the school's first African-American graduates. As a civil rights attorney, he became the first black Mississippi lawyer since the Reconstruction period to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

McTeer donated funds to create the landscaped plaza as a tribute to Zepp, his mentor at the college. Zepp was a 1952 alumnus and ordained minister who participated in the historic march on Selma, Alabama, with the Rev. Martin Luther King.