The City of Gadsden and community partners are joining to dedicate Dr. Clarence Underwood Jr. Park on Tuesday in honor of the distinguished Gadsden native.
A dedication and ribbon cutting will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, at the park across from the Gadsden Public Library’s Main Branch at 254 College Street.
Dr. Underwood was a three-sport star at Carver High School in the 1950s who went on to play college football and graduate from Michigan State University.
He held a number of positions in education across more than three decades, including serving as Michigan State’s director of athletics from 1999 to 2002 and deputy commissioner of the Big Ten Conference in the 1980s.
He was inducted into the Michigan State athletics Hall of Fame in 2017 and continues to work with youth programs in East Lansing, Michigan.
“The library is an educational institution, and it’s very appropriate to name the library’s park after Dr. Underwood, who has had a long and illustrious career as an educator,” said Gadsden Public Library director Craig Scott.