The Honorable Alan Page delivered Carleton’s convocation on Friday, February 13, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. For his convocation, Page will be in conversation with Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Carolyn Livingston.
After serving as an attorney in the office of the Minnesota Attorney General, Page sought election to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1992 and won, becoming the first African American on the court and one of the few associate justices ever to join the court initially through election rather than appointment. In 1998, Page was re-elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court, receiving the most votes for his position in state history. After serving consecutive elected terms, Page eventually retired at the mandatory age of 70 in 2015. In honor of his career, Page received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.
Page first gained notoriety in Minnesota through his football career. During his undergraduate studies at Notre Dame, Page led the school’s football program to the 1966 national championship, and in 1993, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him in the first round in 1967, and he played a crucial role for the team. In 1971, he was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, making him only the second defensive player to be named MVP. He played in 218 consecutive games, earning All-Pro honors six times, and was voted to nine consecutive Pro Bowls. In 1988, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and in 2019, he was chosen as a member of the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Not to be limited to only two impactful careers, Page and his wife, Diane, founded the Page Education Foundation, which assists Minnesota students of color in their pursuit of post-secondary education. To date, the foundation has supported over 8,500 students, awarding $17 million in grants.
In his honor, students at Alexander Ramsey Middle School in Minneapolis initiated a successful campaign to change the school’s name to Justice Page Middle School, which came to fruition in 2017. In 2022, the Justice Alan Page Elementary School was also named in his honor in Maplewood, Minnesota.
Page has written five children’s picture books with his daughter, Kamie Page, titled: Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky (2013), The Invisible You (2014), Grandpa Alan’s Sugar Shack (2017), Bee Love (Can Be Hard) (2020), and Baking Up Love (2024).
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations
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