Dixie C. Platt, who spent nearly three decades at James Madison College and shaped the student experience for generations of Madisonians, passed away in early July 2026.
Platt joined JMC in 1969, the college’s second year, as assistant to founding Associate Dean Robert F. Banks. She had previously served as an academic advisor in MSU’s University College.
Platt became Director of Academic and Student Affairs at JMC in 1975, a role she held until her retirement in 1996.
Over the course of her 27 years as part of the JMC community, she met many generations of students and families and worked closely with the faculty. She took particular joy in advising first-year students, including Madison freshmen enrolled in the Honors College. When she retired, colleagues remembered her comparing herself to Holden Caulfield, Salinger’s “catcher in the rye,” as she rescued students from career-threatening situations, calmed anxious parents, oriented new faculty to college and university and welcomed new Madison deans, five by the time she retired.
Students often called Platt “The Steel Magnolia,” a nickname she gladly accepted. She sometimes called herself “Dolley Madison,” a nod to how completely the college had become part of her identity.
“Decades after her retirement, Dixie Platt’s influence at Madison is still evident,” said JMC Dean Cameron Thies. “We are regularly reminded of it in stories alumni tell about the person who steadied them through a difficult first year, and in the example she set for everyone who has advised and supported students at JMC ever since.”
A 1956 graduate of Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in speech and drama, Platt championed the liberal arts throughout her career. She arranged lower-priced tickets to Wharton Center events for Madison students and brought musical and theater performances to Case Hall.
Her advocacy extended across the university and the wider community. She served two years as president of the Friends of Kresge Art Museum, MSU’s fine arts museum at the time. She and her husband, F. DeWitt Platt, a professor in MSU’s Department of History, were members of the Beaumont Tower Society, supporting the Wharton Center, WKAR radio and television, an MSU archaeological project and James Madison College, among other causes.
In recognition of her devotion to the college, she was named an honorary alumna of both James Madison College and MSU.
After she retired, Platt remained a member of the college’s Board of Visitors, the advisory committee to the dean, and regularly returned to mid-Michigan with her husband to reconnect with faculty and former students. The couple spent winters in Florida after her retirement and settled in Sarasota in 2011, where Platt served as a docent at Historic Spanish Point, a historical, archaeological and environmental museum.
In the YouTube video below, from April 2011, Dixie Platt shares some of her experiences as a longtime administrator at James Madison College:
The Dixie C. Platt Endowed Scholarship
When Platt retired, the college established the Dixie C. Platt Endowed Scholarship in her honor. It was among the first endowments created for James Madison College, and it remains a vital part of the college’s financial support for students today. Since its founding, the endowment has provided 60 awards totaling over $115,000 in support for JMC students.
The scholarship reflects Platt’s outlook and her support of first-year students, whose adjustment she saw as the foundation of everything that followed. The award recognizes academic excellence and contribution to the Madison community, and it currently supports two students for four years each.
“This scholarship was one of the biggest reasons I came to MSU and joined James Madison,” wrote Ruby Muehlenz, a rising junior majoring in International Relations who is a Platt scholarship recipient. “That alone is something I am immensely grateful for. It has also allowed me to attend events that provide networking opportunities, which helped me secure the job I am pursuing this summer. It also means I can apply for additional extra-curricular programs without worrying that I can’t afford to lose the possibility of working weekend jobs. I can truly invest in the skills I need to have a more successful future. Thank you for investing in me. It means more than you could possibly know.”
Platt often expressed her gratitude to the faculty, alumni and friends whose contributions sustain the scholarship, and her pride in being remembered through it.
Gifts in her memory may be made to the Dixie C. Platt James Madison Fellows Scholarship Fund online.