The river was presumably named for the juniper species Juniperus virginiana, commonly known as red cedar, a plant native to the region.

students have solemnly and with hearts full sung the glories of their Alma Mater 'on the banks of the Red Cedar.'

Countless great careers have been launched, lifelong romances have budded, and strong characters have been wrought in these environs, presumably on the banks of the 'Red' Cedar.

Equally important are clean water for fishing, swimming, and drinking, and natural landscapes for aesthetic relief.

The Red Cedar is regularly monitored by MSU Water with the contaminant reports posted by the Michigan State University International Center.

Despite these improvements, littering and pollution into the river and onto its banks is a common problem and includes bikes, parking barricades, general trash, and occasionally large items such as car tires and mopeds.

To combat this problem, twice per year the undergraduate MSU Fisheries and Wildlife club holds a "Red Cedar Clean-Up" event that brings students, faculty, alumni, and community members together to remove and recycle items found in the river and its banks.

[26] From December 1979 to 1981, Dr. Patrick M. Muzzall from MSU's zoology department collected the following species: white sucker, northern hog sucker, spotted sucker, golden redhorse, silver redhorse, rock bass, green sunfish, pumpkin seed, warmouth, bluegill, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black crappie, stoneroller, carp, hornyhead chub, common shiner, rosyface shiner, sand shiner, bluntnose minnow, western blacknose dace, creek chub, grass pickerel, brook stickleback, black bullhead, yellow bullhead, brown bullhead, rainbow darter, johnny darter, yellow perch, blackside darter, and central mudminnow.