Education
Education

Georgia Tech alumni increasing efforts to raise scholarship funds for black students

August 25, 2016 Atlanta: Taking in a sunny day on campus, some Georgia Tech students walked to class, others rode along the bricks of the Georgia Tech Plaza in front of the Kessler Campanile outside the Student Center Commons on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. Channel 2 Meteorologist Brad Nitz says Friday will be another dry day Partly cloudy with a high of 91 and a low of 71. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

August 25, 2016 Atlanta: Taking in a sunny day on campus, some Georgia Tech students walked to class, others rode along the bricks of the Georgia Tech Plaza in front of the Kessler Campanile outside the Student Center Commons on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. Channel 2 Meteorologist Brad Nitz says Friday will be another dry day Partly cloudy with a high of 91 and a low of 71. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM
By
March 27, 2017

The Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization has started a year-long campaign to increase the number of its scholarships for black students.

The organization has scheduled a Leaders & Legends event on Sat., April 8 to recognize accomplished alumni, students, staff and faculty. The black-tie optional event will be at Tech's Academy of Medicine, 875 West Peachtree St. in Atlanta.

The endowment currently provides $35,000 in scholarships.

Tech has tried to increase the percentage of African-American students on its campus, which is currently about 7 percent.

This year’s honorees are:

  • Jacqueline Jones Royster, Tech's first African-American dean
  • Prof. Ronald L. Johnson, the National Basketball Association's first senior vice president of referee operations
  • Guy Primus, CEO of the Virtual Reality Co.
  • Sonya Rush, the alumni organization's founder
  • Karl Webster Barnes, grant writer with the Morehouse College Community Revitalization Initiative
  • Prof. Thomas "Danny" Boston
  • Carla Gilson, Tech's associate director of sports medicine
  • Michole Washington, founder of Afrithmetic, which promotes mathematics curriculum nationwide

About the Author

Eric Stirgus joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001. He is the newsroom's education editor. Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Eric is active in the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the Education Writers Association and enjoys mentoring aspiring journalists.

Follow Eric Stirgus on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

Wade Roberts (center), a Decatur-area resident with children in three of the city's schools, speaks as Decatur parents met with Education Planners, a consulting firm, on Nov. 13, at Beacon Hill Middle School in Decatur to discuss the possibility of one of the district's five K-2 schools closing. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Parents are cautiously optimistic as Decatur slows school closure plans

School board members have said whatever they decide to do won’t affect the 2026-27 school year.

Georgia colleges consider controversial test as option to SAT

A contentious standardized college admissions test designed to usurp the SAT and ACT — and reshape the American education system — is gaining traction in conservative states.

Georgia education leaders call for cellphone ban in high schools

The Georgia Department of Education wants to ban cellphones in high schools too, not just K-8 classrooms.

The Latest

Wade Roberts (center), a Decatur-area resident with children in three of the city's schools, speaks as Decatur parents met with Education Planners, a consulting firm, on Nov. 13, at Beacon Hill Middle School in Decatur to discuss the possibility of one of the district's five K-2 schools closing. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)

Credit: Daniel Varnado/For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Parents are cautiously optimistic as Decatur slows school closure plans

Georgia colleges consider controversial test as option to SAT

Georgia education leaders call for cellphone ban in high schools

Featured

Inventor Lonnie Johnson stands with his Super Soaker water guns at JTEC Energy on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Atlanta. Johnson, a former NASA engineer, is currently working on a new energy technology through his company’s JTEC device that turns thermal heat into usable energy. (Natrice Miller/AJC)

Earth needs more energy. Atlanta’s Super Soaker creator may have a solution.

The legendary inventor of the Super Soaker, Lonnie Johnson, is refining technology in Atlanta that he thinks could help the planet reduce energy waste.

Teen GOP activist steps down from party leadership post

Greene County native and University of North Georgia student Ja’Quon Stembridge, 19, had run on boosting youth involvement in the party.

2025 SEC championship game: Kickoff time, TV channel, participants, ticket info

The 2025 SEC Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6. Below you can find information on game time, TV channel and particpants for the game.