Here are some milestones for Black students and faculty at the University of Georgia:
- 1961: Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter become the first African Americans to register at UGA.
- 1962: Mary Frances Early becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Georgia. She enrolled in summer of 1961, a few months after Holmes and Hunter.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
- 1966: Shirley Mathis McBay becomes the first African American to earn a Ph.D.
- 1967: Harry Sims, a long jumper, becomes the first African American UGA student to participate in an athletics competition.
- 1968: Richard Graham becomes first full-time African American faculty member, teaching in the School of Music.
- 1969: Zeta Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha becomes the first African American fraternity on campus and the Zeta Psi chapter of Delta Sigma Theta becomes the first African American sorority on campus.
- 1970: Ronnie Hogue, a basketball player, becomes the first African American to play a major sport.
- 1982: Herschel Walker is selected the Heisman Trophy winner, becoming the first African American UGA player to win college football’s most prestigious individual honor.
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
- 1993: Telvis Rich and Ron Jones become first African Americans elected president and vice president of the student body.
- 1994: Ivery Clifton becomes the first African American dean.
- 2001: UGA renames its academic building after Holmes and Hunter.
- 2020: UGA names its College of Education after Early.
- 2020: Phaidra Buchanan is the first African American UGA student to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar.
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