History of Discrimination at Tech and UGA (Revised)

The Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia are two public research universities in the state of Georgia. Both, Tech and UGA are known for their rich, lively histories and time-honored traditions. Unfortunately, their histories have not always been something to be proud of; but acknowledgement of such history will allow for a more integrated and peaceful future.

                                                                                  

The location of both schools has had an enormous impact on their histories as educational institutions in the state of Georgia; therefore being located in the Deep South means both Georgia Tech and University of Georgia have had to deal with both racial and sexual discrimination especially regarding their students.  But how did each individual school handle the obstacles of integration and how does that effect how the schools are today?

Let’s look at Georgia Institute of Technology’s history and how they dealt with the subject of discrimination. For about 50 years, Georgia Tech only admitted white male as students. In 1917, Georgia Tech admitted its first female student to its Evening School of Commerce which was 3 years before the Georgia State Legislature officially authorized the attendance by women. Annie T. Wise was the first women to graduate from Georgia Tech’s Evening School of Commerce in 1919 and the following year became the first female faculty member of Georgia Tech.  Although women could not enroll in all programs at Tech until 1968, Tech first admitted female students to regular classes in 1952. The following year, the first women’s dorm, Fulmer Hall, on campus opened. This allowance of women to Georgia Tech’s Evening School of Commerce correlates to the Women’s Rights Movement and the passing of the 19^th amendment that allows women to vote which occurred in 1920, the same year the Georgia State Legislature authorized women to attend the Evening School. Similar events took place when dealing with the racial discrimination at Georgia Tech. In 1958, a large group of Georgia Tech students voted to endorse the integration of competent applicants regardless of race. This also occurred around the same time of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.  Three years after the student vote, Georgia Tech ended up being the first university in the Deep South to desegregate without a court order by enrolling Lawrence Williams, Ralph A. Long, Jr. and Ford C. Greene, the first black students to attend Tech. These three young men were greeted with such a peaceful integration that it was said that Georgia Tech students were “too busy to hate”. Would these events have been different if Tech students had more time on their hands?

The first African-American students enrolled at Tech

Much like Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia only admitted white males as students for the first century of its existence. Finally, in 1903 UGA began educating women during the summer months. Women were able to earn credits and ultimately earn their degree during the summer; the first woman to do this was Mary Lyndon in 1914 who earned a Masters of Arts degree. In 1918, women were finally known as full-time undergraduate students; the following year, Mary Creswell was the first woman to graduate with an undergraduate degree. This, too, correlates with the Women’s Rights Movement and the passing of the 19^th amendment in 1920.

Unlike Georgia Tech and their peaceful integration, the University of Georgia had a difficult time desegregating. In 1957, Federal judge Frank Hooper dismissed Horace Ward's case to integrate the University of Georgia on the grounds that he had failed to reapply when he was rejected and that he had been accepted to another law school. Four years later, a Macon judge William Bootle instructed the University of Georgia to admit Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes to the University, finding that they had been excluded from admission simply because they were black. Earnest Vandiver, the Georgia Governor at that time, was required by law to close integrated schools; therefore cutting off state funding so UGA was able to continue operating at least for a few days. After attending their first day at UGA, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were suspended “for their own protection”, after a rowdy group surrounds Hunter's dorm and was broken up by Athens police. 

Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter become the first African Americans to enroll at UGA 

Analyzing Discrimination at Tech and UGA (Revised)

The schools of Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia are not the only things that have changed over the years; their students have as well. Both Georgia universities have now opened their doors to a diverse student body. Therefore, it can be said that both school’s definition of the “student” has changed and has become more vague, or in another words less limited. After analyzing the histories of both schools, it can be argued that their ever-changing definition of a “student” has kept pace with the changing definition of the “person” in society. 

As previously stated above, Georgia Tech and University of Georgia both started to accept women around the peak of the Women’s Rights Movement. Both schools allowed women to attend some sort of classes before the passing of the 19^thamendment, which permitted women to vote. The passing of this amendment shows that women are a vital part of society and now have a voice.  Now let’s go further, UGA allowed women to become full-time undergraduates in 1918, which is about 35 years before Tech accepted women to attend classes. Why is this?  It may be because that the University of Georgia is a liberal arts school while Georgia Tech is a technical and scientific university. This being said, the absence of women especially in the first half of the 20^th century in Tech classrooms may have been the result of the lack of interest for scientific, technology based careers; rather than just blatant discrimination. This is where the infamous ratio, which is the ratio between men and women who attend Georgia Tech, comes into play. Georgia Tech is known for its highly unbalanced ratio; even with greater initiative in getting more women involved the ratio is currently still unbalanced (65% male, 35% female). Then when you compare Georgia Tech’s ratio to UGA’s more balanced ratio, it is easy to see that Tech has a harder time holding the interests of women because it is a technical school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAvhE4a_hI

A comedic view on 'The Ratio" at Tech

Dealing with racial discrimination was a totally different and more complicated matter. Again, both schools desegregated around the time of the Civil Rights Movement which correlates with how society, as a whole, dealt with the situation. Like I said before, Georgia Tech and UGA are both located in the Deep South therefore; there was tension when dealing with this issue of integrating the student body. Georgia Tech, being in the heart of the Atlanta, can be said to be less conservative than that of the University of Georgia, which is located in the more rural town of Athens. Being more conservative, especially when dealing with racial issues, may be the reason why the University of Georgia had such a hard time integrating. The general belief of the area may be why there were riots and protests which led to the suspension of the first African-American students. And even to this day, UGA is having trouble with the lack of African-Americans attending their school. Unlike UGA, Georgia Tech had a peaceful integration of African-American students in their classrooms which started the integration of the other aspects of the university. The integration that occurred 50 years ago has led Tech to currently be ranked 2^nd in the country for awarding African-American students a bachelors degree in engineering. 

African-American fail to register which headlines The Red and Black, UGA's school paper

Researching discrimination that occurred at Tech and how it compares with what occurred at our rival school, UGA, shows me that even though we are suppose to be opponents we have a similar history. Both Tech and UGA have gone through intense obstacles to become the schools they are now. Even though, the two schools may have dealt with the situation differently we can learn from each others mistakes and pasts and press on for a bright diverse future.  

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History of Discrimination at Tech and UGA

The Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia are two public research universities in the state of Georgia. Both, Tech and UGA are known for their rich, lively histories and time-honored traditions. Unfortunately, their histories have not always been something to be proud of; but acknowledgement of such history will allow for a more integrated and peaceful future.

                                                                                  

The location of both schools has had an enormous impact on their histories as educational institutions in the state of Georgia; therefore being located in the Deep South means both Georgia Tech and University of Georgia have had to deal with both racial and sexual discrimination especially regarding their students.  But how did each individual school handle the obstacles of integration and how does that effect how the schools are today?

Let’s look at Georgia Institute of Technology’s history and how they dealt with the subject of discrimination. For about 50 years, Georgia Tech only admitted white male as students. In 1917, Georgia Tech admitted its first female student to its Evening School of Commerce which was 3 years before the Georgia State Legislature officially authorized the attendance by women. Annie T. Wise was the first women to graduate from Georgia Tech’s Evening School of Commerce in 1919 and the following year became the first female faculty member of Georgia Tech.  Although women could not enroll in all programs at Tech until 1968, Tech first admitted female students to regular classes in 1952. The following year, the first women’s dorm, Fulmer Hall, on campus opened. This allowance of women to Georgia Tech’s Evening School of Commerce correlates to the Women’s Rights Movement that was in full swing at this time in history and the passing of the 19^th amendment that allows women to vote which occurred in 1920, the same year the Georgia State Legislature authorized women to attend the Evening School. Similar events took place when dealing with the racial discrimination at Georgia Tech. In 1958, a large group of Georgia Tech students voted to endorse the integration of competent applicants regardless of race. This also occurred around the same time of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.  Three years after the student vote, Georgia Tech ended up being the first university in the Deep South to desegregate without a court order by enrolling Lawrence Williams, Ralph A. Long, Jr. and Ford C. Greene, the first black students to attend Tech. These three young men were greeted with such a peaceful integration that it was said that Georgia Tech students were “too busy to hate”. Would these events have been different if Tech students had more time on their hands and were able enough to react?

The first African-American students enrolled at Tech

Much like Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia only admitted white males as students for the first century of its existence. Finally, in 1903 UGA began educating women during the summer months. Women were able to earn credits and ultimately earn their degree during the summer; the first woman to do this was Mary Lyndon in 1914 who earned a Masters of Arts degree. In 1918, women were finally known as full-time undergraduate students; the following year, Mary Creswell was the first woman to graduate with an undergraduate degree. This, too, correlates with was occurring with the Women’s Rights Movement and the passing of the 19^th amendment in 1920.

Unlike Georgia Tech and their peaceful integration, the University of Georgia had a difficult time desegregating. In 1957, Federal judge Frank Hooper dismissed Horace Ward's case to integrate the University of Georgia on the grounds that he had failed to reapply when he was rejected and that he had been accepted to another law school. Four years later, a Macon judge William Bootle instructed the University of Georgia to admit Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes to the University, finding that they had been excluded from admission simply because they were black.   Earnest Vandiver, the Georgia Governor at that time, was required by law to close integrated schools; therefore cutting off state funding so UGA was able to continue operating at least for a few days. After attending their first day at UGA, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were suspended “for their own protection”, after a rowdy group surrounds Hunter's dorm and was broken up by Athens police. 

Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter become the first African Americans to enroll at UGA 

Analyzing Discrimination at Tech and UGA

The schools of Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia are not the only things that have changed over the years; their students have as well. Both Georgia universities have now opened their doors to a diverse student body. Therefore, it can be said that, in fact, both school’s definition of the “student” has changed and has become more vague, or in another words less limited. After analyzing the histories of both schools, it can be said that their ever-changing definition of a “student” has kept pace with the changing definition of the “person” in society.

        

As previously stated above, Georgia Tech and University of Georgia both started to accept women around the peak of the Women’s Rights Movement. Both schools allowed women to attend some sort of classes before the passing of the 19^th amendment, which permitted women to vote. The passing of this amendment shows that women are a vital part of society and now have a voice.  Now let’s go further, UGA allowed women to become full-time undergraduates in 1918, which is about 35 years before Tech accepted women to attend classes. Why is this?  It may be because that the University of Georgia is a liberal arts school while Georgia Tech is a technical and scientific university especially when compared to the University of Georgia. This being said, women, especially in the first half of the 20^th, century are seen to lack the interest for scientific, technology based careers rather than just being discriminated from attending. This is where the infamous ratio, which is the ratio between men and women who attend Georgia Tech, comes into play. Georgia Tech is known for its highly unbalanced ratio; even with greater initiative in getting more women involved the ratio is currently still unbalanced (65% male, 35% female). Then when you compare Georgia Tech’s ratio to UGA’s more balanced ratio, it is easy to see that Tech has a harder time holding the interests of women because it is a technical school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAvhE4a_hI

A comedic view on 'The Ratio" at Tech

Dealing with racial discrimination was a totally different and more complicated matter. Again, both schools desegregated around the time of the Civil Rights Movement which correlates with how society, as a whole, dealt with the situation. Like I said before, Georgia Tech and UGA are both located in the Deep South therefore there was tension when dealing with this issue of integrating the student body. Georgia Tech, being in the heart of the Atlanta, can be said to be less conservative than that of the University of Georgia, which is located in the more rural town of Athens. Being more conservative, especially when dealing with racial issues, may be the reason why the University of Georgia had such a hard time integrating. The general belief of the area may be why there were riots and protests which led to the suspension of the first African-American students attending the Athens-based university. And even to this day, UGA is having trouble with the lack of African-Americans attending their school. Unlike UGA, Georgia Tech had a peaceful integration of African-American students in their classrooms which started the integration of the other aspects of the university. The integration that occurred 50 years ago has led Tech to currently be ranked 2^nd in the country for awarding African-American students a bachelors degree in engineering.

African-American fail to register which headlines The Red and Black, UGA's school paper

Researching discrimination that occurred at Tech and how it compares with what occurred at our rival school, UGA, shows me that even though we are suppose to be opponents we have a similar history. Both Tech and UGA have gone through intense obstacles to become the schools they are now. Even though, the two schools may have dealt with the situation differently we can learn from each others mistakes and pasts and press on for a bright diverse future.