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Ronald Yancey, Georgia Tech’s first black graduate, will present his granddaughter Deanna with a diploma during a graduation ceremony on Friday, May 3, 2024.
CNN
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Nearly 60 years after Atlanta native and engineer Ronald Yancey overcame obstacles to become Georgia Tech’s first black graduate, he presented his diploma to his granddaughter who will continue in his family’s footsteps.
Deanna Yancey, one of the few relatives who attended the public research university, also known as Georgia Tech, graduated with a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering during Friday’s spring commencement ceremony.
As she crossed the stage at the university’s McCamish Pavilion, she greeted her grandfather with a smile and a hug, and he handed her her hard-earned diploma, according to a Georgia Tech Instagram video. Ta.
Georgia Tech said Yancey’s work in June 1965 was recognized on campus and a sculpture of him was dedicated in 2019.
The university says it is the first in the Deep South to integrate peacefully without a court order. Georgia Tech admitted its first black students in his 1961 year.
Deanna Yancey, who earned her bachelor’s degree in engineering from Penn State in 2020, didn’t initially tell her family that she was applying to the online master’s program at her grandfather’s alma mater, according to a Georgia Tech news release.
“Once I got into the school, I got to read the acceptance email that I sent to my grandfather,” Deanna Yancey said in a release. “He was so happy. He almost started jumping up and down. He was so excited.”
She credited her grandfather with being a pioneer at Georgia Tech.
“It’s a different world to be known for something particularly powerful, like the movement he started,” the freshman said in a video clip played at Friday’s ceremony.
Provided by Deanna Yancey
Deanna Yancey smiles at the statue of her grandfather, Ronald, who was the first black student to graduate from Georgia Tech in 1965.
Ronald Yancey was twice rejected from Georgia Tech in the 1960s and was told that he and his family “didn’t fit into the tech model of success,” according to a 2015 news release from the university.
During that time, he attended Morehouse, a historically black college. “However, Morehouse did not have an engineering program, so in the spring of 1961 Yancey applied again to tech companies,” the release states.
According to Georgia Tech, he passed the SAT on the condition that he retake the SAT and pass summer classes.
“After entering campus, (Ronald) Yancey was warned not to use public transportation or participate in athletic events for his own safety,” the news release said. “He endured solitude. No one would sit near him in the classroom. He had no lab partner. He was never accused of cheating or had his work tampered with. I took all my reports and exams in ink so I wouldn’t have to worry about anything.
Ronald Yancey also had to meet graduation requirements not required of other fourth-year students, and other fourth-year students were exempted from taking final exams. But he spent the last three weeks at Georgia Tech taking 18 exams in five classes, the university said.
“To ensure his grade, he requested and was given an additional six hours of exam for extra credit. He also had to write a 30-page paper on transistor theory.” ” states the release.
Ronald Yancey defied the odds and earned a degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech, 59 years before his granddaughter achieved a similar feat.
“We are extremely proud of Deanna for taking the initiative to choose her field, quietly and quickly apply, adjust her curriculum, and complete her enrollment.” Yancey said in a news release. “Deanna’s completion of her graduate degree is truly an amazing accomplishment.”
