The University of Georgia Press will host a university-wide campus read of âAn Education in Georgiaâ by Calvin Trillin in partnership with the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Mary Frances Early College of Education.
The Campus Read is a celebration for both desegregation at the University of Georgia and Black History Month. The program will include two virtual talks: The first is on Feb. 4 with Trillin, a long time staff writer at The New Yorker, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, one of the first Black students to attend UGA. The other talk closes the Campus Read on Feb. 25 with Mary Frances Early, the first Black graduate from UGA, and UGA Rhodes Scholar Phaidra Buchanan.
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of the University of Georgia, the Main Library at UGA is hosting an exhibit that chronicles the historic events of 1961, when Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter (now Hunter-Gault) became the first African American students admitted to the university.
Honored guests, including the Holmes family and members of the UGA Black Alumni Council, were among the first to tour the exhibit, “Georgia Trailblazers: Honoring the 60th Anniversary of Desegregation at UGA,” on the day it opened, Jan. 9, 2021, the 60th anniversary of Holmes’ and Hunter’s enrollment.
The day began with remarks by UGA President Jere W. Morehead and others before a ceremonial ringing of the Chapel Bell by African American UGA alumni from each decade since the university’s desegregation.