Glenda Phillips Hightower, the first African-American to enroll as a full-time ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ student, and Eugene Perry '69, the first African-American to receive an ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ degree, will have formal portraits unveiled during a McKinnon Hall event.
A special College Coffee led by ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ President Leo M. Lambert will recognize two outstanding members of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ community who made history a half century ago.
Glenda Phillips Hightower, the first African-American student to enroll as a full-time ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ student, and Eugene Perry ’69, the first African-American to receive an ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ degree, are visiting campus during Black History Month to be honored with the unveiling of formal painted portraits to be displayed in the Moseley Center.
The campus community will celebrate Phillips and Perry’s contributions to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ on Feb. 23, 2016, in McKinnon Hall at 9:40 a.m.
Hightower attended then-ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ College starting in 1963, enrolling as the first and – at that time – only full-time black student. She was a pre-medicine major and joined the marching band as a clarinetist during her studies. Phillips withdrew from ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ in the middle of her sophomore year in part due to health issues.
Perry graduated in 1969, the first black student to complete an ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ degree program after studying social science. Like Phillips, Perry also performed in the marching band. He has returned to campus often in recent years and received a standing ovation last spring when he attended the 2015 Commencement.
ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s annual Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Award banquet is named in their honor.
“Returning to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ has always been an emotional struggle, but I assure you that I am proud to be a graduate of this institution,” Perry told past honorees at the banquet. “My hope and wish is that you (students) will acquire all the dreams of your hearts, for indeed, you have chosen to walk the way of the Phoenix.”