Not so easy admission

Fifty years ago, Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault struggled to be admitted to the University of Georgia.

Now, the Office of Admissions and the Office of Institutional Diversity are working harder than ever to “develop new initiatives to support diversity and equity.”

According to Descatur Potier, Associate Director of Admissions, the admissions process in 1961 was very simple and not as rigorous as now.

Students simply had to submit an application to the registrar’s office and it would get processed.

“Georgia was that school that if you wanted to get a good quality public education you just have to have a high school diploma and apply and go for it.” Potier said.

But that wasn’t the case for Holmes and Hunter-Gault.

“Some people say [Holmes and Hunter] chose UGA,” Potier said. “But maybe it was that UGA chose them, because really UGA was the school that offered that opportunity for them and they wanted to go after it.”

UGA offered a strong science and journalism program because of the state funds they received, which appealed to Holmes and Hunter.

They both considered going to schools in Atlanta but those schools didn’t have the reputable programs and facilites that UGA did.

“At Morehouse, we would get a pig to do research on but that pig would be shared between five students,” Potier quoted Holmes. “But at UGA, I would get my own pig.”

When they first tried to register, they were denied. They had the grades and were at the top of their class but were still rejected.

UGA used every trick they could think of to keep them from integrating. They said there wasn’t enough housing or space in the classes or that they were afraid for their safety.

Holmes and Hunter fought back with a legal team including Atlanta civil rights attorney Donald Hollowell and Constance Baker-Motley of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

They were joined by Horace Ward, who had earned his law degree at Northwestern, and by Vernon Jordan, a young Atlanta native who had just graduated from Howard University Law School.

On January 9, 1961, Holmes and Hunter were allowed onto campus.

However, they were met with unfriendly classmates. The only way they were allowed to stay on campus was due to the white faculty members risking their own reputation and safety to stand up for what they believed was right.

Holmes and Hunter played their part in the movement and set a legacy for future generations.

Today, the University is continuously finding ways to recruit minorities and help diversify the campus even further.

UGA has programs for minorities starting as soon as they get to middle school, according to Cassidy Robinson, a senior at UGA and former employee of the Office of Institutional Diversity.

There are mentoring programs, scholarship funds, spend-the-night camps, and special visitation days to showcase minority activities on campus.

For example, GA Daze is an event for already accepted high school seniors to come visit campus. They plan it for weekends when the minority organizations i.e. the black frats, the Black Student Union (BSU), African Student Union (ASU), etc., are having their different events.

“It’s a way to show that there are minorities on campus and try to change the image of UGA,” Robinson said. “The University, I know, has become more diverse over the past few years so maybe something’s working.”

UGA has also created partnerships with the Kipp Schools and Ron Clarke Academy.

“But there is always room for improvement. We want this university to reflect the state which has a large African American population, and there’s a burgeoning Hispanic population,” Poiter said. “And I feel like we are doing the best we can as an office to do multi-pronged approaches to recruiting the best and the brightest in the state.”