Durham Alumni Chapter Chapter President: Rebecca Redd-Jolly, 1980   Major: Psychology What is your career background? As a member of the Army ROTC I began my career as an Army Intelligence Officer.  I reached the rank of captain, and was honorably discharged after over five years in the military. I decided to study law and graduated with a jurist doctorate from Howard University School of Law. Worked at the Public Defender’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia. After getting married, we moved to Macon, Georgia. I received an opportunity to work as a Legislative Analyst for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. and stayed until my parent got sick.  We moved back…

The Cleveland area in Northeast Ohio welcomed an influx of individuals who had common experiences and education. Those individuals were a group of distinguished A&T alumni. From that moment, this dedicated group of Aggies started to organize what would eventually become the Cleveland Alumni Chapter of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The alumni charter was issued June 4, 1961, with organizing members Linwood Smith, Izora Bagley, Jesse Bagley, William Cohen, Vera Tillman Cohen, Abe Williams, Lynette B. Williams, Hortense Jones Rush, Marguerite Jones Banks, Alfred Russell, Ollie Pope Daniels, and John Wright. During the first year of the chapter’s existence, Smith was elected president. Key initiatives were fundraising,…

In the first 20 years of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s visual arts program, it was established in 1927 by H. Clinton Taylor. The program’s most outstanding graduate may have been Garrett Whyte ‘1939 (1914-2000). Whyte was a Mt. Sterling, Kentucky native who transferred to North Carolina A&T from Hampton University’s art department. A review of his achievements shows that he remains one of A&T’s greatest art alums over 80 years later. An active and creative student, young Whyte pledged to the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporate, taught Sunday School, served as a publicity person for the student YMCA, and was a member of the technical Club. His…

Most little girls want to be many things when they grow up, but Dr. Kellye Worth Hall ‘00 knew as a teenager she wanted to become an HBCU drum major. Her childhood consisted of being a natural, yet untrained dancer, an athlete, a musician, and surrounded by a legacy of family members who attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. “I was a typical band kid who played the saxophone for years and I attended North Carolina A&T’s summer band camps for middle and high school students,” said Hall. “I spent my life surrounded by HBCU culture. My dad had season football tickets and I met a lot of…

Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has announced that Chris Cook, PE, has joined the firm’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) group based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Cook joins the firm as a project engineer with more than 13 years of experience. As a fire protection engineer, he has worked on various facility types, including commercial buildings, K-12 schools, higher education facilities, civil structures, and healthcare facilities. Cook earned his bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from North Carolina A&T State University (2008) and is a member of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. About DewberryDewberry is a leading, market-facing firm with a…

On May 30, 1901, three students were awarded bachelors’ degrees from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the Colored Race (now North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University). This ceremony was significant because this was the first time a woman was a degree recipient from the college.  This young lady was Francis Grimes of Asheville, N.C. In the 120 years since this milestone, information on Grimes has been scarce in the North Carolina A&T histories. Thanks to new research, Aggies now can know her story today as part of A&T’s 130th anniversary and for Women’s History Month. Frances Grimes was born around 1884 and grew up in the Asheville Township,…

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit our nation, doctors and nurses stood on the frontlines to answer the call. With resilience and grace, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has been fortunate to have under its leadership, Dr. Padonda Webb ’03, the executive director of the Student Health Center. She is responsible for the public health safety of nearly 12,800 students and close to 2,000 faculty and staff members. In August 2020, Webb stepped into the role as interim executive director, when the previous director retired — during the peak of the pandemic and the re-entry of students coming back to campus. “It was very critical for me…

CAN I GET AN AG-GIE PRIIDEE? When Aggies hear that question, we already know how to respond. A loud and proud “AGGIE PRIDE!” Aggie Pride is much more than a catchphrase. So many alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends of Aggieland know what it is, but many do not how this saying came to be. Aggie Pride has always existed, but it was expressed with different words. For decades North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University had “Aggie Spirit” or the “Good Ol’ Aggie Spirit.” For over 60 years, dedicated Aggies have declared that they are “Aggie born, Aggie bred, and when I die I’ll be an Aggie dead!” For…

With materials that the average person would define as “junk,” world-renowned artist John Outterbridge ‘53 made masterpieces. With works beginning in the 1960s, he became a central figure in the Los Angeles Black Arts Movement of the Civil Rights Era. In a lifetime defined not only by his art but by his activities as a humanitarian, griot and activist, he is also known as a pillar in the assemblage arts movement – an art form that involves the use of everyday items that are assembled into three-dimensional sculptures. Outterbridge used his gift as an artist to address social and political concerns, and his talent as a griot to reflect on…