In June 1965, Ronald Yancey walked across Georgia Tech’s commencement stage with an electrical engineering degree to become the first Black student to graduate from the institution. Almost 60 years later, in May 2024, his granddaughter Deanna Yancey walked across a similar stage to earn her master’s in electrical and computer engineering.
His legacy was personified, and at the end of that stage stood Ronald as he prepared to present Deanna with her diploma and pass the baton.
“It was amazing. It was kind of hard to live in the moment because I know with the hustle and bustle of graduation, it wasn’t like we could spend a five-minute moment in the middle of other people graduating together,” Deanna said. “But I know afterwards, when I finally got to meet them outside, I hugged my grandfather again, and he told me how proud he was of me … So it’s just moments like that, that I cherish.”
It’s a legacy that was hard-won. From multiple admittance rejections to social isolation and racial discrimination, Ronald’s perseverance is now memorialized through a statue titled “The First Graduate” that sits on the stairs of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.
Deanna said she didn’t truly grasp the gravity of her grandfather’s legacy until she attended Penn State for her undergrad. It wasn’t until 2015 — Tech’s 130th anniversary — that the school began reaching out to him for his perspective on his time as an undergrad, and growing up, Deanna didn’t recall the random regalia that comes with embracing your alma mater littered around her grandparent’s house.
“Before then, it was just very quiet,” Deanna said. “And then, all of a sudden, it was, oh, here’s a Georgia Tech blanket. Oh, here’s another hat. Here’s more Georgia Tech stuff. And I think it was around the same time that his story started to get a little bit more public that he started embracing Georgia Tech a little bit more.”
When she applied to complete her master’s at Tech, Deanna revealed that she didn’t tell her family until she was accepted. In an effort to keep her identity low-key and focus on her classes and full-time job without the pressure of her name, she also revealed that she didn’t make the school aware she was related to Ronald until two months before graduation when she came up with the idea to have him on stage with her.
It became a mad scramble to organize the touching moment when Deanna, donned in an all-black cap and gown with a red, white, and gold master’s hood draped across her back, shook her smiling grandfather’s hand and hugged him as he handed over her diploma.
“I wanted to also share his story, because I know a lot of people in the younger generations don’t know due to the fact that it happened almost 60 years ago. I wanted it to revamp his story and have more people get interested in his story and do a little bit more research on him and the institution.
“Having him on the stage, it was like, I know this person who’s on the other side of the stage handing me my diploma and I know how happy and proud he is of me. And then all the years that I’ve spent going over to his house, and we’ve talked about the latest things in engineering and the latest tech, It was kind of like passing the baton from one engineer to another.”
Deanna joins the 3% of Black women who are engineers, a feat that now marks her own legacy. While she would love to see more Black graduates from these institutions, she recognized the accomplishment as a huge win for the community.
“Representation matters, so being a Black woman in engineering and getting her master’s, I think was huge just for our community. So that was also another reason why I was like, wow, this is a huge moment.”
Reflecting on her grandfather’s sacrifices, Deanna said that if she had the chance to talk to the student who would soon become the first Black graduate of Georgia Tech, she would tell him one simple thing: “Keep going.”
“The legacy you set here is going to influence generations to come. I’ve seen and heard so many different stories of Black students at Georgia Tech who are like, ‘Look, your grandfather’s story is the reason why I kept pushing. I felt like I wasn’t alone in this situation because I know someone went through it worse than I did, and he still was able to make it through.’
“Knowing that he paved the way for so many people, especially myself, I’d be like, you’ve got this. I know it’s really hard, and I know you have a lot of cards stacked against you, but you’ve got to keep going.”
