Athens College admitted its first Black students in 1969 after signing the Compliance Agreements related to affirmative action in 1967.

With the admittance of these new Black students, Athens College officially integrated.

The following students were part of the group admitted:

Adolph Scissum {span class=”print_trim”}

Scissum was the first Black student to graduate from Athens College. He obtained a Master’s degree in Teaching and Administration. He died on July 9, 1994 after serving as the principal at the Lakeview School in Guntersville, AL.

Neal Ayers

Ayers graduated in 1980 with a degree in Business Administration. He died on Jan. 17, 2019 after a career in the United States Army and the Army National Guard.

Annie Ruth Malone Jamar

Jamar, an alumna of Trinity High School, graduated from Athens College in 1971 after double majoring in Biology and History. She was the first Black woman to graduate from Athens College. She taught in Athens for more than two decades before dying Feb. 16, 1995.

Mimie Love

Love, who is still alive and lives in Madison, graduated with a degree in history in 1972. In 1971, Athens College students elected Love to the Founders Queen court.

Minnie L. Thatch Jamar

Jamar, a 1968 graduate of Trinity High School, attended Athens College on a two-year scholarship. She went to J.F. Drake State Technical College following her attendance at Athens State before eventually transferring and graduating from Alabama A&M with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration.

She worked at Alabama A&M for 30 years as a Senior Secretary/Office Manager with the music department before dying on Feb. 16, 2017.

The following students were admitted in 1969, but there is no record of graduation for them:

• Geraldine Kirby
• Molly Caudle
• Sandra Sloss
• Patricia Goddlow Kornegay

Four years following the integration of Athens College, the college hired its first Black faculty member, Dr. Dora Ashford.

Ashford, who was born in 1927, was a first generation college student. She graduated from Alabama State University in Montgomery with a Bachelor’s in Education. She later received a Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma.

Ashford moved to Athens in 1956 when her husband became the principal at the Trinity School. Ashford taught social studies and was a counselor at Trinity until the school closed in 1970.

After her time at Trinity, Ashford became the Dean of Women at Alabama A&M University.

In 1973, Ashford was selected to serve as Director of a new federally-funded Child Development Center in McCain Hall. Ashford was the first faculty member at Athens College to specialize and teach in the field of Early Childhood Education.

Ashford and Margret Oliver started a Black History Association for students at Athens College.

In the 1980s, Ashford obtained her Ed.D. from the University of Alabama.

Ashford retired in 1993, later dying in 2011 after more than five decades in education.