Black Fact = 1965 (May 30) – Vivian Malone became the first black graduate of the University of Alabama on this date in 1965.
Malone (a member National Honor Society and graduated high school in 1960) attended Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) and received a two-year degree in business education in 1962. In order to further her education, Malone would have to transfer to another university that offered more advanced classes. By 1962 at least two hundred black students had applied to the University of Alabama’s branch school in Mobile, but they were all denied admission based on over enrollment or closed enrollment. The actual reason, however, lay with the Alabama’s school segregation laws. After over a year of legal deliberations, Malone and fellow student James Hood were chosen to be the first two black students to desegregate the University. #theraydiotwins
