We often talk about the year 1965 as the year Georgia Southern College finally integrated. But integration wasn’t a paperwork change; it was a physical act of courage performed by real students. In 1961, Otis Johnson was the first African-American student at Armstrong University. While John Bradley was the first Black student to enroll (as a graduate student in January 1965), the undergraduate color barrier was truly broken that fall by six teenagers:

Clavelia Love, Arlene Daughtry, Ulysee Mosley, Shirley Anne Woodall, Jesse Zeigler, and Catherine Davis.

These six students didn’t just attend class; they navigated a campus that had been exclusively white for decades. They faced social isolation, skepticism, and the immense pressure of representing an entire race. Despite this, they excelled.

Catherine Davis became the first African American alumna to earn a degree from the institution in 1967. Jesse Zeigler became the first Black woman to complete all four years at the college. 

Their presence on Sweetheart Circle changed the DNA of this university. Today, when you sit in the library or walk to the Russell Union, you are occupying space that these six students fought to open up.