All along the walls and tables of the conference rooms in Engineering Building II on NC State’s Centennial Campus, photos of Black engineers and engineering staff members smiled at dozens of visitors above descriptions of their work.
As part of its first-ever Engineering Histories series, the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI) presented Trailblazers, an exhibition of Black and African American students, staff, faculty and alumni who shaped the College of Engineering.
“We want to celebrate everyone,” said Angelitha Daniel, the College of Engineering’s assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion. “So when we have Black History Month and other heritage months, all of the times that we get to highlight the members of our community, we sit as a team and brainstorm the best way to be able to highlight and celebrate and acknowledge them, including sitting and thinking about the individuals who have been instrumental to NC State’s history.”
The display highlighted everyone from long-time community members to recent alumni. Electrical engineering major Irwin R. Holmes, Jr. was the first African American to graduate from NC State in 1960. KaMar Galloway, a 2013 graduate, is a program manager for Google’s CS First and Applied Digital Skills initiatives.
The display also featured current members of the college, such as Joel Ducoste, the associate dean for faculty development and success and a Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) professor who has over 180 peer-reviewed publications, and senior Nyela Allen, a computer science major with plans to go into video game development. Ducoste attended the event along with several others who were depicted.
“It was a wonderful event,” Ducoste said. “I enjoyed reading about the contributions of colleagues who are making significant impact to our NC State Wolfpack community.
“I also enjoyed those figures who are future leaders as they start their career journey as engineers ready to develop technologies and innovations that will change humanity for the better,” he added. “I was blessed to be among all of them represented at the celebration and thank Angie Daniel, Domonique Carter and all on their team that made it special.”
Also included were famous Black and African American trailblazers like Maya Angelou, Bessie Coleman, Ella Fitzgerald and Katherine Johnson, among others.
“I really enjoyed reading bios and then crafting them to meet our needs,” said Domonique Carter, the program manager for ODEI. “I really enjoyed the process of pulling together what [NC] State had to say, what they’ve said on their own websites and then what others are saying to paint a picture about who those trailblazers are.”
NC State is a predominantly white institution, or PWI, meaning the majority of staff, faculty and students are white. In 2024, less than 7 percent of students were Black.
Photo Gallery
“Centering Black stories and stories of color are incredibly important, especially at PWIs,” said Carter. “We’re only a small percentage of the folks here, so our stories sometimes get lost.”
In addition to the exhibition, ODEI also had lunch for attendees, where Daniel and Carter thanked the community for coming to the event. ODEI will have a meeting this coming week to discuss having the exhibition archived in Hunt Library for people to continue to view it in the future.
“My hope is that people who are not part of this particular community want to learn and explore,” said Daniel. “For those that are in the community, I hope that they see themselves. We see you, we appreciate you and we want you to be here and have all of the things you need to thrive.”
- Categories:
