BLACKSBURG, Va. โ Six women broke the color barrier at Virginia Tech more than 50 years ago, and two of them talked about their time on campus on Friday.
Inclusive VT hosted a forum with La Vernee Hairston Higgins and Marguerite Harper Scott as part of its โUnfinished Conversationsโ series. Higgins and Scott both enrolled at Virginia Tech in 1966.
Higgins is a native of Roanoke. She said the adjustment to college life was difficult because of what she experienced in the classroom.
โThe hardest part for me was the faculty,โ Higgins said. โI literally had a faculty member who, after he gave his introduction to the class, turned directly to me and said, โSome of you will not pass this class.โ I had not experienced that before.โ
Scott graduated from Virginia Tech in 1970, while Higgins transferred from the university after Martin Luther Kingโs assassination in 1968.