The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1059287
32 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ponents. But he always had the support of his teammates and his coach. There was math instructor who refused to teach a black student (she was quietly reassigned). There was an intramural opponent who tried to hurt him (he left the next play with a possible broken leg, payback from an offended teammate). There was a diner in Chapel Hill that refused to serve him (Holmes' teammates chose to leave their hot meals uneaten and unpaid for). "Remember, this was all coming from roughly 10 white peers, all of whom had been raised in the Deep South and traditional South- ern homes," Holmes said. "So for them to feel that good about me because this wasn't a racial statement. "This was, 'They are wronging my friend and therefore we're not going to participate in it.' That was very special to me." Holmes' experiences at State created more positive opportunities than negative experiences — the kind every college student looks for when they go to college. Based on his grades and accomplish- ments, he was invited to join an engineering honors society, one of his proudest achievements. On May 29, 1960, he became the first African-American to receive an undergraduate degree during com- mencement exercises at Reynolds Coliseum. One of Holmes' engineering professors at State, William Stephen- son, recommended him for a summer job with RCA, which turned into a full-time job af- ter Holmes graduated. He eventually earned a master's degree in elec- trical engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia. In his three years at RCA's Camden, N.J., operation, he worked on creating the world's first color television. He spent three years with the Burroughs Corp. and three more at Ford Philco, before taking a job with IBM in Gaithersburg, Md. "I had a great job at RCA, but the country was in a recession and they began to lay people off," Holmes said. "I was one of the last people hired and because of union rules, I was one of the people who was laid off. "But, like so many things in my life, it worked out good for me, because by the time I left, I had three offers at other companies making substantially more money, with more responsibilities than I had at RCA." Holmes eventually moved back to his hometown in 1979 with his wife Meredythe, where they raised two daughters and a son. He retired from IBM in 1988 to help his wife run and manage a local staffing company. In 2010, when NC State chancellor Randy Woodson first arrived in Raleigh, he attended the 50th reunion of the Class of 1960. He walked around the room meeting various people, including longtime university bene- factor Wendell Murphy. When he shook hands with Holmes, the former tennis player saw a bit of surprise in the eyes of the university's new leader. "I bet you didn't expect to see me here," Holmes said, chuckling at the hesitation. Since getting to know Holmes even better through the years, Woodson has believed that the university should honor its first African-American graduate with more than a conference room in the Park Alumni Center and a scholarship. So, on the recommendation of the College of Engineering Foun- dation and with the ap- proval of the NC State Board of Trustees, Woodson announced that the University C o l l eg e C o m m o n s Building built on cen- tral campus in 2008 would be renamed Ir- win Holmes Hall. On Nov. 1, in a spe- cial Red and White Week ceremony, the building was rededicated in front of a crowd of more than 500 alumni, students and supporters of the university. It's just the second building on campus named in honor of an African-American and one of the few named for a for- mer Wolfpack student-athlete. It was a proud moment for Holmes, not for his accomplishments during and after school, but for NC State's pioneering decision to admit black students and black student-athletes before any other school in the ACC. "By honoring me, they are honoring the people who made that decision a long time ago," Holmes said. "They are able to honor themselves, and that makes me proud." ■ "We didn't perceive it to be that big a deal at that time. … We thought maybe someday when we were old men, maybe someone would make a big deal about it. We didn't do it for that purpose. We did it for the same purpose as everyone else: just to have fun." ■ Holmes on being one of the first two black athletes to compete in an ACC-sanctioned sporting event Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Holmes (seated) and family members observe the rededication of University College Commons, a student services building, as Holmes Hall Nov. 1, making it just the second building on campus named in honor of an African-American and one of the few named for a former Wolfpack student-athlete. PHOTOS BY TIM PEELER