NEWS

Identical twins Donald Kennedy ’73 and Ronald Kennedy ’73 have done almost everything together. They both majored in accounting. They both worked their way through college at Newberry’s A&P grocery store. They both joined the Air Force ROTC and served around the world. And they are both pioneers who helped change the face of education in South Carolina.

The brothers grew up in a segregated Fairfield County, still under the statutory grip of “Jim Crow.” Nearly every aspect of life was divided down racial lines and had been for as long as anyone could remember.

“It was illegal for Donald and me to go to the public library, even though our father had defended the country [in World War II] and he and our mother paid taxes,” said Ronald.

Both avid readers, the twins were in high school before they were permitted to check out a book, and this only came after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The following year, Fairfield, along with numerous other Southern districts, introduced a “freedom of choice” policy, in an attempt to comply with federal law while avoiding full integration. Though Black families now had a choice of public schools, the onus of desegregation was placed on them, and few participated. In spite of the challenges, the Kennedys enrolled at the predominantly White Winnsboro High.

“Our parents were really big on education, and they saw more opportunity with integration versus segregation,” said Donald. “Even as a kid I remember the excitement, the electricity that was in the air about the possibilities of change. Our parents were at the forefront of that.”

Before the brothers entered Winnsboro, however, they had to prepare to enter an entirely new educational environment. “There were like training programs for the African American kids there. That was 11 years after Brown v. Board of Education, and then the things that happened in Little Rock, Arkansas, with the African American girls going to school there and the challenges they faced,” he said.

“There were obstacles that were put in front of African American students. Athletes were not allowed to play their first year after they transferred in. They didn’t have the same opportunities for leadership roles. The adults put up those roadblocks that we had to overcome over time,” said Donald.

“There were some smart students that, after that first year, went back to one of the two all-Black high schools. You could feel some resentment from the administration, from some of the teachers, that they did not want us there, but we made the adjustment and finished our four years there,” said Ronald.

When the brothers graduated high school in 1969, they enrolled at Newberry on the recommendation of their 11th-grade English teacher, Barbara Harmon ’56. For three years before they arrived, Nancy Lou Anderson Glasgow ’70 had been the lone Black student on campus. In the freshman class came the Kennedys and Carolyn Pitts-Glymph ’73.

“Ronald and I represented 50% of the African American population,” joked Donald.

The Kennedys said while there were challenges, they didn’t experience much discrimination as day students. “Our role was to go to school, get an education, and we had to work in order to get through school. So I wouldn’t say we felt ostracized from a social standpoint,” he said.

They commuted bright and early each day, attended class, put in a shift at the A&P, and headed home that night to do it all over again. “From just a logistical standpoint, it was very, very convenient,” said Donald of attending college and working with his twin.

Their greatest sense of belonging at Newberry came from their participation in the Air Force ROTC program, which was established during their junior year by Maj. Fred Current. The brothers excelled in the fledgling unit, took the Professional Officer Course, and served as officers in the Arnold Air Society. Despite being on the path to commissions, ironically, they hadn’t initially planned to enter the military at all.

“We never had any intent to go into the Air Force,” said Ronald. “It was during Vietnam. They had a draft lottery system back in those days, and our draft number was pulled, it was something like number nine. It was pretty low, which meant that as soon as we graduated and lost our student deferment, we would probably have been drafted into the Army, and neither one of us wanted any part of that.”

They were commissioned upon graduation and planned to take their accounting degrees to the Air Force Audit Agency. Though they hadn’t intended the Air Force to punch their ticket, they looked forward to venturing out into the world.

“Growing up as African Americans in South Carolina, we had this vision of getting out of South Carolina,” said Donald. “He and I had a bet, it was a case of beer, and the winner was based on the farthest assignment away from South Carolina. He got assigned to San Antonio and I went down to Georgia, so he won that bet.”

Ronald and his fiancé were married two weeks after graduation and left for Texas the following day. The couple was able to travel the world together, with other duty stops in Guam, California, Ohio, Washington, D.C., and Naples, Italy. “My intent was to do my four-year commitment and leave, and a funny thing happened. I fell in love with the Air Force and stayed 27 and-a-half-years.”

After six years with the agency, Ronald transferred to the Office of Special Investigations, or the “FBI of the Air Force,” as he called it. He retired in 2000 with the rank of colonel.

Donald served 12 years in the Air Force, stationed from Georgia to Tokyo to Oklahoma City before transferring to the Airborne Warning and Control System, commonly known as AWACS, an airborne radar warning system designed to detect incoming aircraft, vehicles and projectiles at long ranges. He was based on a Boeing 707 and stayed “constantly deployed,” mostly in the Middle East during the First Gulf War, and then in Iceland as Cold War tensions rose.

After leaving the military, Donald returned to accounting work. Most recently, he served as chief financial and administrative officer, then superintendent, and finally chief innovation officer, of the Charleston County School District. He went from being among the first of his peers to attend an integrated school to leading the second-largest school system in South Carolina. He retired from the district earlier this year.

Now both retired, the brothers ended up returning to the Palmetto State for good, settling in the Lowcountry. They victoriously returned to campus with their wives in 2023 for their first Homecoming since graduation (right). Both have begun to reconnect with the College, particularly through the African American Alumni Chapter.

“The liberal arts education and my degree in accounting were invaluable,” said Donald. “It allowed me to navigate through a lot of things in life, and I’ll always be grateful to the College.”

“My experiences at Newberry, and particularly going into the Air Force ROTC program, set me on a trajectory that I never could have imagined,” said Ronald. “From a personal standpoint, I’m extremely proud of the school, the growth, the diversity. I’m proud to say I’m a Newberry alum.”

A condensed version of this story appeared in the summer 2024 Dimensions, the magazine for alumni and friends of Newberry College. Click here to view the online version.