The 85 students attending the first day of classes at the Georgia School of Technology on October 8, 1888 began working toward the completion of a degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, the only degree offered. Classes were held in Tech's only two buildings: the Shop and Foundry Building and the Academic Building, now known as Tech Tower. The first day of classes signified the beginning of technological education in the economic transformation in the agrarian South.

Tech's first graduating class in 1890 consisted of two members. In 1948, the school's name changed to the Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1952, women were first admitted. Georgia Tech became the first school in the Deep South to open its doors to African American students without court order in 1961. Throughout its first century, and into its second, a degree from Georgia Tech has meant quality.

Georgia Tech students study hard, but they know there is more to life than all-night cram sessions and long hours in chemistry lab. Since the first day of classes in 1888, Tech students have developed light-hearted traditions to counterbalance the demanding academic load. These traditions, perpetuated today by the students of Georgia Tech, form a distictive bond -- a bond that unites the Tech family.

-- Kyle Kessler, editor