Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
A panoply of Blue and Gold sparkled among thousands of alumni, attending James Benson Dudley High School’s consolidated class reunion from the 1950s to 2024 during an enthusiastic weekend of Panther Pride.
The celebration began on Saturday night, July 12, at the 50th Alumni Awards Banquet, where mostly members of the Class of 1975 gathered to honor classmates, as well as to celebrate past and present members of the school's alumni association. Weekend activities culminated in a giant cookout in the grassy area at the front of the school’s East Greensboro campus. A plethora of tents, each representing a decade of alumni classes, emerged as Panther Alumni enjoyed an afternoon of culinary delights, fun, convivial activities, conversation, and joyful reminiscences among former classmates, friends, and family members who are multigenerational Dudley Panther alumni.
Alumni banquet organizers heralded the consolidated reunion activities as a one-of-a-kind event for any high school in the nation. Dudley's Alumni Association was founded in 1975, and in 2026, the combined class reunion will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Dudley High School opened in 1929, during a time of segregation in the U.S., as Greensboro’s high school for Black students. It was named in honor and memory of James Benson Dudley, 1859-1925, a former president of the then A&M College, which is now North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
During the Alumni Awards Banquet, founders of the alumni association and group presidents received recognition, posthumously Richard Bowling ’57 and John Harris ’48, along with living members Harvey Pettiford ’61, Doris D. Vincent ’68 and Howard C. Stewart ’71. Additionally, past living presidents of the association received honors by year: Lola McAdoo ’54, Yvonne Revell ’56, Brenda James ’63, Martha Dick ’66 and Consuella Gibson ’70.
Class of 1975 member Dr. Deborah Annette Simmons presided at the banquet, with classmate Harry Nicholos serving as the main speaker. At a Reunion Roll Call, representatives from graduating class years presented donations totaling nearly $41,000 to support the school’s educational activities.
Online copy edited by Afrique I. Kilimanjaro
