Giving back to his Alma Mater
Comedian Carl Ray returns to TU bearing gifts

The Tuskegee News
Updated Apr 10, 2008 - 06:16:32 EDT

Carl Ray (left), "67" Alum with Dr. Gregory Murphy, Dean of Electrical Engineering

arl Ray, a famous stand-up comedian and now a representative for Intel, gives back because he wants to inspire kids to graduate from college.

College in general, that is, and predominantly black colleges in particular.

Ray himself graduated in electrical engineering in 1967 from Tuskegee Institute. To help give back he takes students from California and around the United States to visit mostly Historically Black Colleges and University to see what opportunities they have available.

"At Tuskegee, the academic expectations were high, and older people took an interest in you," Ray recalled. "They pretty much said, 'You are going to stay here.' I did quit, but they got me back. I just kind of fell in love with it."

But, he asked himself, how could children today be expected to attend college if they couldn't picture themselves there?

Therefore he takes them to these universities for them to see themselves there. But he also knows that these universities and colleges have to have the state-of-art technology to keep the students once they come. Therefore, he donated more than five computers to the Electrical Engineering Department at Tuskegee University.

"I want show other alumni that they too can gave back to the school," Ray said. "We must continue to move our university forward."

Ray was in Tuskegee this passed week with potential students for Tuskegee University or another HBCU.