In 1961, Charlayne Hunter was a little known 18-year-old college student when she and Hamilton Holmes became to first African American students to attend the University of Georgia.

Hunter-Gault often recalls the experience of being escorted to school by federal marshals and being interviewed in her dormitory by a reporter as an angry crowd assembled outside.

That night as Hunter tried to rest in her room, the mob got nosier and became violent. A brick and glass bottle were thrown through her window. She found out later that the organizers of the "riot" had told all the other students to turn out the lights in their rooms once it got dark. The three brightly lit windows of her apartment made an easy target.

Hunter had already earned some college credits, so she was able to graduate in just two years. The press coverage of this part of her life influenced her decision to become a journalist, first at the New Yorker then at the New York Times.

She has since become known to television viewers as an aggressive, insightful journalist and has interviewed world leaders and heads-of-state on numerous occasions.

One of her most famous interviews was with Nelson Mandela shortly after he was elected President of South Africa.

She was a long-standing and highly respected member of the McNeal-Leherer news team, and recently accepted an offer to become the chief correspondent for National Public Radio in Africa.

Thirty-five years after her graduation, her experience at the University of Georgia had come full-circle. In 1988, she was invited back to address the graduating class, becoming the first black commencement speaker in the school's history.