Special Needs Junior College celebrates joining the community

A South Carolina college student is making history.

Junior Charlie McGee became the first student with special needs to be accepted into the fraternity at Clemson University, CBS News reported.

While Two-year ClemsonLIFE program provides students with intellectual disabilities, such as McGee, who has Down syndrome, with valuable skills needed for independent living, he told the outlet that he wanted to get the full college experience by joining a fraternity “to have a great time and experience camaraderie and more joy.”

McGee’s wish was granted in September when he received an offer to Pi Kappa Alpha.

In a heartwarming way video posted by CBS News showing his reaction to the party, McGee ran to his fraternity brothers and excitedly hugged them outside the college while all the students surrounded him and cheered, welcoming their newest member.

One Pi Kappa Alpha member told the website: “That was one of the coolest moments we’ve ever had at Clemson, that’s where I saw it. The joy and light that was missing in our chapter, that we didn’t know we were missing from the beginning, is unreal.”

Another member added that McGee “broke every preconceived notion that this is what a fraternity man should be.”

The historic acceptance marked the beginning of positive change: A total of six fraternities and five sororities welcomed students participating in the ClemsonLIFE program this year, according to the report.

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McGee said that since the welcome, he, too, has felt a difference in himself.

He told CBS News: “My disability doesn’t really exist.”