![]() When he visited his alma mater earlier this month, Dickens was surprised to see a banner of himself displayed in front of the building where he spent six years as a student and another six as an employee. “It started with the inauguration at Bobby Dodd, and it’s going to continue.” “I believe that Tech can do it,” Dickens said. ![]() And as he continues in his role as mayor, Dickens is optimistic that he’ll build upon the great relationship he already has with the Institute. For Atlanta Public Schools students, he hopes for more after-school programs, weekend programs, and summer camps. To Dickens, that means opening up campus doors to the public, allowing the campus to become available for educational learning, for sports, and for conferences. ![]() “I want Georgia Tech to raise its hand early and often for us and for the community - to make sure they say, ‘Hey, we fit in with you. Last year, Dickens joined Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the African American Student Union at the opening of a civil rights memorial in Tech’s EcoCommons, a greenspace built on the site of a former symbol of racial oppression in Atlanta. The school was the first public university in the Deep South to integrate peacefully without a court order. Long Jr., and Lawrence Williams - became the first Black students to enroll at Georgia Tech. In fact, September 2021 marked 60 years since those students - Ford C. “To be able to know the first three means we still have a short history.” “I still know the first three Black students at Georgia Tech,” he added. “It wasn’t a campus that was necessarily embracing outsiders,” he said of the Institute’s reputation growing up. When he envisions the future for a more progressive Atlanta, Dickens is optimistic that Georgia Tech and the city’s other institutions of higher learning will continue to open doors for Atlanta’s youth, including the kids within the city’s marginalized communities, in ways he didn’t have the privilege of experiencing firsthand. Now that he is mayor, Dickens knows how many are counting on him to do better by the city and its residents. As a staffer, the work he did to help minority students thrive at Georgia Tech laid the groundwork for what he hopes to do in government. He added it reminds him of what it was like just trying to get through Georgia Tech - not only because the new role requires tremendous energy and discipline, but because it feels like a community effort.īut it was easy to accept Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera’s invitation to host the inauguration on the Tech campus - especially because of what coming full circle back to his alma mater means to him.Īs a Georgia Tech student, Dickens looked to his support structure of tutors, coaches, advisors, professors, and fellow students for guidance. “But here we are.”īeing mayor means working day and night - and it’s tough work. It came about four years earlier than he expected, Dickens said. 3, Dickens was sworn in as 61st mayor of Atlanta before a crowd of hundreds at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium. In 2018, he co-founded a career program through the nonprofit TechBridge to teach people the skills they need to land information technology jobs.Īfter Dickens ran for and served on the city council, he looked onward to what he felt was his inevitable role as leader of the city he’s always called home. In that role, he led programs like the African American Male Initiative dedicated to providing academic resources, mentorship, and leadership training to support the enrollment, retention, graduation, and career placement of Black males at Georgia Tech. He joined Georgia Tech as a staff member from 2010 to 2016 and served as assistant director of outreach initiatives for OMED: Educational Services. But it wasn’t until he stepped onto Tech’s campus that he really began to understand and apply what it means to lead, to manage conflict, and to build community.Ī member of Tech’s Alumni Association Board of Trustees, Dickens holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tech and a Master of Public Administration in Economic Development from Georgia State University.ĭuring his time as a Tech student, he joined the Student Government Association and served as president of the African American Student Union and of his fraternity, eventually expanding his leadership to neighborhood associations and planning units. If you ask his mom, the dream began at the ripe age of 12. In an interview earlier this month, he said running for mayor was always in the cards.
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