Black History Month

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Colleagues,

After a brief hiatus, it’s my pleasure to share a new CoE Cares newsletter with you. For those who have joined the College during our break, this newsletter is sent to faculty and staff every other month.

Our CoE Cares Committee returns with the same mission they’ve been pursuing for more than a decade: helping us connect with each other across the College and finding ways to make a difference in each other’s lives and communities. CoE Cares is about sharing health and wellness information, encouraging strong relationships with one another, and providing opportunities for all of us to serve and give back.

Well-being and balance are critically important to me and the College’s leadership. Along with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, they form the cornerstone of the culture we’re building in CoE.

You are our greatest resource — the conduit through which we provide our students world-class education and develop solutions to the world’s toughest challenges. The work of the CoE Cares Committee is an important part of our efforts to support you and build a community where we all thrive.

I hope you enjoy the Black History Month content the CoE community has gathered for you. We’re excited to be back in your inboxes, and please don’t hesitate to contact the committee with your ideas and suggestions.

Thank you for all you do!
Raheem

A composite image of 16 Black faculty members in the College of Engineering

Celebrating Our Black Faculty

As our nation celebrates Black History Month, we’re honoring the Black faculty members shaping our students’ lives and improving the human condition in the College.

Learn More About Them

Connected: Cassandra Evans Returns to Tech, Where She Feels at Home

A children’s book author and night-school English teacher too, Evans supports the College’s DEI and faculty affairs efforts.

Meet Cassandra

Historic image of H.J. Russell - two men in hard hats at a construction site

Atlanta’s Landmark Black-owned Businesses

The story of Atlanta’s rise as a national hub of innovation begins with the business owners who grew during a time of racial animosity. Alonzo Herndon and Herman J. Russell played a pivotal part in developing the city’s business culture.

More About the Entrepreneurs

Your BHM Reading Recs

Colleagues from across CoE have book suggestions for your nightstands, Kindles, or wherever you keep your reading material. Check out the fiction and nonfiction titles that have resonated, challenged, and inspired us recently.

What We're Reading

Damon Williams standing by the Georgia Tech historical marker

ICYMI: Meet Our New Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence

Appointed in September, Damon Williams is working to advance diversity and inclusion initiatives and support an inclusive climate of belonging across the College community.

Meet Damon

Mark Your Calendars: Black History Month Events

Catch Up on Campus Commemorations of MLK

Archie Ervin, Eddie Glaude Jr., and Rohan Sohani in front of a Georgia Tech backdrop

MLK Lecture

Eddie Glaude Jr. helped to kick off Georgia Tech’s Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration as the keynote speaker for the 12th Annual MLK Lecture, providing insights into Dr. King’s life and legacy.

A group of Georgia Tech community members outside holding yardwork implements

MLK Day of Service

LaJauna Ellis from the dean’s office was among the Georgia Tech community members who spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day in service. Ellis’s group worked to clean up and clear brush with the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance as part of Tech’s MLK Day of Service.

Read a Lecture Recap

More from CoE

Connect with COESCAC

Please mark your calendar to attend “Connect with COESCAC”!

Monday, February 27
11 a.m. – noon (in-person)
2 – 3 p.m. (virtual)

COESCAC — the College of Engineering’s Staff Culture Advisory Council — serves the College by advocating for the staff and promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in its culture. The council serves as an advisory committee to college leadership on action steps resulting from staff engagement day collaborative sessions as well as School discussions and initiatives. We are working on plans for this year and encourage you to participate!

Your representatives for 2023 are:

AE: Kay Doering, Academic Advisor
BME: Chordae Lauderdale, Financial Admin
CEE: LaShone Simmons, Admin Professional
ChBE: Lori Federico, Assistant to the Chair
ECE: Christian Gallie, Academic Advisor

ISyE: Brittany Lawler, Program Support Coordinator
ME: Darrell Williams, Building Coordinator
MSE: La Juana Whitner-Bason, Event Coordinator
Dean’s Office: LaJauna Ellis
Faculty Liaison: Robert Simon, CEE
Advisor: Byron Fitch, Strategic Consulting

Contact COESCAC at coescac@coe.gatech.edu.

Culture Champion Awards

Congrats to this year's CoE Culture Champions, recognized at Staff Engagement Day for being advocates for a positive and productive culture.

Deborah Powell
Admin Professional Sr. (AE)
MacKenzie Carvalho
Admin Professional Sr. (BME)
Jennifer Freeman
Faculty Support Coordinator (CEE)
Adrienne Hillman
Academic Advisor II (ChBE)

Christian Gallie
Academic Advisor II (ECE)
Jonathan Etress
Facilities Mgr Sr. (ISyE)
Darryl Williams
Building Coordinator II (ME)
Mechelle Kitchings
Admin Mgr I (MSE)

Updates from the CoE DEI Council

A new site aggregating information about campus resources ranging from mental health and well-being to academic support and career development is available on all Canvas course sites. Course instructors are invited to look at their Canvas sites, and direct students to the "GT Student Resources" tab.
Michigan’s CRLT Players will be visiting campus and performing April 3 and 4. The sessions, titled "You Don't Belong Here: The Stories Our Systems Tell (and Why We Have to Disrupt Them)," will be 90 minutes and will consider the way that stories of non-belonging and exclusion are perpetuated at the system level.

Questions? Suggestions? Contact DEI Council Chair Iris Tien.

Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations to our colleagues celebrating service anniversaries in January and February.

We have 75 folks who’ve worked with us from one year to 35 years! Thanks for everything each of you brings to our community.

Service Anniversaries

Win Lunch with Dean Beyah

Test your knowledge of Black history at Georgia Tech (and beyond). The first person to respond with the correct answers will win lunch with Dean Raheem Beyah!

What is the significance of the statue of three men in Harrison Square? What are their names?
The Georgia Tech EcoCommons includes a contemplative grove designed to memorialize the painful history of a business formerly located on the site. What was the name of the business, and which famous Georgian owned it?
Who was the first Black female student-athlete at Georgia Tech? What sport did she play?
Who were the first Black actor and actress to win Oscars?
Who was the first Black astronaut to walk in space?
Who is honored by the bronze sculpture sitting at the foot of the stairs in Clough Commons?

Send Us Your Answers!

COE CARES COMMITTEE

Erin Adams, CEE
Vickie Brian, AE
Linda Dillon, ECE
LaJauna Ellis, Dean’s Office
Sarah Flake, ChBE & MSE

Amanda Ford, ISyE
Melody Foster, ME
Dawn Franklin, Dean’s Office
Gul Shah, BME