Serving DeKalb & Metro Atlanta Volume 17 Number 14
DeKalb Tech marks 50 years with a new name: Georgia Piedmont Tech After a year of planning, DeKalb Technical College now has a new name—Georgia Piedmont Technical College. School officials say the new name better represents who the school is today: The college that was founded with just 18 students in 1961 now has some 18,000 students in nine centers of learning in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale and Morgan counties. College officials unveiled the school’s new signs and logos on Oct. 3 with leaders taking a bus tour to four of the school’s campuses. The new name comes as the college marks a half century of education this year. “We have helped pave the way to a more productive life for thousands of people who attended this college. As we launch our new name, rest assured that our mission and our commitment will remain the same,” said the college’s acting president Larry Teems. Teems said the bus tours are among several celebrations planned this fall to introduce the new name. The college began working on the name change in 2010, enlisting the help of students, alumni, faculty and community leaders. The stakeholders came up with the “Piedmont” part of the name to reflect the geographic region of the students it serves—from the Georgia mountains to the Plains, said Cory Thompson, the college’s spokesman. The board of the Technical College System of Georgia approved the name change in April. The institution was founded as DeKalb Area Vocational School, enrolling its first class of 18 students in Electronics Technology in 1961. The school has had several names over the years, including DeKalb Community College (1972-1986); DeKalb Technical Institute (1986-2000); and for the past 11 years, DeKalb Technical College. Georgia Piedmont Technical College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and currently has more than 4,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs, with more than 9,000 in adult education classes. Academic and technical programs at Georgia Piedmont Tech cover more than 100 different occupations with more than 260 full-time members of faculty and staff. The college offers more than 240 credit programs in four major curriculum areas: Business Information Systems, Health and Professional Services, Industrial Technologies and Public Safety and Security. Georgia Piedmont Technical College’s new web site is www.gptc.edu. INSIDE
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The guest of honor, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, and his wife, Evelyn, (center) are serenaded by Stevie Wonder.
‘Giant for Justice’ honored By Valerie J. Morgan
C
ivil rights icon, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, turned 90 this month with a fantastic celebration—a production, really—that was held in his honor. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder took the stage to honor Lowery and there were performances by Jennifer Holliday, Peabo Bryson, Lady Tremaine Hawkins, the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Grammy-award winning Stevie Wonder, who near the end of the four-hour program, sang his upbeat, familiar “Happy Birthday” song. President Barack O’Bama even wished Lowery a happy birthday during a video tribute, as well as former President Jimmy Carter and poet Maya Angelou. President Obama awarded Lowery the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Honor, on Aug. 12, 2009. See Colossal, page 5 The star-studded event, which was hosted by CNN anchor
‘The House that Sam Built’ Lithonia church organizes effort to preserve historic house By Valerie J. Morgan
LITHONIA—For Ella Ruth Colbert Brinson, 80, the memories are still fresh. She was 8 years old when a group of white men knocked on the front door of her family’s home in Lithonia and took her dad, Sam Colbert, and a container of turpentine with them. When Sam Colbert made his way back home later, he had been beaten nearly beyond recognition. “They said he was selling moonshine. Wasn’t no moonshine in that can—just turpentine,” recalls Brinson, who now lives in Rockdale County. Brinson said her family was forced to leave the house that her dad built, never to return. Now, that very house, which had been a source of pain for so many years, is connecting her family with a Lithonia church—First St. Paul AME—and relatives in a way no one expected. First St. Paul, which owns the property, is working to preserve the house as a museum. The church is planning a program that will be held on Oct. 30 to install a group of church members who will form the inaugural Historical Preservation Society. The African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Presiding Elder, Earl Ifill, is scheduled to perform the installation. See First, page 6
Photo by Glenn L. Morgan/OCG News
Ella Ruth Colbert Brinson and her daughter, Charcella C. Green, conduct interviews for documentary by Eddy Anderson.