OMED celebrates its anniversary with students, alumni
Robert Nesmith
Communications & Marketing
Soon after S. Gordon Moore Jr. received his bachelor’s degree in management from Georgia Tech, then-President Pat Crecine asked him to join a group of other students and faculty to undertake reorganization of the Office of Minority Educational Development (OMED).
After the group of alumni—comprised of Moore, current College of Computing Assistant Dean Cedric Stallworth, alumni Gavin Samms, Raymond Hart, Guy Primus and Jonnathyn Ogle—delivered their recommendations to the president, he asked if they would come in and effect the changes.
“We were just out of school,” said Moore, referring to that year between 1992 and 1993. “We were young and naïve, and weren’t privy to the nuance of bureaucracy. [Crecine] said ‘don’t worry about budgets—just build it.’ Now, we’re the template for other schools to follow.” He was named OMED managing partner and director in 1999.
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Photograph courtesy OMED
President Bud and Val Peterson speak with Billy Kihei, a graduate student and Office of Minority Educational Development tutor, at the organization’s 30th anniversary celebration during Homecoming Week. |
Utilizing a National Science Foundation grant facilitated in 1992 by Jack Lohmann, the team undertook the reorganization efforts. “We wanted to make it a dynamic organization,” Moore said, adding that OMED staffers started noticing a five-year “cycle” with incoming students. “The students in 1993 are completely different from the students today.”
Begun in 1979, OMED’s mission is to aid in the retention, development and performance of Georgia Tech students who are traditionally underrepresented. While the organization’s services are targeted toward African-American, Hispanic and Native American students, their services and programs are open to all Tech students. Resources available to students include transition programs for freshmen, transfer students and graduates, peer mentoring, strategy development and academic support programs for current students.
As part of the Institute’s Homecoming festivities, OMED celebrated its 30th anniversary. On Oct. 15, members met at the Twelve Hotel’s ballroom to hold its celebration. A Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization (GTBAO) seminar kicked off Oct. 16, and both the GTBAO and Georgia Tech Hispanic Alumni Network (GTHAN) held receptions and a joint Homecoming party later that evening. OMED sponsored a tailgating party on Oct. 17, and then Tech’s Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority held its 30th anniversary party.
Moore says the office’s 25th anniversary was an overall look at the changes instituted since the mid-1990s. For the 30th, the focus is centered more on the future. “This milestone isn’t about what we’ve done,” Moore said. “It’s about establishing a checkpoint, looking at what we’re doing and where we are going.”
OMED started under Tech President Joseph M. Petit, and Moore says that Tech’s presidents have done a great deal to support OMED. He recalls others who helped start and keep the organization going: William Stanley, the first African-American graduate from the College of Architecture; Dorothy Yancey, one of the first African-American faculty members at Tech; Thomas Parker, former director of the Counseling Center; William Gamble, former OMED director; Norman Johnson, former special assistant to the president; and Gary S. May, chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The faculty who have helped have been instrumental, and this office would not have been created without student and alumni efforts,” Moore said.
OMED’s success, he says, is based upon a continuous institutional effort, from the top down. “You don’t have something like this, and not have people in administration help to keep it around,” he said. “Crecine added the resources, and [President G. Wayne] Clough reached out to diversity groups and [helped us] continue the story through the Proposition 209 fervor.
“Tech has had a lot of success with minority students. The question is whether the Institute wants to continue that success—and I believe we do, based upon comments from President [Bud] Peterson and the establishment of the vice provost for Academic Diversity,” he said.
“[Peterson] has done his homework. He understands we have experienced growth in [the number] of Hispanic students, but we have fallen behind in the percentage of African-American students. It’s good to hear the president is concerned the percentages are down. When we look [at underrepresented students] in the STEM fields, we’re still far behind.”
But Moore is also quick to tout the organization’s successes. In 2004, OMED’s Challenge retention program received one of four Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence awards, and in 2007 the organization received an NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) Golden Torch Award.
In recent years, OMED has worked to connect with the Georgia Tech Hispanic Alumni Network and the Georgia Tech Black Alumni Organization, as well as established the Student Advisory Council to OMED (SACO). “When you’re 30 years in, you have a good range of alumni and students to provide feedback. We’re reconnecting with alumni and we’re looking ahead.”
Tech currently has its largest population of Hispanic students. “The Hispanic student growth and retention just shows what happens when you put resources into an initiative,” Moore said. “Our predecessors have positioned us very well.”
Moore credits the OMED staff with the organization’s success. “We have five Tech graduates, and a good mix of age ranges, experience and ethnicities.” He also credits the Institute’s collaborative nature, adding that OMED has been able to work easily with different departments and academic units.
For Moore, these awards are not the complete measure of OMED’s success. “A good indication we’re doing something right is the amount of institutions that call on us,” he said, adding that the University of Michigan, Rice University and Purdue University all have approached Georgia Tech to get more information on the programs across campus.
“I think Tech can be the model for academic excellence and inclusion among minority students,” Moore said. “The argument of ‘equity versus excellence’ doesn’t work here at Georgia Tech. You have to be excellent to even come here.” He also points out that most of Tech’s minority alumni have graduated in the last 15 years. “Critics talking about that or thinking that imbalance [between equity and excellence] exists at Tech really don’t know our students.”
For now, Moore and the OMED staff will look ahead to helping students achieve their success every day. “I just love what I do,” he said. “That’s the greatest thing about being in education. Every day I get to see the product. Every day some student will remind you of why you do this. Every day I see the results. I understand the importance of this. It’s important to produce those who can produce for themselves.”
Circuitous route to helming OMED
Gordon Moore received his bachelor and master’s degrees in Management from Georgia Tech, is working on his doctoral degree in higher education and organizational leadership. He serves on the ADAPTS and College of Engineering Diversity Advisory boards, is a former member of the Alumni Board of Trustees and Tech’s General Faculty Assembly, and also serves on the NSBE National Advisory Board.
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S. Gordon Moore Jr. |
His own path to Georgia Tech started when he was in high school in upstate New York. A guidance counselor at his school received information about the MITE (Minorities Introduction to Engineering) summer program and suggested Moore attend. He was interested in a dual degree from Morehouse and Tech.
As money became an issue for attending Morehouse, he thought about returning to New York. A member of Tech’s Enrollment Services staff spoke to Moore about Tech’s Division of Professional Practice, and he transferred to Tech as a co-op student. “I was able to make enough money to pay fees quarter-by-quarter,” he said.
And for one of his three jobs that he held during his quarters on campus, he worked at OMED.
“Georgia Tech plays such a big role [in minority education and advancement],” Moore said. “We need to be sure we have a system built that can help everyone succeed, because we have an obligation to do this beyond Georgia Tech. We need to perfect the model for the rest of the nation.”
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