Please rise in body or spirit. Take a moment to connect to this space.  

We acknowledge and give gratitude for the Muskogee land we stand on today. These lands are unceded territory from which the Muskogee were forced.  

We acknowledge the enslaved people who were brought to this land against their will. 

We remember and honor the lives, work, culture, traditions, fortitude, ingenuity, faith, and strength of these ancestors. We also honor their resistance. 

Here in Atlanta, one of the birthplaces of the Civil Rights Movement, we give gratitude for the courage and sacrifice of the Movement’s elders, children, laborers, students, and organizers - some whose names we know well and some we’ll never know, who worked behind the scenes to pave the way for us to be here today.  

We also acknowledge the specific legacy that animates the land on which our institution, Georgia Tech, stands. In 1961, three African American college students integrated the Institute after 76 years of serving only white students. In 1964, three African American seminary students tried to integrate the Pickrick restaurant – now a part of Georgia Tech’s campus – in a test of the brand new Civil Rights Act, just one day after it was passed. They eventually prevailed. 

We acknowledge the deep and rich history that surrounds us and we celebrate the just, flourishing, and healed world that we are striving to build together.  

With deep thanks to Nedra Deadwyler, Atlanta-based entrepreneur and activist, founder and principal of Civil Bikes.