What a year this has been for Georgia Tech athletics! During the year of Covid-19 and endless health protocols and complications — a year when we most needed some bright light, something exciting to cheer for — our teams showed up, did the work, represented us beautifully, and brought home some amazing wins!

Our commitment to expanding access to groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in labs and high-tech companies — most notably women and people of color — is not only a social and moral issue but a strategic one. If we want to advance technology that serves all markets and works for everyone, we have to open the doors of science and technology to individuals of all backgrounds.

Come visit the new EcoCommons, a striking 8-acre green space at the corner of Ferst Drive and Hemphill Avenue that honors our past and inspires us to dream of a better future. Under construction since early last year, the EcoCommons is equal parts learning laboratory, sustainable design model, historic landmark, art exhibit, and well-being studio.

When we look back at 2020, there is no doubt we’ll remember a dreadful year — a lethal pandemic, a moment of reckoning over enduring racial inequality, and a political crisis that exposed the vulnerabilities of our nation’s form of self-government. But I hope we’ll also see it as an opportunity for collective self-reflection, renewal, and learning. It is up to all of us to not let these crises go to waste.

This past weekend, we wrapped up the most extraordinary semester in Georgia Tech’s 135-year history with a celebration like none before. With a host of safety precautions and online streaming options in place, faculty, staff, students, and their guests gathered at Bobby Dodd Stadium for three graduation ceremonies held over two days to honor all 9,330 of our 2020 graduates from the spring, summer, and fall.