{"611467":{"#nid":"611467","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Students Learn from Andrew Young ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAndrew J. Young called the Georgia Tech students to attention.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Now is the time to ask questions,\u0026rdquo; the civil rights leader said. \u0026ldquo;Whatever is on your mind about what is going on in the world today. Don\u0026rsquo;t be scared.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYoung had just received the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ivanallenprize.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EIvan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage\u003C\/a\u003E, which honors those who demonstrate leadership to improve the human condition despite personal risks and challenges. After learning he\u0026nbsp;was receiving the award, Young requested that the day\u0026rsquo;s activities included an opportunity to interact with Georgia Tech students. College students, he said, are \u0026ldquo;not afraid of anybody different.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAbout 50 students attended the town hall Thursday afternoon to ask him questions about his life and gain\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2018\/09\/10\/lessons-courage-andrew-young\u0022\u003Einsight from his knowledge\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and advice about some of the most pressing issues we face today.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EErik Van Winkle, a mechanical engineering major from Atlanta, asked how to bridge the divide in today\u0026rsquo;s society.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You don\u0026rsquo;t want to,\u0026rdquo; Young said. \u0026ldquo;That\u0026rsquo;s the genius of democracy. Our variety of opinions.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe asked students to imagine they\u0026rsquo;re all standing on four different corners and there\u0026rsquo;s an accident in the middle. Each person will see something different because of their perspective. If we can learn from other perspectives, it allows for more nuanced understanding. And if we can open our minds enough to gain all four points of view, he said we will have a richer view of reality.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother student asked how Young would have used social media had it been available.\u0026nbsp;Young was a key strategist and negotiator during the civil rights campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYoung explained that living a public life taught him he should never answer hypothetical questions because his answers could be reinterpreted.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut social media, he said, is a challenging development. He joked: \u0026ldquo;I can\u0026rsquo;t get Siri to answer me.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m old. I\u0026rsquo;m 86,\u0026rdquo; Young said. \u0026ldquo;I still got some time left I think \u0026hellip; I\u0026rsquo;m trying to figure out how to use social media. I\u0026rsquo;d like to talk with a group of people like this every day of my life.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Young was elected to Congress in 1972 he was the first African-American representative from the Deep South since Reconstruction. President Carter appointed him as ambassador to the United Nations in 1977, making him the first African-American to hold that position. Young later returned to Atlanta, becoming mayor and leading the effort to bring the Olympics to the city.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EChelsea Burks, a business administration major from Ellenwood, Ga., asked what words of affirmation Young would give himself.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis advice: \u0026ldquo;Don\u0026rsquo;t get mad. Get smart.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Students talk with Andrew J. Young during an intimate town hall after the civil rights icon received Georgia Tech\u2019s Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage"}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2018-09-13 21:37:51","changed_gmt":"2018-11-05 16:42:24","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-09-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-09-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"608029":{"id":"608029","type":"image","title":"Ambassador Andrew Young","body":null,"created":"1532378587","gmt_created":"2018-07-23 20:43:07","changed":"1532378587","gmt_changed":"2018-07-23 20:43:07","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231912","name":"08C1004-P23-033.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/08C1004-P23-033.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/08C1004-P23-033.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":769568,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/08C1004-P23-033.jpg?itok=akWwxuvR"}}},"media_ids":["608029"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[{"id":"12395","name":"Ivan Allen Prize for Social Courage"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor media inquiries:\u0026nbsp;Laura Diamond,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}