Georgia Perimeter students enjoy the baseball game, which the Braves won 3-2 in 11 innings. (photo by Leita Cowart)
GPC student Akilah Bethea is also a concessions worker at Braves games. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Georgia Perimeter students display 50th banner on celebratory walk around Turner Field. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Former Atlanta Braves player Brian Jordan spoke to GPC attendees at a special pre-game celebratory event. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Charlene Bowden signs the 50th banner while her grandson enjoys game-day fare of a hot dog. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Former Braves outfielder Brian Jordan interacts with Georgia Perimeter students at his pre-game talk. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Alumna Scherrie Robertson and student Victoria Kelly take photos by GPC 50th anniversary banner. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Wanda Grimas-Blandford, a business administration alumna, signs the anniversary banner. (photo by Leita Cowart)
GPC faculty, staff, students and alumni walk around Braves' baseball field prior to May 23 game. (photo by Leita Cowart)
Georgia Perimeter marks half-century birthday
1964 was a pivotal year in metro Atlanta. DeKalb College—now Georgia Perimeter College—opened its doors, started offering classes and gave hope to those seeking to further their education for a nominal fee. Also in 1964, the Milwaukee Braves decided to move to Atlanta, creating a legacy in baseball and delighting fans across the south.
On Saturday, May 23, GPC students, alumni, faculty and staff celebrated the 50th anniversary of the college’s Dedication Day. Exactly 50 years after the college’s official dedication in 1965, the Georgia Perimeter community gathered at Turner Field to celebrate.
“I knew the Braves would be celebrating 50 years in Atlanta and thought it might be a good tie-in,” said Jennifer Jenkins, an alumna who is GPC's production manager for Fine Arts and also serves on the 50th anniversary committee. “I proposed it last fall once I saw the Braves schedule included a home game that day. I knew it would be hard to plan a standalone event as it was Memorial Day weekend.”
As part of the celebration, attendees were welcomed by former Braves player Brian Jordan, who spoke about leadership, serving the community and his professional football and baseball career. Jordan posed for photos and signed autographs just before attendees lined up to parade around the field.
“Make sure education is number one because that can never be taken away from you,” Jordan told the audience.
After the parade, fans took their seats for the main afternoon attraction, the Atlanta Braves vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. With the sun on their brows and the smell of hot dogs in the air, GPC fans settled in for an afternoon of baseball. After several innings of no activity for the Braves, Atlanta evened the score in the fifth inning after trailing by two runs. A series of double plays by the Braves kept them in the game and going for extra innings.
Finally, 11th inning excitement had GPC fans standing on their feet as Braves rookie Jace Peterson had a walk-off single to lead the Braves to victory, 3-2.
Georgia Perimeter chemistry major Mohammad Hassan, a native of Bangladesh, attended the game and particularly enjoyed the presentations put on by the Braves honoring Memorial Day and veterans. “To me as a foreigner, it made me really happy to see how the USA has so much respect for the military,” he said.
But, he added, the baseball game’s ending was the most exciting part of the day.
“It’s the ending that I really wanted to see … very close, back and forth. It was the ending I was looking for, and I’m really glad it happened,” said Hassan.