Georgia Tech's CEISMC Gazette - February 2005

Calvin Mackie fires up Atlanta area high school students
by Andrew Kerr
February 2005

Like a preacher on fire, Dr. Calvin Mackie held a ballroom of Atlanta high school students in rapt attention on January 13, 2005 as he laid down his philosophy of life. His message in a nutshell: education is the key to guaranteeing a life replete with positive choices—but "lions" lurk in the shadows, awaiting the opportunity to kill those dreams. Those lions, Dr. Mackie argued, might come in the form of neighborhood drug dealers, foolish boyfriends, hip-hop music—even one's own parents.

Heavy stuff for sure, but Dr. Mackie wove knowing humor into his straight talk, which prevented the experience from turning into a "scared stiff" horror show. He also just happens to have a successful actor brother (Anthony Mackie, who recently appeared in the critically-lauded 8 Mile and Million Dollar Baby), which no doubt endeared him even more to the crowd of high schoolers.

The students in attendance came from West Lake, Tri Cities, Cedar Grove, Miller Grove, Marietta, and Decatur High School. Throughout Dr. Mackie's lecture they reacted enthusiastically to his wit and observations, punctuating the air with affirmations of "That's right!" and "Uh-huh!" At the end of his performance they had the opportunity to ask him questions, and the first was, "Can I have your autograph?" Clearly he had won some fans.

One of the interesting aspects of Dr. Mackie's presentation was that it was more than just another rosy "education is the key to success" speech. Employing a vivid motif of lions versus cheetahs, wherein the positive members of society were likened to cheetahs running from the negative elements of society (the lions), he went head to head with elements of today's popular culture, including hip-hop music (he says he would like to skewer hip-hop in a book down the road). He also spoke of parents who might try to discourage their children from pursuing a college education. At times this was grim stuff, but such brutal honesty held the attention of all. His message came through.

He described to the audience his own childhood, one characterized by poor choices borne out of naïveté—until he was, in a sense, "saved" by an admissions officer at Morehouse College willing to take a chance on him. Later, he went on to earn a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in the same from Georgia Tech.

Dr. Mackie is more than "just" a motivational speaker. He is also a tenured associate professor of mechanical engineering at Tulane University, New Orleans; and was formerly an instructor of mathematics at Morehouse College.

Dr. Mackie was invited to speak by Georgia Tech's Focus program. As a Tech graduate himself, he has presented his message to students on Tech campus on an annual basis.

Dr. Mackie's website is here: http://www.channelzro.com/home.html.

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