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University of Minnesota Athletics
Black History Month: Judge Dickson
2/17/2020 8:44:00 AM | Football
Judge Allen Dickson earned three varsity letters with the Gopher football team from 1959-1961. As a halfback for the Gophers, Dickson was a key player in the 1960 team that won the Big Ten title and the national championship. Dickson excelled in the classroom as well, when he earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and a Second-Team Academic All-America selection in 1961. Dickson's favorite Gopher memories are the two trips his Gopher football team took to the Rose Bowl. Dickson's most fond memories of his time at the University of Minnesota are all of the wonderful friends that he made. Throughout the years, Dickson says that his relationships with teammates and friends from Minnesota have grown.
Dickson's advice for student-athletes is to enjoy every minute of their time as a Gopher. He encourages student-athletes to not be afraid, take risks, and seize the opportunity to get involved in something out of their comfort zone. Dickson's time as a Gopher was instrumental to his future success. He says his college years provided him a strong base of experiences with triumph and adversity that helped him throughout his life.
Judge Dickson wants to remind student-athletes to keep a positive mindset as they go through their competition seasons, classes, and in life beyond college athletics, saying, "if you take on each challenge with a smile and say "It is possible. I'm gonna do it" then you will have a very fruitful life."
What does Black History Month mean to you?
Black History Month is a time to remember all those that came before me and did not have a very easy time. I always think of my parents when I think about those that had to fight to even have access to the same opportunities that other people had, just because of the color of their skin. For example, my mother only had the opportunity to go to school until the third grade. She did not have the money, which was five cents a week at the time, to pay to go to school. While I was in college, my mother would write letters to me to practice her English and her writing skills. In fact, the same day that I graduated from law school, my mother earned her GED. That day was so special to me because it showed me how much she struggled and sacrificed for me to have better opportunities. Born in Luverne, Alabama, on the same lands where slavery took place, I felt the effects of segregation and racial discrimination. Black History Month is a time that reminds me just how much my parents and all those before me had to struggle and fight to improve the future for me and how we need to appreciate that and how far we've come, while continuing to improve and move forward.