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The job well done is the one nobody notices. At least that鈥檚 what Charlie Dickerson believes. But to those who know, this man of few words鈥揵ut plenty of action鈥搃s instrumental to the Fabric of AU.
By: Andrew J. Beckner
Charlie Dickerson has worked in property management long enough to know that seeing the beam of a flashlight bouncing in the dark, amid a rainstorm at 2 a.m., is a bad sign. And that鈥檚 what Charlie was doing on that night a year-and-a-half ago: looking for signs. Are there trees down? Has campus lost power? Are the roads clear? These are the things he looks for when there鈥檚 a storm. These are the things he looks for when there isn鈥檛 a storm. Whether it鈥檚 2 p.m. or 2 a.m., Charlie is 91福利社鈥檚 sentry.
From his post inside a pickup truck, cruising slowly on Kingsley Road, there was that bouncing light鈥� coming from the backyard of the President鈥檚 House. 鈥淚 was worried,鈥� Charlie said. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥業 need to see if they鈥檙e alright.鈥欌�� Turns out, the house was fine, a discovery already made by the man holding the flashlight: 91福利社 President Evans Whitaker.
鈥淚 made my way over to where he was. The power was out, and there was a tree blocking the driveway. But we realized there wasn鈥檛 anything we needed to take care of at the house. So, he said, 鈥榃ell, I better let you get back to it and check out the rest of the campus,鈥欌�� Charlie said. But as the two men parted ways, Charlie heard a snap.
That snap was the sound of President Whitaker鈥檚 ankle. In the dark, on muddy ground, he鈥檇 twisted it so badly, both men feared it was broken. Charlie didn鈥檛 bother to call 911. He got a chainsaw out of his truck, cut up the tree blocking the driveway, then helped the President get in the passenger seat. Just a few minutes later, Dr. Whitaker was being treated in the emergency room.
You can call Charlie Dickerson many things. A sentry. An ambulance driver. An arborist. Associate vice president for facilities and campus safety. All are accurate. Just call him The Fixer.
Call him that, and Director of Campus Safety Eddie Aman鈥攐ne of Charlie鈥檚 closest colleagues鈥攎ight bristle. 鈥�(Charlie) is a man of character and great integrity. He鈥檚 just a good Christian man,鈥� Aman said. Yet how do you explain how Charlie Dickerson gets creative with the truth? Because when you ask him how many hours he works per week, this is what he says: 鈥淚t ebbs and flows. Fifty is kind of the baseline. That鈥檚 a typical week.鈥�
But here鈥檚 what he doesn鈥檛 tell you: for Charlie and his team, there is no such thing as a typical week. 鈥淭here have been so many times when I鈥檝e said, 鈥楥harlie, you deserve a day off. You should take a day off,鈥欌�� said Jody Bryant. As associate vice president of guest and auxiliary services, she works as closely with Charlie and his team as anyone. She sees the work he puts in and the 24/7 mentality he brings as a lead-by-example guy.
鈥淗e鈥檒l look me dead in the eye and tell me, 鈥楤ut I want to be here. I want to be a part of it all. I want to be a part of the solution,鈥欌�� Bryant said. That鈥檚 what facilities and maintenance workers do: they find solutions. Their hands, ever hidden, prop up a foundation that would crack without them. That鈥檚 Charlie Dickerson鈥檚 calling, one he鈥檚 been answering for years.
He grew up just south of Anderson in the little town of Starr, South Carolina. He didn鈥檛 have to go far to find his first role in higher education. Back in 2001, he joined Erskine College in nearby Abbeville County as an HVAC technician. Over the next 13 years, he moved up to a supervisory role before becoming assistant director of facilities. In that time鈥攁nd especially once Erskine began working with Aramark, an outside vendor, to handle its physical plant operations鈥攈e learned the value of collaboration. With Aramark, Charlie was responsible for helping onboard other organizations around the region.
鈥淚 really learned a lot from the Aramark Corporation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had the opportunity to start up a lot of accounts with different college locations. It gave me a wide view of how other schools do work. Aramark has a robust training program that I took advantage of. It allowed me to be diverse in how I manage properties.鈥�
There comes a point in any career where you hit a wall. That happened to Charlie when his career with Aramark plateaued around the same time 91福利社 was looking for someone to fill the role of physical plant director. It was AU. It was near his hometown. It was a chance at advancement. Three wins. 鈥淚 always had Anderson on my bucket list. I thought, 鈥楬ey, if there ever was an opportunity I would want to find, it would be at Anderson.鈥欌��
Charlie took the job in 2014 and moved up to executive director just two years later. And, in 2023, he became the University鈥檚 first associate vice president for facilities and campus safety.
He dismisses any talk that he deserves it. 鈥淚 mean, it鈥檚 nice to have received a title. I just always felt like if I do my job, if I give everything that I can, natural transitions just happen. There are things that come with titles that help me do my job better,鈥� he said.
That鈥檚 classic Charlie Dickerson. It鈥檚 not a title. It鈥檚 a tool to make him better at what he does. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the ultimate go-getter,鈥� Bryant said. 鈥淲hat doesn鈥檛 he do? He saves us all.鈥�
鈥淲ithout him, I don鈥檛 know that we could do what we do for students in the residence halls or anything else, really. He takes care of all of us.鈥�
Jon Gropp
Associate Vice President for Student Development & Dean of Students
鈥淚 get a lot of the recognition for the work,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he truth is, it鈥檚 those other leaders that make all that happen.鈥� There are a lot of them. When you take into account Trojan Transit drivers, Campus Safety officers and dozens of contractors, Charlie is ultimately responsible for the work of about 100 people. They are the men and women who build, inspect and repair 91福利社 facilities 鈥攁nd, of course, those who protect everyone on campus from harm.
鈥淢y job is to set the tone with all the people that work with me. It鈥檚 always a positive and helpful tone, I think. I have to keep a positive attitude, a can-do attitude. I think that (attitude) blends through all the employees,鈥� Charlie said.
That positive attitude doesn鈥檛 go unnoticed. Jeff Payton sees it daily in his role as AU鈥檚 physical plant director and as a member of Charlie鈥檚 leadership team. 鈥淗e鈥檚 just a super good boss, a super good guy to work for,鈥� Payton said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 always thinking of how to make things better for any and everything on campus. He wants to do what鈥檚 right for the students, for the staff, for the faculty and for his guys. He鈥檚 never idle. I鈥檒l put it that way.鈥�
Not even at 2 a.m. during a dangerous storm, as President Whitaker witnessed. Turns out, his ankle wasn鈥檛 broken鈥攋ust badly sprained. Just imagine what would have happened if Charlie hadn鈥檛 been there? It鈥檚 something First Lady Diane Whitaker doesn鈥檛 want to contemplate.
鈥淐harlie does not stop,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e never asks for anything for himself. He鈥檚 always looking out for his team and for everyone else. Anything and everything.鈥�
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