Campus directors named at Ayers, Valley Street
Gerri Langley announced as the director of the Ayers Campus; Ricky Tillis named director of the Valley Street Campus
Two of Gadsden State’s campuses had new leaders at the helm to kick-off 2022. Gerri Langley was announced as the director of the Ayers Campus in Anniston while Ricky Tillis was named director of the Valley Street Campus in Gadsden. Both received appointments on Jan. 11, 2022.
Both directors got their start at Gadsden State as students. Langley enrolled at Gadsden State in 2001 after graduating from Southside High School. She earned an associate degree in Office Administration on the campus she now directs.
In 2004, Langley earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Jacksonville State University and accepted a full-time position as the clerk in Admissions and Records at Gadsden State. A year later, she was named the College’s transcript evaluator.
In 2017, she received a master’s in Education from the University of West Georgia. In 2018, she became an instructor in the program from which she graduated 15 years earlier. Langley continues to be an Office Administration instructor in addition to her duties as campus director.
Langley serves as the faculty liaison between the Ayers Campus and the community, and she’s a member of the Cardinal Foundation Board of Directors. She and her husband, Dennis, own Langley Automotive and Poppin’ Chics Home Décor. She is a volunteer at HOPE Women’s Services in Anniston, is treasurer and secretary at Unity Point Church and is a member of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce.
Tillis started his educational journey as a carpentry student at Gadsden State’s Valley Street Campus in 1992 after graduating from Gadsden High School. In 1994, he surrendered to his calling to the ministry and enrolled at the Birmingham-Easonian Baptist Bible College. In 1998, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Studies.
While in college, he worked in warehousing and trucking but changed vocations in 1999 when he was hired as a treatment aid at The Bridge, a facility that provides substance use disorder treatment and behavioral rehabilitation for adolescents. Over the next several years, his career progressed to counselor of the Male Adventure Treatment Program, counselor for the alcohol and drug program and, later, program director for the CARE Unit.
Tillis continued his education while working at The Bridge and earned a master’s degree in Biblical Studies in 2001 and a second master’s degree in Religious Education in 2002 from the Birmingham Theological Seminary.
In 2005, he became a full-time minister, a profession he has served in since 1997 beginning at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Glencoe followed by Sunlight Missionary Baptist Church in Eastaboga. He and his wife, Angela, started the Harvest Fellowship Community Church in East Gadsden in 2004. He continues to serve as the church’s pastor.
In 2014, Tillis found himself back at the Valley Street Campus after landing a job with the College’s Physical Plant Department. In November 2020, he was hired as the program advisor for Title III, which is a program designed to enhance the academic programs, fiscal management and physical resources of the Valley Street Campus. He continues to work with Title III students in addition to his role as campus director.
In 2019, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies from Athens State University. He earned a Master of Education with a major in Career and Technical Education and a concentration in leadership from Athens State in July 2022.