NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Nashville middle school will be named for the late Judge Richard H. Dinkins after a unanimous vote last night by the Metro Nashville Board of Education. The Board voted to rename Brick Church Middle School for Dinkins, who had a profound impact on Metro Nashville Public Schools as the lead attorney in a long-running school desegregation case that had led to nearly three decades of court supervision of the district before he helped settle it in 1998.
“This school will now move forward into the future bearing the name of a man who made equitable access to high-quality education one of the great causes of his life and career,” Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle said. “Judge Richard H. Dinkins Middle School has a wonderful ring to it. I can think of no better way to honor Judge Dinkins than by naming one of our schools of excellence for him.”
Dinkins later became the first Black judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals in 2008 and served with distinction until his retirement in 2022, hearing thousands of cases and writing hundreds of opinions. He had previously served as a Davidson County Chancery Court chancellor from 2003 to 2008.
Judge Dinkins, who died in 2023 at the age of 71, found his passion for civil rights and helping others as a 10-year-old boy after he and his family met the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He took on numerous high-profile civil rights, education, and employment cases in his career, including as the cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
“We are honored to celebrate the legacy of Judge Dinkins, who set a high standard of leadership and integrity in both the legal profession and our community,” said Board Chair Freda Player. “We would not be here today without his historic contributions toward the desegregation of Nashville schools and his lasting impact on our continued success.”
The renaming will take effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year. The middle school is part of the Whites Creek Cluster and came back onto the roster of district-run schools in the summer of 2024 after years as a charter school.
