Keaton Dickinson was a junior in high school when an armed robber ran through campus, sending her Seattle school into lockdown and putting Dickinson in fear for her life. Since it was lunchtime, Dickinson knew her friends were stuck outside the building and couldn’t get in, while she felt trapped inside and couldn’t get out.
“I had no idea if I was in danger or if my friends were,” Dickinson said. “The real fear that we all experienced is something that I’ll never forget.”
Thankfully, no one was hurt. But the shocking incident was a life-changing moment for Dickinson – one that would motivate her to get involved in public policy. She later started a Student’s Demand Action chapter at her high school, advocating for gun control legislation. She testified before Washington state lawmakers, who ultimately passed a bill she supported to create the Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention.
“It was very meaningful to be able to take a negative experience and turn it into something positive that will hopefully help people for generations in Washington state,” Dickinson said.
Not bad for a high schooler.
Four years later, Dickinson is the 2024 valedictorian for the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. She will deliver a speech to 6,000 classmates and their families during the May 10 commencement ceremony. And the soon-to-be college graduate remains as motivated as ever to make a difference in the world, especially in housing.
“The Price School has given me the resources and the opportunities to make some tangible change in the housing crisis,” Dickinson said.
A passion for affordable housing
When Dickinson moved to Los Angeles to study at USC, she was shocked to see the city’s housing crisis. She noticed a stark contrast between her comfortable life at a prestigious university and the lives of her neighbors sleeping on the streets.
Much like the gun scare at her high school, witnessing homelessness motivated her to create change. She decided to pursue a minor in Real Estate Development, in addition to her Bachelor of Science in Public Policy.
Since then, she’s studied housing from the inside and out. She covers the housing beat as a reporter for USC’s student newspaper, the Daily Trojan; interns at STS Construction, an affordable housing developer; and underwrites projects at Parkview Financial, a lender to real estate developers.
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Find Out MoreAt STS, she’s worked on housing projects that accept Section 8 vouchers, a federal program that helps low-income and vulnerable populations afford housing. Those vouchers allow the firm to get unhoused individuals, many of them military veterans, into housing immediately.
“It’s really wonderful to see how their lives have done a complete 180 after receiving housing, after moving into our buildings,” Dickinson said.
Mark Sprague, an adjunct real estate professor, said Dickinson is a well-rounded student with a high combination of likeability and capability. He recalled Dickinson helping her fellow students after Sprague added her to a group project that was having difficulties.
“The struggling group had no idea who Keaton was or how great she is,” Sprague said. “I told the group that this was like adding LeBron James in NBA free agency. When the project was over and they saw how much Keaton helped them, they then understood what I meant.”
Dickinson is mulling over a few job offers but wants to continue working in housing post-graduation.
“Housing is a supply and demand problem,” Dickinson said. “While affordable housing is incredibly effective in helping people gain stability and get into housing, anything within the real estate field is going to be adding supply and therefore helping the crisis. That’s really where I’m looking.”
Over the course of her young career, Dickinson has already crossed paths with prominent politicians. In addition to testifying before Washington state lawmakers, she delivered a speech commemorating the Columbine High School mass shooting alongside Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. She later interviewed Durkan for a project on youth homelessness.
A message of resilience
This won’t be Dickinson’s first commencement speech. When she graduated West Seattle High School, she delivered the commencement address – albeit virtually, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dealing with a global pandemic, the economic fall out, and U.S. political strife is a testament to the 2024 class’ resilience, Dickinson said. That will be a key part of her speech to fellow USC Price School students.
“It’s a tough time, but I think the class of 2024 will make it through this just like we always have,” Dickinson said. “I think we’ll have to lean on each other a little more, but we’re used to doing that as a Trojan family.”
Dickinson has been in the Trojan family since birth. Like Dickinson, her father graduated from USC on an Associates Scholarship. She grew up watching Trojan football games with her dad.
“This school quite literally lifted my father out of poverty,” Dickinson said. “I’m so honored to follow in his footsteps and to share this experience with him.”
