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Three Blue Devils Attend Educational Experience on Social Justice
7/18/2022 11:26:00 AM | Football, Volleyball, Athletics
DURHAM - Duke's Jaylen Coleman (football) and Gracie Johnson (volleyball), along with Michael Howard (managing director/recreation facilities) joined a group of ACC representatives on a trip to Selma and Montgomery, Ala., for a transformational and educational experience on social justice.Â
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The conference announced that in total 48 student-athletes and administrators from all 15 league institutions participated in the experience, which took place from July 15-17, and included an immersive journey to one of the centers of the civil rights movement. The group participated in a variety of activities highlighted by a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack.
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The initiative, conducted in collaboration with the Big Ten and Pac-12, is part of the ACC's commitment to supporting student-athletes through meaningful educational opportunities, including the area of social justice. The trip is part of the league's social-justice platform, ACC UNITE.
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The social justice experience began Friday night in Montgomery with Sheyann Webb-Christburg – author and an in-person eyewitness of the original Bloody Sunday attack – serving as the keynote speaker. The trip continued Saturday in Selma at the First Baptist Church, the headquarters for the Dallas County Voters League, which was the student nonviolent coordination committee. The church earned the name, "The Movement Church," and is where hundreds of students began their days' long journey from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. The trip continued with a march across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge before the group returned to Montgomery to visit a series of landmarks, museums and learning centers.
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In Montgomery, the group visited the Interpretive Center at Alabama State University, a historically Black University (HBCU), to learn more about the profound impact that students had on the civil rights movement. The group also spent time at the Civil Rights Memorial Center, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and the award-winning Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Legacy Museum, which provides a comprehensive overview of America's history of racial injustice – from enslavement to mass incarceration.
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On Saturday evening, EJI Legacy Museum founder and social justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson addressed the group. Following his address, campus diversity, equity and inclusion directors led small group debrief sessions with the student-athletes to discuss the Selma to Montgomery experience.
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All 15 ACC schools conducted a series of introductory virtual meetings prior to traveling to Alabama to discuss the purpose of the trip and to prepare for their experience. Upon returning to campus after the trip, the ACC office will provide tools and opportunities for each attendee to convey their experiences about the trip to their peers.
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ACC UNITE is part of the ACC's Committee for Racial and Social Justice (CORE - Champions of Racial Equity). C.O.R.E was created in June 2020 to support the ACC's commitment to social justice and racial equity. Members of C.O.R.E. include conference office staff members and campus representatives from each of the league's 15 institutions. C.O.R.E.'s mission is to promote and encourage inclusion, racial equity and social justice through education, partnerships, engagement and advocacy.
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About the ACCÂ
The Atlantic Coast Conference, now in its 70th year of competition and 15 members strong, has long enjoyed the reputation as one of the strongest and most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest continue to build upon the cornerstones on which the league was founded in 1953 with a consistent balance of academics, athletics and integrity. The ACC currently sponsors 27 NCAA sports – 14 for women and 13 for men – with member institutions located in 10 states. Women's gymnastics will become the league's 28th sponsored sport in the 2023-24 academic year. In August 2019, ESPN and the ACC partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports and league-wide original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow @theACC on Twitter and on Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).
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#GoDukeÂ
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The conference announced that in total 48 student-athletes and administrators from all 15 league institutions participated in the experience, which took place from July 15-17, and included an immersive journey to one of the centers of the civil rights movement. The group participated in a variety of activities highlighted by a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack.
Â
The initiative, conducted in collaboration with the Big Ten and Pac-12, is part of the ACC's commitment to supporting student-athletes through meaningful educational opportunities, including the area of social justice. The trip is part of the league's social-justice platform, ACC UNITE.
 Â
The social justice experience began Friday night in Montgomery with Sheyann Webb-Christburg – author and an in-person eyewitness of the original Bloody Sunday attack – serving as the keynote speaker. The trip continued Saturday in Selma at the First Baptist Church, the headquarters for the Dallas County Voters League, which was the student nonviolent coordination committee. The church earned the name, "The Movement Church," and is where hundreds of students began their days' long journey from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. The trip continued with a march across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge before the group returned to Montgomery to visit a series of landmarks, museums and learning centers.
Â
In Montgomery, the group visited the Interpretive Center at Alabama State University, a historically Black University (HBCU), to learn more about the profound impact that students had on the civil rights movement. The group also spent time at the Civil Rights Memorial Center, the Alabama Department of Archives and History, and the award-winning Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Legacy Museum, which provides a comprehensive overview of America's history of racial injustice – from enslavement to mass incarceration.
Â
On Saturday evening, EJI Legacy Museum founder and social justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson addressed the group. Following his address, campus diversity, equity and inclusion directors led small group debrief sessions with the student-athletes to discuss the Selma to Montgomery experience.
Â
All 15 ACC schools conducted a series of introductory virtual meetings prior to traveling to Alabama to discuss the purpose of the trip and to prepare for their experience. Upon returning to campus after the trip, the ACC office will provide tools and opportunities for each attendee to convey their experiences about the trip to their peers.
Â
ACC UNITE is part of the ACC's Committee for Racial and Social Justice (CORE - Champions of Racial Equity). C.O.R.E was created in June 2020 to support the ACC's commitment to social justice and racial equity. Members of C.O.R.E. include conference office staff members and campus representatives from each of the league's 15 institutions. C.O.R.E.'s mission is to promote and encourage inclusion, racial equity and social justice through education, partnerships, engagement and advocacy.
Â
About the ACCÂ
The Atlantic Coast Conference, now in its 70th year of competition and 15 members strong, has long enjoyed the reputation as one of the strongest and most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest continue to build upon the cornerstones on which the league was founded in 1953 with a consistent balance of academics, athletics and integrity. The ACC currently sponsors 27 NCAA sports – 14 for women and 13 for men – with member institutions located in 10 states. Women's gymnastics will become the league's 28th sponsored sport in the 2023-24 academic year. In August 2019, ESPN and the ACC partnered to launch ACC Network (ACCN), a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports and league-wide original programming. For more information, visit theACC.com and follow @theACC on Twitter and on Facebook (facebook.com/theACC).
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#GoDukeÂ
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