I am the product of the South, a place that struggles with its past and thus its future.
In a little more than a month, I will lead twenty students to the American South on a weeklong spring break trip, “Northfield to Selma,” to explore key places and events in the Civil Rights movement in the U.S., including the Frederick Douglass House, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
The trip will allow students to encounter one of the most significant eras in the history and culture of our nation through national museums and monuments. The objective is to link this history with social struggles that exist today so students can imagine ways to participate thoughtfully in the ongoing movement for equality and social change.
We will also travel to the Wall of Tolerance, the Civil Rights Memorial Center, and the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. As we head to Selma and later to Birmingham, we will visit the Edmund Pettis Bridge, the Brown Chapel AME Church and the 16th Street Baptist Church. Finally, we will make our way to the National Civil Rights Museum/Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
It is vitally important to understand history more fully and to engage in an area that many find difficult to do so. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Carolyn
Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
Carolyn H. Livingston