U-M Quartet to Participate in Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery
7/13/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football, General, Women's Tennis, Women's Track & Field
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday (July 13) that a group comprised of 100 student-athletes, coaches, administrators, conference staff and other key stakeholders from across the conference will participate in the Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery, July 15-17. The trip is a journey to Selma and Montgomery, Ala., for an immersive and educational experience at a key center of the civil rights movement.
Representing Michigan during the three-day trip are Mazi Smith (football), Jaedan Brown (women's tennis), Briana Nelson (women's track and field alumna) and Abigail Eiler (Assistant Athletic Director, Chief DEI Officer).
The group, which will also include student-athletes, coaches and administrators from the ACC and Pac-12, will participate in a variety of activities including marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack.
"We established the Big Life Series to help further prepare our student-athletes to impact the world beyond their athletic careers," said Big Ten Conference Commissioner Kevin Warren. "Our trip to Selma and Montgomery is a first in a series of trips that our student-athletes, administrators and members of the Big Ten Equality Coalition will take to inspire a meaningful dialogue about racial, social, religious and cultural injustices in our nation. Big Life Series: Selma to Montgomery will empower our Big Ten Conference family to use their voices to drive change in their respective communities."
The trip will begin Friday night (July 15) in Montgomery with Sheyann Webb-Christburg, author and eyewitness of the original Bloody Sunday attack, serving as the keynote speaker and a viewing of an episode of the documentary series "Eyes on the Prize."
The trip continues Saturday (July 16) in Selma at the First Baptist Church, where hundreds of students coordinated by the Dallas County Voters League began their days' long journey from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. The trip continues with a march across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge before the group returns to Montgomery to visit a series of landmarks, museums and learning centers.
In Montgomery, the group will visit 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 will also visit 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.
Saturday evening, trip attendees will hear from EJI Legacy Museum founder and social justice lawyer
Bryan Stevenson before forming small groups to discuss their experiences. The small group debrief sessions will be led by campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion directors.
The trip can be followed on social media by searching the hashtag #B1GLife.
