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Atlanta, GA | Posted: January 30, 2017
Annette Filliat
Communications Manager
Institute Diversity
annette.filliat@gatech.edu
Summary Sentence:
During the weekend commemorating the life and inspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 76 students and 24 faculty and staff from Georgia Tech traveled to Washington, D.C., to tour several civil rights sites.
Full Summary:
No summary paragraph submitted.
Civil Rights Tour: Alexander Pegues at the Washington Monument
Civil Rights Tour: Khadijah Boles at the King Memorial 
Civil Rights Tour: TJ Funso at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Civil Rights Tour: Georgia Tech Students, Faculty, and Staff at the King MemorialDuring the weekend commemorating the life and inspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 76 students and 24 faculty and staff from Georgia Tech traveled to Washington, D.C., to tour several civil rights sites. This tour is part of the Institute’s MLK Celebration, an ambitious slate of educational programs, arts and cultural performances, and service opportunities to encourage active participation from the campus and Atlanta community.
Students, faculty, and staff departed in charter buses on the night of January 12 to visit museums and memorials over the next two days, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the King Memorial, National Mall, National Museum of the American Indian, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Diversity Programs Stephanie Ray reflected on why Georgia Tech’s MLK Student Board organized the civil rights tour in D.C.: “We followed the life of Dr. King. After leading civil rights trips in Montgomery, Ala. in 2012 and Birmingham, Ala. in 2013, the next goal was to end our tour by visiting the King Memorial and National Museum of African American History and Culture in our nation’s capital.”
Here is what student participants said about their experiences during the civil rights tour:
“I wanted to experience the history and culture of Africans before being brought to America. I also wanted to learn more about the Native American culture beyond what is presented in history books.”
– Alexander Pegues, undergraduate student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
“The National Museum of African American History and Culture, hands down. From the photos to the interactive learning, it was beautifully designed and presented. The experience was more than you could imagine.”
– Khadijah Boles, undergraduate student in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
“For us, as a people, to progress, we need to come together as one. We also need to make education available to everyone, especially our youth. I plan to start programs for youth that I didn’t have in school but was blessed to have family who taught me.”
– Khadijah Boles, undergraduate student in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
“I saw the triumph of the human spirit over oppression. I apply that triumph to my own daily small victories.”
– TJ Funso, undergraduate student in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Assistant Professor Jennifer Glass also shared her experiences on the civil rights tour at www.storify.com/jenniglass/gt-civil-rights-tour-of-dc.
This year’s tour was sponsored by the College of Engineering, College of Sciences, Department of Housing, Division of Student Life, Institute Diversity, LGBTQIA Resource Center, Office of Student Diversity Programs, and Parent’s Fund for Student Life and Leadership. To learn more about the civil rights tour and Georgia Tech’s MLK Celebration, visit www.diversity.gatech.edu/mlk-celebration.
