Approximately 45 UW-Madison students will travel Wednesday to Selma, Ala. to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Right to Vote and the Bridge Crossing Jubilee.
Students are making this four-day trip for many personal reasons, but their ultimate goal is to learn about civil rights history and issues of race and equality, volunteer at the celebration, and to bring their experiences back to the campus.
This year's trip is being organized by students from the Engineering Projects in the Community class in collaboration with the Asian Pacific American Council, Diversity in Education Program and the Multicultural Student Coalition. Students in the EPICS class have been working closely with the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute by designing its website.
Past trips to Selma have included helping build the Slavery and Civil War Museum.
This trip is different, however.
\This is really the first time where we've opened it up to the students,"" said Stephanie King, who instructs the EPICS students focused on the NVRMI. Some seats were reserved for students in the groups sponsoring the trip and those in the EPICS class, but the remaining spots were open to the student body.
""Because there [are] so many different topics that are touched on, it really appeals to students from a broad range of backgrounds,"" King said.
This event recognizes Bloody Sunday, the March 1, 1965 protest in Selma during which Alabama state troopers assaulted some 600 demonstrators. It also celebrates the signing of the Voting Rights Act and the march from Selma to Montgomery. Other topics discussed included the history of race relations, social justice and music.
""I'm looking forward to getting to know people of that time instead of reading it out of a book,"" UW-Madison junior Maima Metzger said. She said attending the trip would offer a firsthand look and a better understanding of history.
UW-Madison students will join approximately 50,000 others at the celebration, and will hear from speakers like Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King III. Entertainment for the converence includes musicians India.Arie and Erykah Badu.
Matt Blanton, a UW-Madison graduate student, is going on the trip to ""be a part of it.""
""I spend a lot of time studying the south,"" Blanton said. ""It would be silly to pass up an opportunity to see what we're studying.""
Students attending the ""Madison to Selma Project"" hope to share their experiences with other students on campus through the Brownbag Lunch series and information made available online.
They also want to plan a reunion and a campus celebration for Wisconsin survivors who participated in the civil rights movement and marched for the right to vote.
