UA Wesley Foundation to Host Alternative Spring Break

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Wesley Foundation will host an alternative spring break program on “The Civil Rights Experience in Alabama” for 11 students from Western Illinois University (WIU) March 7-12.

The week will focus on the civil rights movement and students will visit various places in Alabama, including Selma, Montgomery, Tuskegee, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. The alternative spring break schedule includes the following events for UA and WIU students:

• Sunday in Selma — A re-enactment event of the bridge crossing, “Bridge Crossing Jubilee 2004,” will take place along with a meeting with the Washington Congressional delegation headed by Rep. John Lewis.
• Monday in Montgomery — Participants will get to visit Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, a Martin Luther King parsonage, along with a meeting on the Capitol steps with a Congressional delegation that will remember the end of the Civil Rights march from Selma. A visit to the Civil Rights Memorial, meeting at Southern Poverty Law Center, and a visit to the Rosa Parks Museum are also scheduled.
• Tuesday in Tuskegee — Students will meet Fred Gray, a veteran Civil Rights attorney who represented Rosa Parks, as well as a visit to the Multi-Cultural Center and the Airmen Museum.
• Wednesday in Birmingham — A morning prayer session at the 16th Street Baptist Church and a scheduled meeting with Carolyn McKinstry, who was very active in the Civil Rights Movement as a teenager. A lunch will take place at the Kelly Ingram Park and a tour of the Civil Rights Institute.
• Thursday in Tuscaloosa — A lunch featuring Dr. Cully Clark, dean of the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences and author of “Stand in the School House Door,” is scheduled as well as a visit to Foster Auditorium.

For more information, contact Rev. Ken Smith at the Wesley Foundation, 205/758-3502.