On Saturday night, Vanderbilt basketball players will face off against South Carolina in black Nike jerseys specially made to honor Nashville civil rights leaders. The athletics department says it’s honoring these icons as part of the university’s attempt to bring diversity and inclusion to campus.
Vanderbilt has not always acknowledged the efforts of Nashville civil rights leaders. In 1960, Reverend James Lawson was expelled because of his involvement with the Nashville sit-ins. But this weekend, he and 20 others — including Perry Wallace, Mary Frances Berry and Godfrey Dillard — will be honored during the basketball games. (Not all of the honorees are alive or will be present.)
Athletics director David Williams says this is a way to celebrate Vanderbilt’s athletic diversity on a big stage. He says that athletics department has a very different platform than other sects of campus, and this weekend, it can showcase “what Vanderbilt is about.”
The university has recently shifted its policy related to diversity. Vanderbilt gave began fully celebrating Martin Luther King day in 2011 after sustained protests from black students. And, most recently, the university removed the word “Confederate” in a freshman dorm name after students demanded them to do so.
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