Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Magazine Cover
Sophie's Cover Design
Um I like how the masthead is sort of a "stamp". I tried to match the fonts the best that I could. It's not the best design, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
Desegregation Cover
I chose this design because Joe said to do a collage, so this is a collage. There is very little additional explanation to the design.
(FYI: Anything Sarah Wormser claims credit for on this design is a lie. Fact.)
Magazine Cover
I like colors. I like the red because it's bright and makes the cover stand out. I was going for a youthful look... probably because that's what my skill-set would allow. Either way, go dawgs.
Cover Design
Here is my cover design. I liked it because the pictures on top eliminated a lot of white space that was there when the title was at the top. I like the lines that add some pop and the fact that the pictures are all equal and easy to see.
magazine cover
I like the idea of a collage cover. I chose to use the photo from graduation as the biggest, because it shows triumph through their journey. I also didnt break the page up perfectly half and half just to mix it up and keep the eye moving.
Magazine Cover
Cover Design
I was inspired by a vintage sweatshirt my best friend bought at the American Thrift Store. I think its clean and classy just like the University of Georgia. Go Dawgs.
Celebrating Courage Cover
I am a sucker for old black and white photographs and nostalgia, in general. That is the reason why I felt compelled to utilize all of the photographs at our disposal. The photos can speak for themselves outside of my limited InDesign abilities. When Hunter and holmes first came to the campus, everything was kind of overwhelming for them, so it seemed like a very "busy" photo collage was a good route to go. That's about as deep as I'm going to get. The bottom line is that I like old photographs and that's why I used all of them. Cheers.
Cover Design
While I was designing this, I was half thinking about the cover and half complaining to Devin that I don't have the creative side of the brain. At all. So this is my futile attempt at a cover design. I used the big picture on the bottom because I liked the arch in the background, but mostly because it was the only one big enough to be displayed that big without being stretched.
This is a Cover and These Are Some Words.
So I love shapes, and all my InDesign designs tend to be really geometric. Thus, all the rectangle-y lines, etc. I could justify it by explaining that the white spaces guides the reader's eye between Hunter, Holmes, and the people who would expel them, a metaphor for their own alienation, but that'd be far too deep for my process.Mostly I just liked the shapes.
Magazine Cover
I chose this design because I wanted to keep it clean and simple. I chose these images because I think they are powerful and portray the feeling that we want. I wanted to show a variety of things involving desegregation and the contrast between Holmes being protected by people in the upper right image to their graduation from the University.
Cover Design
I like crazy collages, but I figured that for the cover of a magazine, I needed to create a bit of order. The pictures overlap, but they are all arranged horizontally--no crazy diagonals or weird shapes. I put the words on the side just to be different.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Out-of-state students speak out
Erin Colvin, junior
City and state: Coronado (San Diego), California
Why UGA: Brutally honest answer: I came to UGA because my mom moved to Georgia after graduation and forced me against my will to go to UGA for the cheap tuition. Politically correct answer: I came to UGA because I wanted to go to a big, out-of-state, division I sports school.
Biggest Difference: The most shocking differences about UGA and the south are that the stereotypes of the south are generally very correct, and people eat SO much fast-food here.
Best Part of UGA: What I really love about UGA is that there are tons of great ways to get involved and meet people. There's literally something for everyone to get involved with, no matter what his or her interests may be.
More or Less Racist: UGA is much more racist than where I came from, which is something I was not expecting before getting here.
Justin Ruth, freshman
City and state: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Why UGA: My family is close by, and my sister attends school here, which made it feel more and more like home with every visit before I decided to attend.
Biggest Difference: People in the south are SO much nicer and more polite and appreciative. It's very warming and welcoming being from out-of-state.
Best Part of UGA: The best part of UGA is by far the people and the campus atmosphere. I love being part of a SEC sports community, especially since I plan to major in Sports Management.
More or Less Racist: I honestly do not see a difference between UGA and the north as far as racism goes.
Brittany Altman, sophomore
City and state: Telluride, Colorado
Why UGA: I wanted a big school in an area with warm weather and an impressive program for broadcast news.
Biggest Difference: The food was definitely the biggest difference from Telluride. The nearest fast-food chain or franchise to my hometown is an hour away.
Best Part of UGA: The friends I have made here are the most amazing friends I have ever had in my life and that has made the distance from home that much easier.
More or Less Racist: I guess UGA and my hometown have the same level of racism but in different ways. In my hometown, more people make racist comments casually. But in Georgia, I have noticed the people who make the same comments are to their core hateful of that group of people. The use of the n-word is the biggest difference I’ve seen. In Telluride, people would say "What's up, nigga" versus "f***ing niggers" in Georgia. Less people in Georgia make racial comments, but the ones that do are saying those comments to be malicious.
Tommy Carroll, senior
City and state: Alexandria, Virginia
Why UGA: My brother was recruited to play baseball at Emory. One weekend when I was visiting him, he had class, and I had nothing to do, so I drove up to Athens and loved it.
Biggest Difference: I was shocked to see how rare it was for kids from the Southeast to leave the Southeast for school. I felt like everyone from my hometown shot-gunned around the country – or at least would have it they could afford it. Southerners love the south.
Best Part of UGA: I love the family atmosphere. I do not consider the football team my favorite part, but rather the friends and family that come together because of it. The Classic City is pretty sweet, also.
More or Less Racist: It is unfair to generalize the entire student body, but as a whole I do think that UGA is more racist. I came from a pretty diverse and progressive town so the comparison is a little unfair. The Southeast in general felt the sting of slavery and segregation more than anywhere in the country, so the tension is understandable. That said, the presence of racism is far from justifiable, as it is anywhere. It was really difficult to get used to.
Evan Silverman, freshman
City and state: Rochester, New York
Why UGA: I came to UGA because it has everything I was looking for in a school: good academics, a nice college town, an awesome social scene, great weather and big-time sports.
Biggest Difference: The most shocking difference is the language. People talk differently than I do and seem more polite.
Best Part of UGA: My favorite thing about UGA is game day.
More or Less Racist: I would say that UGA is probably more racist than where I come from. Maybe that's just because I went to a very diverse high school, but I hear a lot more racist comments here.
Kelsey Montgomery, sophomore
City and state: North Potomac, Maryland
Why UGA: I came to UGA because I wanted an experience in a different, far away state.
Biggest Difference: The southern twang shocked me the most.
Best Part of UGA: I like how diverse Athens is since it’s not all college students.
More or Less Racist: UGA is more racist in my opinion. Race was never an issue at home. Here, I hear more racist jokes here, and, in Greek life, people vocalize that sororities should remain completely white.
Perspective affects progression #2
Race issues continue despite legal desegregation.
Desegregation took place on campus at the University of Georgia 50 years ago, but that doesn’t mean everyone is treated equally.
The world is “still very prejudiced, [some] don’t want to be associated with black people and its not uncommon,” Dr. Elwood Beck said. “It’s the public display of racism which was widely accepted is now not widely accepted. Now what you have is much more private.”
Beck is a sociology professor at the University of Georgia and has studied race relations for many years for his Sociology of the South class.
“The University of Georgia at that period was, not only was it segregated, but it had a different philosophy of how to relate to students,” Beck said. “It was a time of parentis, the idea and notion was that when your parents dropped you off here the university became your parent so they told you where you could go, when you had to be in your dorm, what you could do and a variety of things that if applied to you today you would just find totally and completely unacceptable. “
Beck describes how society has transformed from legal segregation to self-segregation.
“Now you are choosing to be with people that you are comfortable with,” Beck said. “That is not the same as being told you cannot go into a place.”
He said that self-segregation is empowering because people have the choice to sit with people they know they like. This in itself shows a big shift in society.
Since Beck lived through the time of segregation, he sees the difference in society now.
“I’m still amazed. The other day I was walking across on campus and a black guy and a white girl were walking. They were just talking, they weren’t holding hands, they were just talking and God knows what they were talking about,” Beck said. “But what struck me was, my God, 50 years ago he would have been killed. I mean literally he would have been killed.”
This black man would have been killed because it was unacceptable for a black man to walk and talk with a white girl.
Sara Lorusso, 63, was a white student at UGA from 1966-1970. She describes her experiences growing up as positive in regards to race relations because she was sheltered from most of the harassment and racism.
Lorusso remembers ‘colored folks’ moving out of her way when she walked down the sidewalk in her hometown.
She also recalls seeing separate water fountains and bathrooms but it never fazed her because its what she thought that’s the way it was supposed to be.
However, as Lorusso got older, she realized that wasn’t true.
“I heard a lot of terrible things about Martin Luther King Jr. and people who worked with him as they slowly began to work through the south and create the momentum for the Civil Rights Movement,” Lorusso said. “But I can tell you that I personally never had a bad experience through all that. I heard people say bad things; I still hear people say bad things.”
“We were on the progressive side of the [Civil Rights Movement] and I saw it from that angle more than from the negative angle,” Lorusso said. “So it was a very interesting experience, very eye-opening and I feel very grateful to have lived through it. And I think I have a greater appreciation for race relations than those who did not live through it.”
Lorusso saw the people who were in the movement as ‘patriots’ and thinks they made a real difference in this country and what its like now.
However, Lorusso believes there are still a lot of problems in this country and that it’s still segregated in many ways.
“Maybe more economically than racially but it kind of works out to be the same thing,” Lorusso said. “I still think we have a long way to go to being a color-blind society.”
Deanna Heibeck, 20, a biracial journalism student at the UGA, said, “I don’t fit in anywhere. With my white friends, I’m always the token black girl and with my black friends, I’m always the token white girl. Our society definitely isn’t color-blind.”
Both Beck and Lorusso agree that the face of the University is changing because the students have never experienced a truly segregated society.
“My generation remembers what segregation was like, both if you’re black or if you’re white, if you grew up in the south, you knew what segregation was like and can see the change,” Beck said. “For [the new] generation, its part of what they’ve always accepted so there are very little changes that they’ve observed in their lifetime. But yet there’s a monumental change that’s happening in southern society.”
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Story 2
In broad terms, white individuals see progress, while black and multi-cultural individuals see frustration and constant barriers when it comes to race relations. Lee Anne Bell, professor and director of education at Barnard College grew up in the 1960s and always believed that from that time of social turmoil, things would continue to move forward for the better. Bell believes that in some ways a backwards motion has happened in our society and is interested in “finding ways to make genuine dialogue about these issues possible so that collectively we can find ways to move forward,” she says.
Bell has been teaching about racism and other social justice issues since she began teaching and her expertise was something that the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department was very interested in sharing with the students and faculty at UGA. Corey Johnson, an associate professor at UGA, knew about Bell through her book, Storytelling for Social Justice. “Her book is like a bible to me in relation to some of my core values for teaching,” says Johnson, “and social justice is a fundamental core value of our department, so we’re always looking to bring in speakers.”
During her speech, Bell touched on different aspects of her research about race issues. Through this research, she has found that the stories about race are different depending on the individual’s perspective race. Andrew Nelson, a senior at UGA, found her theories interesting, but not eye opening. “I can see the ‘progress’ that white people harp on, but as a black male, I am constantly shown the barriers put before me,” Nelson states. “It’s not a new theory, at least not for black people, but it’s the first time I’ve ever heard it put onto paper and explained so candidly.”
Prior to her research, Bell had uninformed theories on the progress of race relations, however; after her research, Bell changed her mind on the progress of racism in America and began to work toward ways to think and speak about racism in a new way. She began exploring art as a method for unlocking the ‘concealed stories,’ as she’s named them. Her storytelling is centered around a counter story-telling community and includes four classifications of stories: stock, concealed, resistance and emerging/transforming stories.
Storytelling methods, she believes, remove some of the risk behind sharing concealed stories. Johnson agrees that the storytelling is “a great way to start and get individuals to open up.” With these methods, individuals are able to share repressed stories of personal experience or second hand account with the risk and shame removed from the possible repercussions. Instead, the usual backlash that stems from controversial conversations is replaced with healthy conversation and analysis.
One goal of Bell is to build new ‘emerging stories:’ stories that tell the truth of the situation as it is actually happening. Stories that help to “generate new stories for catalyzing our efforts,” she explains. Bell used a quote by Toni Morrison to exemplify how storytelling is going to make a difference in changing the ways racism is viewed:
“Make up a story, narrative is radical; creating us at the very moment it’s being created.”
Thinking Of Ronnie Hogue
Ronnie Hogue would have been an afterthought.
Hogue was just a skinny 18-year-old kid out of the Washington, D.C., area in 1969, but he possessed talents that would take him to far greater heights both individually and as a student-athlete of the University of Georgia.
Basketball was his calling, but Georgia appeared to be out of the question.
The University of Georgia still lagged behind in some areas of racial equality when Hogue graduated from high school. Although Charlayne Hunter-Gault broke the color barrier at the university in 1961 — and subsequently became the first black graduate of Georgia in 1963 — athletics were another issue entirely.
There were no black basketball players at Georgia.
There were no black student-athletes at Georgia.
Ronnie Hogue would change all of that.
“I didn’t look at it like I was black,” Hogue told The Red & Black back in 2006.
But the color of his skin would be the reason he would be looked to as such a monumental figure in the Athletic Association’s history, one that since Hogue’s career has welcomed numerous black student-athletes, coaches and even the Southeastern Conference’s first black athletic director. Hogue, enrolling at Georgia in 1969, became the first black athlete to compete in a major sport for the university.
Since that time, the complexion of Georgia athletics has changed.
“I have been attending Georgia games for as long as I can remember and it’s hard to think of those teams without guys like Garrison Hearst, Knowshon [Moreno], A.J. Green,” said senior Nathan Hall, a football season ticket holder. “Some of the best players to come through here are black, so to even think back to a time when they weren’t allowed to play is crazy. It’s sad, really. We’ve really come a long way, though.”
Georgia basketball in particular mirrored the drastic change that Hogue started 42 years ago.
When he came to the university, Hogue was the only black player on the team. Now, looking at the successful 2010-11 season for Georgia basketball, 10 of the 13 student-athletes on the roster were black.
It is a change that resonates to this day.
The opportunities Ronnie Hogue opened up for future athletes, both academically and athletically, will last long after his scoring numbers and on-the-court accomplishments fade from memory.
“We don’t have any kids here this year who were looked at by Georgia, but next year we might,” North Oconee linebackers coach Will Peters said. “I went to that basketball game [Hogue] was honored at this year, and it just goes to show how far things have come since his time.”
Peters attended the LSU basketball game in Stegeman Coliseum this season in which Hogue was honored at halftime for all of his efforts in the desegregation of the university. Many even believe that one day he will receive the highest athletic honor the Athletic Association has to offer by being accepted in the Ring of Honor.
Regardless, one thing has become a certainty over the last 42 years: Ronnie Hogue will never be an afterthought.
Story 2
Although the University of Georgia has made major leaps in diversity since desegregating, UGA can still only be as diverse as those who apply and as diverse as the state of Georgia itself.
Each undergraduate class at the University of Georgia is more than 70 percent white with only less than 10 percent Black/African American. The data from the UGA Factbook presents alarming numbers surrounding the issue of diversity at UGA and the admissions process regarding ethnicity.
Anyone can access the data about ethnic origin in the UGA Factbook under the chapter: Characteristics of Enrolled Students by Class Fall 2010. In Fall 2010, there were 25,947 undergraduate students enrolled, 20,041 of which identified themselves as white.
The freshman, sophomore, junior and senior classes all have a similar statistical breakdown for each ethnic origin, and no one class shows numbers not comparable to the others. Every class has an overwhelming majority of white students with extremely low enrollment of American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and Multiracial students.
Each class also has more Asians than black students. While the numbers are low in both categories, for the total undergraduate students, there are 249 more Asian students than black students.
“It is important to just take the numbers for what they are,” said Charles Mathies, a research analyst for the Office of Institutional Research.
With all the percentages presented so similarly, a question arises: Exactly what role does ethnicity play in the admissions process for the university?
“There is no quota for any kind of student. In respect of ethnicity, race, or geography,” said Patrick Winter, Senior Associate Director at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. “It seems there is a lot of belief there is a quota in the admissions process for certain types of students, and that is not the case at all.”
More than 10 years ago, the university did utilize both race and gender in the admissions process. Later, UGA made the decision not to use gender, race or legacy status in the admissions process.
Today, when students apply for admission, academic criteria, including grades, course rigors, and test scores, play the largest role in determining acceptance, not race or ethnicity.
Also, the number of students enrolled accurately reflects those who apply.
“It breaks down fairly evenly in any way that you would slice it,” said Winter. “You could look at left-handed students and right-handed students, or however you want to, and it is a pretty even distribution of what percentage of students apply and get admitted.”
When analyzing the data of ethnicity at UGA, the issue arises of who goes to college in the state of Georgia.
“When you have students coming from more affluent families, they are going to attend college at a much higher rate than students coming from low-income families, and the distribution of that is sometimes very much drawn among racial lines,” said Winter.
All of these factors are also greatly affected by the changing population in Georgia. Since the enrollment at UGA reflects those who apply, if the population of the state changes then so will the population of the university.
According to the Wiche Report “Knocking at the College Door”, Georgia has peaked in terms of the number of white high school graduates. The black population is remaining steady, while the Hispanic population is growing.
“If we have a population that is growing or declining in one area or another it will be reflected in the number of students going to college,” said Winter.
The data expressing the ethnicities at the University of Georgia shows an extreme majority of white students, but the students who apply to the university reflect these numbers. This could mean that in the future, a changing population could change the data to represent a larger percentage of minority students.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Breaking the Boundaries of Race through Art
Breaking the Boundaries of Race through Art
Art is what chronicles our history.
Americans measure art and the racial specifications that go along with such chronology as David C. Driskell said at “Tradition Redefined” an exhibition held on February 28, 2011 at the Georgia Museum of Art.
Driskell is a leading authority in African American Art through his work as both a teacher and an artist.
Driskell’s lecture was part of the desegregation events at the University of Georgia to celebrate the 50th anniversary of desegregation.
As displayed through the exhibit, there were talented artists 50 years ago, but thanks to Larry and Brenda Thompson, the collectors for the exhibit, and Dr. Adrienne Childs, the curator, Athens students and visitors finally have the chance to appreciate the African American art that has been at times ignored or kept in a specific box because of its label.
Driskell, who was born in Eatonton, Ga. in 1931, saw “and participated in the whole picture of racial desegregation in the south, particularly in Alabama.” At times, Driskell who was a teacher at Talladega College (who later became a professor at the University of Maryland where the David. C. Driskell Center resides) was on the sidelines of the events, watching people such as UGA alumna Charlayne Hunter-Gault on their “road to freedom.”
“Art is a measure of history,” said Driskell in his opening remarks, “we measure the accomplishments of civilizations namely through their art.”
Art and artists were at times segregated from the art community, which could be assumed. However, leading artist of the time such as Professor Lamar Dodd of UGA, welcomed African American artists such as Driskell to join them in talks as well as in artist associations legitimizing their position and status within the field.
Major advances in African American art developed after the publication of Driskell’s novels which Brenda Thompson said “presented to the art world beautiful images that could not be denied.” Thompson also said that Driskells contributions have changed the involvement of African American art in the art world and that now, more African American artists have been found in museums.
Driskell was not the only one creating positive changes for African American artists. Hale Woodruff also made strides for the African American artist community, similar to that of Hunter-Gault in the educational community, by creating the Atlanta University Art Annuals, a place where African American artists could be certain that their art would be showcased.
Exhibitions such as Woodruff’s were a step towards “making the notion that art should be inclusive” said Driskell. “This is one of the most important ideas that could be made in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of desegregation at this University.”
“A collection such as this, gives an overview of African American art,” said Driskell, “connects our viewing interests over three centuries.”
We also measure race within art, despite the fact that “art knows no racial orientation or ethnic boundaries” said Driskell. “In its origins it remains pure.”
The idea that art does not need to be labeled as black or white, ethnic or not, does not stop it from happening, art still radicalizes events in history.
Driskell pointed out the need “to keep art on the level of human endeavor” and not allow art to be separate because of race, use art a celebration rather than as a categorization.
Americans according to Driskell like to document everything, although sometimes if it is not in writing like to pretend they know nothing about it. But a collection such as “Tradition Redefined,” which should be “studied in depth in order to show the diverse range of artistry presented” makes it difficult to ignore the facts.
When looking at the featured artists such as Woodfruff’s 1945 “The White House” to Hartwell Yeargans’ “The Fold Singer” one can see the historical narrative that Driskell spoke of, the history of not only African Americans, but of America.
“Artists very often move in various directions” said Driskell, “some artists include themselves as the subject” while some create their own language and shown through the chosen art pieces.
Through the art real people are depicted, capturing the moments of their lives. “African American artists very often rely on memory in their work than they do on experimentation with what is in vogue” said Driskell, a statement reaffirmed through the vibrancy and culture that emanates through the spacious exhibition setting.
“I think it’s really great to have a program where you have one of the prominent artists with this important collection hearing their oral history going on” said Patricia Rodewald a visitor from Atlanta. “It doesn’t seem all that unusual, very natural” that an African American exhibit such as this would be happening now, while merely 50 years ago, the idea could have been struck down.
“Formal art transcends race, time and place” said Driskell” “it can be a moving force in our attempt to connect with our past and redefine ourselves within our ideas we are all striving to see.”
Desegregation: Trial Re-enactment
For about an hour in the Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom, it was once again Jan. 6, 1961 and Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were once again fighting for admission into the University of Georgia.
On Feb. 25, the Davenport-Benham Black Law Students Association and the UGA school of law performed a reenactment of the fateful trial that eventually lead to the admission of UGA’s first black students: Hunter and Holmes.
After the fictitious Judge Bootle, played by Ronald L. Carlson (Fuller E. Callaway Chair of Law Emeritus), welcomed the audience to the year 1961 with some historical background, the “trial” began.
The actors were accurately dressed in 60s garb and performed their roles quite well, considering all of the participants were law students.
There was a general shudder amongst the spectators when the word “negro” made its first appearance in the dialogue, but after that, the rest of the “trial” carried on smoothly.
All of the members involved in the reenactment have been working on this project for quite a while. “We came up with the idea for the event last semester and it’s kind of been rolling from fall until now,” said Sherida Jones, who portrayed Hunter in the “trial.”
They somehow managed to cram the original trial, which was four and a half days long, into just under an hour.
“To do it with the punch and conciseness that we did, we had to take a lot of the testimony out,” said Carlson. “This is the first time that anyone has gone to the original trial records in the case and extracted testimony.”
When the trial reenactment concluded, there was a panel discussion featuring some distinguished UGA graduates, a reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Horace T. Ward.
Ward, who was denied admission to UGA’s law school in 1950, played a crucial role in the university’s desegregation.
He reflected on his memories from the trial and said that the whole process was “very tense.”
In 1961, after the actual trial was over, the judge ordered that both students be admitted right at that instant. Ward said, “I was a little afraid for Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes to come down here so quickly.”
Other various members of the panel also offered recollections of their past experiences involving desegregation and discussed about the racial issues that are still going on today.
The general consensus of the discussions as well as the event itself can best be summed up with a quote from Ward. "Things are looking up, but there is still a lot to be done."
Athens Activists Reunited, Reflect.
Segregation kept blacks and whites apart.
Desegregation drove Doc Eldridge and Michael Thurmond together.
Following a screening of the Peabody award-winning film “The Search for Quality Education: Busing,” the pair shared their story:
Both Eldridge and Thurmond had been student council presidents until the dawn of desegregation re-drew the map and brought whites and blacks together.
Thurmond, in particular, was unhappy about the move. At a new school, he’d be just another new student, instead of “head of the class,” which he was guaranteed at Burney-Harris High School.
The pair weren’t thrown together by their differences, however, but their similarities — both loved football; both shared the title of “head of the class.”
In time, the pair became good friends — and that friendship has helped make their story emblematic not just of social turmoil, but positive social change.
Because although Athens-Clarke County had a contentious history with desegregating its schools, when officials did decide to institute a busing plan, it resulted in at least one success.
Some parents refused to stay or change, and withdrew their children to nearby Oconee.
But not Eldridge or Thurmond.
Now the former mayor of Athens and former state Labor Commissioner, respectively, Eldridge and Thurmond have gone on to influence far larger stages than that of the Classic City, but their story remains vital.
“I think it symbolizes how far we’ve come,” said Dr. Cully Clark, Dean of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, “and how far we have left to go.”
“We originally thought we would try and find some people that were featured in the documentary, but that proved to be a little more of a challenge,” said Diane H. Murray, Director of Public Service and Alumni Outreach at Grady, which is coordinating the event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of the university.
“We thought it was a natural fit,” Murray said, referring to the film’s place both in the list of commemorative events and in the university’s extensive archive of Peabody-winning work, overseen by professor and awards director Horace Newcomb.
So Grady reached out to Eldridge and Thurmond.
“They’re both very interesting on their own,” Murray said, “and the two of them together talking about their experiences, we [thought], [would] be very interesting.”
The answer was immediate.
“It was an easy ask,” Murray said.
They were happy to appear and connect with an audience — an important part of the screening and discussion.
“We’ve been really pleased with how the audience has engaged,” Murray said.
Some of the positive reaction may be due, in part, to the documentary’s regional feel: one segment features Athens specifically, with comments from William Tate and Charles McDaniel, among others.
Of course, that was always the hope.
“We chose this documentary, in part, because it features Athens,” Murray said.
However there is more than one part to the issue and side to the struggle.
Although “Busing” was made in 1972, almost 40 years ago, its problems remain a very real part of the landscape of today, Murray said.
“What we’re hoping I people will see how far we’ve come,” she said, “and that we still have a ways to go.”
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