{"id":32602,"date":"2017-03-24T12:07:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T16:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=32602"},"modified":"2017-03-24T16:00:11","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T20:00:11","slug":"spring-break-y-trips-immerse-students-history-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/spring-break-y-trips-immerse-students-history-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring break Y-Trips immerse students in history and service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University students participated in four Y-Trips over spring break<\/a> March 4-12. The trips were sponsored by Y-Serve <\/a>(formerly known as\u00a0Young People\u2019s Christian Association), a program of EMU Campus Ministries<\/a>. Y-Serve\/YPCA is EMU’s longest running student organization [learn more about its history and the name change here<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Here’s a wrap-up from two groups. Be sure to check out the photo album below as well.<\/p>\n

Civil Rights Tour<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The second annual Civil Rights Tour brought 10 travelers into the heart of the American South, with the highlight being present at the 52nd anniversary of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River in Selma, said co-leader and Black Student Union<\/a> co-president Oksana Kittrell.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tae Dews (left), with Oksana Kittrell and advisor Celeste Thomas (right) led a tour of significant sites in the civil rights history of the United States. (Photos contributed by Nzar Sharif.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe were able to attend a rally in Montgomery Alabama about voting rights and we met the daughter of white civil rights martyr Viola Lizzuo, as well as march participant Joanne Bland.”<\/p>\n

Kittrell recounted that Bland told the group, “We did not go out there expecting to make history. We went out there expecting to make things right.”<\/p>\n

One personal learning from the trip, she said, was that \u201cyou should always stand up for what is right. The things that may seem small could make a big impact one day on an entire people simply because\u00a0you chose to stand up for what is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second year that Kittrell has joined the tour, along with BSU co-president Tae Dews and advisor Celeste Thomas<\/a>. They were joined by Cameron White, Nzar Sharif, Shirley Steward- Jones, Rebecca Cardwell, Thabita Kalunga, Keyri Lopez-Godoy and Fibi Souleymane.<\/p>\n

The tour visited<\/p>\n