ACC to Embark on Third Annual Unity Tour in Charleston, South Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced plans for the league’s 2024 Unity Tour, which will be held July 11-14 in historic Charleston, South Carolina.
The tour is part of the ACC’s commitment to supporting student-athletes through meaningful educational opportunities, including in the area of social justice. This annual event is a component of the league’s social justice platform, ACC UNITE. This year, the ACC Unity Tour is in collaboration with Ally and Gatorade – official sponsors of the ACC and supporters of league initiatives. In addition, the Capital One Orange Bowl, which continues to be a significant league partner, is once again supporting the event as they have since its inception.
“The annual ACC Unity Tour is an event that provides valuable educational opportunities for our student-athletes and school administrators in areas of social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “This event is part of ACC UNITE’s ongoing efforts, and we appreciate the support from our terrific partners in Ally, Gatorade, and the Capital One Orange Bowl as they join us in the meaningful initiative. We are extremely proud of ACC UNITE’s ongoing efforts and our commitment in this extremely important area will remain a priority.”
The theme of the tour is Journey of Resilience: Cultivating History through Community, Culture, and Cuisine. Participants of this tour will engage in an immersive educational experience in “The Holy City.” Among the planned activities, the attendees will visit key sites throughout the city such as the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, the International African American Museum and the McLeod Plantation Historic Site. The trip will be highlighted with a Gullah Geechee Tour, which offers a one-of-a-kind experience for locals, tourists, and anyone interested in true slave history in Charleston.
One of the many significant activities during this year’s Unity Tour will be the opportunity to visit Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church – the oldest black church in the southern United States. On June 17, 2015, it was the site of the Charleston church massacre where nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study at the church. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at a place of worship in U.S. history and it remains the deadliest mass shooting in South Carolina history.
To start the tour, Boston College men’s basketball head coach Earl Grant will welcome and introduce the group to Charleston. A native of North Charleston, Grant was the head coach at the College of Charleston during the Charleston church shooting.
The 2024 ACC Unity Tour will bring together the ACC’s 18 member institutions with six representatives including four student-athletes and two coaches or administrators.
Among the tour’s highlights:
• Tour of the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
• Tour of the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Tour of the International African American Museum
• Tour of the Gullah Geechee Experience presentation by Corey Alston – presented by Capital One Orange Bowl
• Visit the McLeod Plantation Historic Site
• Community Engagement projects at Lowcountry Food Bank and the Ronald McDonald House, and Reading Partners
• Charleston Housing & Development Panel (Rebecca Dail, Deputy Director of the Housing & Community Development, and F.A. Johnson, III Esq., CEO of the Charleston Redevelopment Corporation)
• Social Impact Workshop (Will Smith, Founder & CEO of Charter Oak Advisory, and Justin Morrow, Sports Strategist)
• Rodney Scott BBQ Experience – presented by Ally at the Charleston Visitor Center
• Charleston RiverDogs outing – presented by Ally
This marks the third ACC Unity Tour, which began in 2022 when ACC student-athletes and administrators visited Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, for an immersive journey to one of the centers of the civil rights movement. In 2023, the event was held in Washington, D.C., with the attendees visiting key sites of the civil rights movement and engaging in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
ACC UNITE is part of the ACC’s Committee for Racial and Social Justice (CORE – Champions of Racial Equity) C.O.R.E was created in June 2020 to support the ACC’s commitment to social justice and racial equity. Members of C.O.R.E. include conference office staff members and campus representatives from each of the league’s 15 institutions. C.O.R.E.’s mission is to promote and encourage inclusion, racial equity and social justice through education, partnerships, engagement and advocacy.
