ACC to Observe Spring Unity Week April 15-23

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com)  – As part of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s continued commitment to diversity, inclusion, social justice and racial equity, the league has announced plans for the conference’s third annual Spring Unity Week, which will be held April 15-23.

ACC Unity Weeks are initiatives of the ACC’s Committee for Racial and Social Justice (CORE – Champions of Racial Equity) and have been developed in conjunction with the league’s 15 member institutions. The ACC celebrated three Unity Weeks in both 2020-21 and 2021-22 (Fall, Winter, Spring) and will do the same during the 2022-23 academic year.

ACC athletics departments are encouraged to actively engage in activities with their campus and local communities that promote unity. Some examples include community service projects, Unity walks, Town Hall meetings, partnerships with local social justice organizations and/or civic groups, civic engagement education and celebration of institutional UNITE Award recipients.

 

“As the ACC gets closer to concluding another successful academic year, we continue to be extremely proud of our member schools and amazing student-athletes as they display their ongoing commitment to the critical conversations and initiatives surrounding racial and social justice as outlined by CORE,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. Ph.D. “Our Unity Weeks accentuate the importance of this ongoing work, and we are proud to make them a centerpiece of each and every season.”

The theme for the 2022-23 academic year is “Inclusion,” chosen by CORE as diversity does not exist without inclusion. The most recent calendar year has seen ACC student-athletes and administrators travel to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, the geographical centers of the civil rights movement’s battle for inclusion in the mid-1960s. Additionally, the 50th anniversary of Title IX highlighted the importance of inclusion within college athletics.

ACC schools are now encouraged to focus on specific examples of inclusion – PRIDE, the fight against antisemitism and other causes – that the campuses feel are applicable to them.

A moment of unity will occur before or during ACC competitions throughout the week. Each of the ACC’s spring sports is in action, including the conclusion of the ACC Women’s Golf Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in…