Applications to determine which Vanderbilt students will embark on Freedom Ride 2007, a tour of important sites of the Civil Rights Movement in honor of the historic 1961 Freedom Rides, are now available.

Participants will engage in discussion of the plight of African American students confronting social injustice in Nashville and surrounding areas during the Civil Rights era.

“The ‘Nashville movement’ became part of the vocabulary in the early 1960s and referred to the work of student activists, a whole generation of people who stood up - in this case sat down - and said, ‘Enough,’” said Mark Dalhouse, director of the Office of Active Citizenship and Service.

“We have an enormous heritage in Nashville showing the power of individual people, not presidents or cabinet members, but ordinary people who fought injustice and made a difference.”

The goal of Freedom Ride 2007 is to reconnect with Nashville’s history through the experiences of those who fought to change it, honor the legacy of those who risked their lives for social justice during the Civil Rights era, and reflect on the struggle for freedom in the 21st century and how students can be agents of change in today’s world, Dalhouse said.

“This is not about riding around on a bus, that work is done, but there is a lesson in their stories for all of us,” said Lucius Outlaw, associate provost of Undergraduate Education and a student at Fisk University during the 1960s. “By honoring their sacrifice and learning from their experiences, we must now ask ourselves - how can I honor what they have done with my life, what can I do now to make a difference?”

The tour will begin in Nashville as participants ride in buses to Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala., key cities in the Civil Rights Movement.

At each stage of the trip, veteran Freedom Riders, such as visiting professor Reverend Jim Lawson, founder of the First Amendment Center John Seigenthaler and James Zwerg, recognizable from his appearances in the documentary “Eyes on the Prize,” will share their experiences and stories about the original Freedom Rides and the events that took place at each site.

“These people were college students just like the students on Vanderbilt’s campus today, but they were playing an active role in the life of their country, demanding their civil liberties and valuing their citizenship,” said Shaiya Baer, assistant director of OACS. “We will be visiting sites where they were victims of violence and put their lives in danger, paying a high price to leave the legacy that dictates our freedom today.”

Students will be visiting sites such as the Rosa Parks Museum, the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., the King Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, Ala. and the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Ala.

“Montgomery really possesses the ghosts of the Civil Rights Movement and the Confederacy,” Baer said.

“Down the street from the State House is the building where the telegraph was sent to Fort Sumter starting the Civil War. Across from the same building is the bus stop where Rosa Parks boarded the infamous bus and refused to give up her seat. All of these pieces come together in

Montgomery, a critical location during the Civil Rights movement and one rich with history.”

The Office of the Dean of Students has also offered invitations to students from Fisk University, Tennessee State University and American Baptist College to participate in Freedom Ride 2007 in recognition of their contribution and involvement in the 1961 Freedom Rides and the Civil Rights Movement.

“There was little at Vanderbilt to encourage active participation in the Freedom Rides,” Dalhouse said. “We want to honor these schools for their activism because they produced the students who took courageous steps to fight social injustice.”

According to Outlaw, Freedom Ride 2007 is also significant because it marks the distance traveled by Vanderbilt University.

“I think back to when the ‘Nashville Movement’ was underway and the society at that time in comparison to now, only 40 years later, and I see a significantly different Vanderbilt.”

Applications are available at www.vanderbilt.edu/oacs and are due by Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. in the Community Partnership House.