Union Board committee travels to Atlanta

Instead of spending spring break on the beach or at home, 48 students and two advisers will spend Saturday to Wednesday in Atlanta for the Atlanta Cultural Excursion sponsored by the Union Board and the IU Black Student Union.

“It’s a possible spring break not focused on beaches,” said Union Board adviser Kourtney Gray.

The trip is the first for the newly active Union Board Destinations Committee. The committee was originally formed in 2005 but has been inactive, restarting only at the beginning of this semester.

Brandon Johnson, the committee’s director, said the committee will allow students to branch out and see new things while still being included in the campus community.

Freshman Jeff Williams, an assistant director for the committee, said traveling is a great way to explore other cultures and that he is looking forward to the trip.

Johnson said the trip is a cultural excursion because students will encounter different perspectives and lifestyles unique to the South.

The committee chose Atlanta because it is somewhere warm, and the trip will have substance and be similar to an alternate spring break.

During the trip, students will tour CNN headquarters, the Martin Luther King Center, the Atlantic Station and Six Flags Over Georgia.

Gray said he hopes students get something out of the trip and that it is educational and purposeful.

The committee met every Tuesday during the semester to plan the trip. Williams said the members also worked on their own to contact businesses such as the hotel and bus company they’ll use on the trip.

The committee worked to make the trip affordable for students, and Johnson said the price was lowered from its original cost because more students registered than the committee expected.

Sophomore and committee member Jasmin Foster said her goal is to have a successful first trip so the committee can start planning more trips for the summer and fall.

She added the committee also wants to have day trips this semester and possibly travel to sporting events.

Johnson said the trip is a way to bring together diverse groups of people who wouldn’t otherwise hang out together while having fun on spring break.

“It’s the spirit of IU that we have, but having it in different places in the U.S.,” Johnson said.