ACC Unity Tour Created Lasting Impact For Tar Heels

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Unity opportunities have translated into a lasting impact for UNC's student-athletes.

In July, four Tar Heel student-athletes participated in the Atlantic Coast Conference's 2023 Unity Tour to Washington, D.C. Back in Chapel Hill to start the school year, they proved that the lessons learned on the trip have stayed with them and have helped them to impact others.

The four students – Joellen Driscoll, Elijah Green, Christopher Holliday and Kaimon Rucker – made up a panel that spoke about the trip at UNC's Athletic Department semester kickoff breakfast, sharing lessons they had learned with a crowd of more than 300 coaches and staff members representing all 28 of Carolina's varsity squads. Driscoll is a member of the track and field team and Green, Holliday and Rucker are all members of the football team.

With Holliday as the panel moderators, the four discussed the trip, an immersive experience that included service, education and fun. The theme of the trip was "awareness to action," with a focus on racial and gender equity. The panel discussion made it clear that the student-athletes who attended have continued to act and share their enhanced awareness with others.

"The whole trip was about planting seeds of awareness, how action is our duty going forward," Green said. "How can we bring these topics back to our teams and build a better society?"

As part of the panel, student-athletes shared some of their favorite moments, with Green recalling the emotional impact of the group's tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. "That hit me in the heart pretty heavily," he said.

Rucker singled out moments that happened outside of the planned agenda, when student-athletes from other schools went beyond competitive rivalries and became friends "It was cool to see student-athletes form other schools and engage in those relationships," he said, noting that they're all "life teammates."

Unity group

Senior Associate A.D. Martina Ballen, UNC's Chief Financial Officer, was one of four Carolina staff members who went on the trip – along with Senior Associate A.D. Dwight Hollier, Senior Associate A.D. Cricket Lane and Academic Support Program Associate Director Jenn Townsend – and she noted a similar shift during the three days in Washington. The Carolina, NC State and Duke groups shared a bus from the Triangle up to D.C and on the way there, the school contingents sat together. By the time the group returned home, the student-athletes from rival schools intermingled in the back of the bus, with the staff members up front.

"It showed that after those few days of interacting with one another, and removing the sport competition barriers, they could hang together and reflect on their shared experiences," Ballen said.

Holliday had that takeaway from the tour as well, reflecting on the bonds that developed from sharing a common purpose and goal. "Every person believed that ensuring equity for all was something that was far more than important than the sport that they played," he said. "The ability to be surrounded by people who chose to be there allowed for conversations of honesty and vulnerability that will hopefully allow for growth at all schools across the ACC."

The second-annual ACC Unity Tour (the first went to Alabama in 2022) included contingents from all 15 conference schools. The group also toured the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and participated in a Gender Equity & Sports Panel and a community service project.

"The Unity Tour is an incredible opportunity for our student-athletes and staff to learn and grow together in Washington, D.C.," said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. "We remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and are proud of ACC UNITE's ongoing work to support and educate in this important endeavor."

Players Mentioned

Elijah Green

Christopher Holliday

Kaimon Rucker

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