Greensboro, NC - All this week, we're celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Greensboro Four sit-ins. And for one Triad university, the movement those four men began on February 1, 1960 holds special meaning.
"It started here. Four freshmen. Aggies! Paving the way for others," a group of students said on the quad where the Greensboro Four's statue stands on campus.
On February 1st 50 years ago four NC A&T freshmen took on a mission to end civil unjustice.
"I wonder if I would have ever had the courage to do something of that magnitude," said student Kevin Wilson.
"I just have a sense of pride knowing that I go to this institution and that these individuals paved the way for me and even for my children one day," said student Joy Pits.
The freshmen known as the "A&T Four" met just before noon on that day and what happened next became their legacy.
"They got stuff thrown at them, they got spit on. To see that discouraged me a little bit. It saddened me to see that happen, but it encouraged me to know that they kept a non-violent approach and they stuck to their game plan.
Day after day the a&t four did not falter... Their mission to sit peacefully at the woolworth's lunch counter until served remained as strong on the last day... As it was on the first.
It's hard for me to imagine because its so much freedom that i can't even begin to think how it'd be then.
The sit-ins became a movement a whole race grew proud of and one that would spread across every state in the nation.
They never were discouraged, they never let people put them down and its a way for me to find inspiration.
Just as this statue on a&t's campus serves as a reminder of the famous four's fight for equality...
Students hope with the opening of the international civil rights museum... The world sees the pride in what became a defining moment for civil rights.