UMD will offer a Freddie Gray course next semester
Black Lives Matter is hitting the classroom
The jury selection for the case against Officer William Porter, charged in the death of Freddie Gray, was made last week, marking the beginning of the trials for the officers charged in Gray’s death.
The trials are expected to continue through spring of 2016, making them fair game for teaching/learning opportunities, and UMD plans to capitalize on that.
Next semester, UMD will offer a one-credit course titled MLAW374: Freddie Gray’s Baltimore.
The course will give students a chance to follow the trials closely, and apply what they’ve learned in class to real-life events and circumstances.
Senior Sydney Milner, who is heading to law school following this semester, told The Tab she would’ve signed up for the course if she weren’t graduating this year.
“I think it’s a really cool class, especially since it deals with the application of law from one case to another,” she said.
Junior education major Caroline Pomilla praised the course for its interactive nature.
She told The Tab: “This is everything a course should be. It’s applicable to the current lives of students, and I think the fact that it’s controversial will ignite students’ interest in it.”