Members of the Georgia football team gathered outside of the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building on Tuesday evening in support of social justice, according to a statement from Georgia athletics spokesperson Claude Felton.

Hunter Holmes Jr., son of Hamilton Holmes, one of the first Black students admitted to UGA and the namesake of the building alongside Charlayne Hunter-Gault, spoke to the team. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart also talked to his players at the organized event.

The event came just five days after a three and a half hour discussion arose out of a team meeting, where players and coaches brainstormed ideas on how they could cause change in the community.

Smart said in an Aug. 29 press conference via Zoom that the program talked about many of these issues over the summer, but players wished to revisit their concerns after police shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23.

They have been very intentional about wanting action, Smart said in the virtual press conference. They want the University of Georgia, in terms of the athletic department, to represent them, they want to do things in the community, they want to give back to their communities. They want to make change.

Aside from Tuesdays gathering, Georgia football players, such as senior linebacker Monty Rice, have been active on social media voicing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Other players, such as senior linebacker Jermaine Johnson, have also spoken to the media on their desire for change.

Everything has struck me and my teammates, whether theyre white or Black, because were united here. Were brothers, Johnson said in a virtual press conference on Aug. 31. Those types of issues affect all of us.

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Members of Georgia football team gather outside Holmes-Hunter Building in support of social justice - Red and Black