This fall, Department of Theatre & Drama assistant professor Shavonne Coleman and a troupe of SMTD theatre & drama students are touring Victors of Character, written by Allison Manville Metz, to elementary and middle schools throughout the area. Audiences are invited to join Coleman and the company for a single public performance on North Campus.

Victors of Character: A Story of Loyalty, Integrity, and the Courage to Make a Difference is adapted for the stage based on the 2016 documentary Black and Blue by Brian Kruger and Buddy Moorehouse. The play tells the story of the 1934 game between University of Michigan and Georgia Institute of Technology. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets agreed to play in Ann Arbor that season on the condition that the Wolverines could not play Willis Ward, the team's only African-American player. "Many of Ward's teammates were outraged when athletic officials at the University of Michigan agreed to the demand," said Metz. "The most outraged Wolverine was Ward's roommate, a lineman from Grand Rapids named Gerald Ford." What does it mean to do the right thing when you feel the system around you is wrong?

Perfect for families, Victors of Character has a running time of about 35 minutes with a 15 minute talkback immediately following.