CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This fall, the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Johnson C. Smith University, and Queens University will work together as the Charlotte Racial Justice Consortium.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities is working with colleges to create several "Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers." According to the to group's website, the centers are designed to prepare the next generation of strategic leaders and to break down racial hierarchies. 

Instead of a single center, the Charlotte area is combining three universities from different parts of the city with different histories and missions to bring a diverse group of people together for a year-long project.

Six students from each campus will participate in a racial equity leadership fellows program. Students will discuss their city's history with race and equality and lead healing projects in the community.

“We have to change the way people think and feel about the past and help us move into the future in a way where everybody is perceived as equal and everybody has value,” said Dr. Cindy Kistenberg, a professor at Johnson C. Smith University.

One of the main projects will be healing circles where students and outside community members can share stories, ask questions, and learn from one another. For more information, click here.