{"id":41365,"date":"2026-03-18T19:05:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T19:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/?p=41365"},"modified":"2026-03-18T21:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:24:24","slug":"ali-center-university-of-new-mexico-create-new-virtual-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/ali-center-university-of-new-mexico-create-new-virtual-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Ali Center, University of New Mexico create new virtual program"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Ali Center, University of New Mexico create new virtual program<\/h1>\r\n
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03.18.26<\/p>\n

Ali Center partners with University of New Mexico for virtual programming reflecting on Muhammad Ali\u2019s legal legacy<\/p>\n

ALBUQUERQUE, NM \/ LOUISVILLE, KY (March 18, 2026) – <\/span>The Muhammad Ali Center is announcing a new educational online program that will be presented alongside the University of New Mexico, honoring Muhammad Ali\u2019s legacy as part of the 10th<\/sup> anniversary of his passing.<\/p>\n

The program, entitled \u201cOutside the Ropes: What College Students Can Learn from Studying Muhammad Ali,\u201d will offer a legal and social reflection from university students on Ali\u2019s legacy and the United States Supreme Court case, \u201cClay v. United States (1971),\u201d Ali\u2019s appeal of his conviction after objecting to the Vietnam draft due to his religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

This two-hour educational program will be presented virtually on March 30, 2026 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Mountain Time) and will be free to attend via registration.<\/p>\n

Since opening in 2005, the Ali Center has hosted millions of Ali fans, historians, and curious visitors from all over the world. Located in Ali\u2019s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, the Ali Center works to advance Ali\u2019s legacy through education, storytelling, and social impact initiatives that promote compassion, respect and human dignity.<\/p>\n

For this new public education program, the Ali Center is partnering with the University of New Mexico\u2019s political science department. This program features a speaker panel consisting of four high-achieving UNM students, who during their political science and\/or pre-law undergraduate studies, specifically studied, analyzed and wrote about Muhammad Ali\u2019s legal and social impact on our society.<\/p>\n

The four UNM student speakers featured in this program are Alyson Campbell (Class of 2027, major in\u00a0 Political Science\/Economics )<\/em>,\u00a0 Will Martin (Class of 2025, major in political science and criminology and now currently attending UNM Law),<\/em> Karina Padilla (Class of 2027, major in political science\/philosophy),<\/em> and Violet Webb (Class of 2026, major in strategic communication and political science).<\/em><\/p>\n

The Ali-Center-UNM collaborative project was originally created and developed by former New Jersey Judge Lawrence Jones. Jones is presently the pre-law advisor and Visiting Lecturer at UNM, where he teaches Constitutional Law and other law-related subjects. Jones had submitted the students\u2019 collegiate work on Ali to the Ali Center for review, resulting in the birth of the program by the Ali Center and its educational collaboration with the University of New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Garret McCorkle, the Ali Center\u2019s Senior Manager of Education and Programs, said, \u201cIt is truly incredible how impactful Muhammad Ali\u2019s legacy has remained. This is just one of the many ways we hope to engage a new generation in Muhammad Ali\u2019s life and legacy. I hope students all over the world can learn from Muhammad Ali\u2019s commitment to service and humanitarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones reflected, \u201cIt is a true honor to bridge together University of New Mexico and the Ali Center in producing this special national educational program collaboration, on the 10th<\/sup> anniversary year of Muhammad Ali\u2019s passing.\u00a0 The University of New Mexico is extremely proud of our four student panelists, whose hard work and energetic drive as young adults and members of a new generation\u00a0\u00a0 have led them onto this national stage to publicly share their thoughts and perspectives on one of the most iconic social figures in American history. All four students are future leaders, and their presentation may possibly influence other Universities, colleges, and fellow students throughout the nation to further consider the value of studying on campus the life and social journey of Muhammad Ali.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1960, under his birth name of \u201cCassius Clay,\u201d Ali won a gold medal representing the United States as a boxer in the Rome Olympics.\u00a0 In 1964, as a 22-year-old undefeated challenger, Ali won the Heavyweight Championship of the World with a shocking upset victory over defending champion Sonny Liston.\u00a0 Ali was known for his swiftness in the ring as well as his bold nature and sense of humor, making him one of the most memorable and famous athletes in the world.<\/p>\n

Soon after winning his first heavyweight belt, Ali announced his conversion to Islam and received the new name of Muhammad Ali from the Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. When Ali was drafted by the United States Government for the Vietnam War, Ali famously refused induction, stating \u201cNo, I will not go 10,000 miles from home to help murder and kill another poor people simply to continue the domination of white slave masters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States charged and convicted Ali of draft evasion, and Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title and boxing license. Ali used this time away from the ring continuing to speak out against the draft and advocating for civil rights and rights for underserved communities.<\/p>\n

As Ali persevered in his battle to overturn the conviction, public opinion gradually started turning in Ali\u2019s favor and against both the draft and the Vietnam War itself.\u00a0 Ultimately, after four years, the United States Supreme Court unanimously reversed Ali\u2019s 1967 conviction in the matter of Clay v. United States<\/u> (1971).\u00a0 Additionally, Ali regained his boxing license in 1970 and was permitted to begin boxing professionally again. Meanwhile, in 1973 the United States Government ended the draft, and in 1975 the United States withdrew its troops from Vietnam.<\/p>\n

To attend the free virtual program, register at alicenter.org\/outsidetheropes<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Media Contact:<\/p>\n

Jami Nunez
\nChair, University of New Mexico Dept. of Political Science
\n720.939.7885<\/p>\n

Dustin Vogt
\nSenior Manager of Communications and Development, Muhammad Ali Center
\ndvogt@alicenter.org
\n502.992.5330<\/p>\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":41362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"class_list":["post-41365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alicenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}