Under the tutelage of then Professor J.F. Grimmett, Kelly Miller Smith, and Dr. C.T. Vivian, many students sat down at local lunch counters, dramatically altering the quality of life for African Americans living in the South. They sat, marched, and persevered through arrests and beatings before they were victorious in pursuit of justice and human rights. The campus itself was a popular command post for organizing and training students for social justice causes throughout the city at the time. A number of students from that period have gone on to become major names in civil rights history and American politics (e.g., Congressman John Lewis, Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Dr. Julius Scruggs). At the time, members of the Nashville Student Movement referred to the college as the "Holy Hill".