Thousands of students gathered in Bridgeport Friday at the Webster Bank Arena to take part in the Connecticut NAACP Convention.

News 12 Connecticut is told some 8,000 students from 99 schools were in attendance.

The event kicked off with the “The Great Debate” in which two teams, from Howard University and Harvard, debated the recent decision by many NFL players to confront racial inequality by kneeling during the National Anthem.

The convention is set to run through Saturday and is expected to host further discussions on police relations and criminal justice reform.