By Cami Makula '21 / Sports Information Intern

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Taking action to address the volatile issues surrounding race in America-- which has moved to the forefront of the nation's consciousness due to countless ugly and intimidating incidents in recent weeks and months -- the Eastern Connecticut State University athletic community and the public at-large, were afforded the opportunity to attend and take part in a virtual discussion panel entitled A Conversation on Race in America and Its Impact on College Athletes on January 23.

The panel discussion served to kick off the spring semester as part of ongoing programming sponsored by the Eastern Department of Intercollegiate Athletics in order to promote cultural empathy within athletics.

The makeup of the nationally-recognized panel was coordinated by third-year Eastern head baseball coach Brian Hamm, who also served as moderator for the 90-minute discussion.

"We are proud of our diversity and understand that racially diverse sports teams are only one part of fostering a culture of awareness, acceptance, empathy," said Director of Athletics Lori Runksmeier. "The purpose of the panel was to engage in ongoing conversation to positively influence the culture on our teams and at Eastern."

The distinguished panel included Gil Kim, Director of Player Development and coach for the Toronto Blue Jays and a former international scouting director for the Texas Rangers; activist Loretta Ross, a visiting associate professor at Smith College; Dr. Francois Clemmons, lecturer, playwright, and Grammy Award-winning artist; and Vicky Chun, Director of Athletics at Yale University and long-time advocate of the 'overall student-athlete experience'.

The goal of this discussion was to hold a conversation of race, while learning to use characteristics that will help hold conversations about racism. During the discussion, Eastern athletes developed new skills on how to find communication in talking about ongoing racism issues, how to find the bravery that athletes display on the playing field, inclusion, being accepting, and how to take future action. It was felt by the panel that these conversations need to start somewhere, and as athletes, it is so important to understand how capable they all are in initiating change.

In order to make a change, it was pointed out by Hamm that this generation needs to continue to push, that children aren't born racist, they learn that from who they look up to, so if the current generation starts to push, it can continue to be taught to the younger generations, and eventually, it was noted by Hamm, that we can put an end to it. The elder members of our teams are the culture keepers and are responsible for teaching the younger players how things need to be done.

Following the panel discussion, the public was encouraged to ask questions of the panelists. Soon after the conclusion of the question-answer period, senior field hockey manager Cami Makula interviewed a number of athletes to ascertain their take-aways from the discussion. 

Many people feel that it is so important to understand how to empower people, regardless of the color of their skin. To many individuals' way of thinking, says Hamm, the athletic community holds a wide-ranging social status that provides power and status to stand up for what one believes in. It is felt that athletes' voices have the power to lead.

"My reminder for our athletes is to remember to use what they have as athletes to stand up on a soapbox and say 'listen, this what we're seeing play out in this country -- how we are treating people is not OK'," emphasized Hamm. "This is how we should treat people and other people will follow; your teammates will follow in line. If you are a senior, freshmen will follow. If you are an athlete, non-athletes will follow because of the place you hold on campus," added Hamm, a graduate of Middlebury College and former long-time head coach at Amherst College.

Ross, a self-described feminist, sports junky, and activist, kicked off the panel discussion by addressing the call-in culture, where she stressed the

importance of calling those around you in before you call them out. Ross emphasized that being human is about making mistakes, but it is about what you do after those mistakes and how you learn from them that is important. She additionally noted that we are living in such unprecedented times in so many ways, and trying to come together as a society and as people are so quick to say things before reflecting on what was said.

"Let's turn to each other and not on each other," Ross contended. "Keep your vision of your outcomes in mind. [Ask yourself] 'what do you want to achieve' before you call someone out." Ross stressed that it is so important to step back to think and listen before reacting, so "before blowing" up on someone for what they said, think about how you can use the call-in culture to teach them what was said was wrong.

"What stuck with me the most was when Professor Ross said we need to do more research and less 'me-search'", noted senior field hockey athlete Mary Greenwell of Warwick, RI. "It's important to realize that, especially as athletes, we need to understand the current climate and our role in it. It's not about us but it is about what we can do to work toward being more inclusive and creating a more tolerant future."
 

"Don't let success go to your head and don't let failure go to your heart. Look at your mistakes in your eye and learn from it," Ross exclaimed. "It is all part of coming to a realization to step up for what you believe in, and in order to heal this country, everyone needs to talk to people about different strategies for addressing the problem that they see, talk to people rather than objectifying them.

From the discussion, junior two-sport athlete Aiyana Ward of Waterbury's takeaway was that "this world needs a little more patience and understanding. We should try to understand perspectives and opinions that are different than ours. There will be situations where people won't be able to understand everything," she continued, "but it takes patience from everyone to work toward a common goal of justice and equality."

Following Ross, Gil Kim jumped in on the discussion, pointing out that many people are unsure of what to say, not wanting to say the wrong thing, so people may need professionals to learn how to hold these conversations. Often, he went on to say, people do not know how to react, but they want to do something to make change, and in order to make that change, professionals can help teach how to navigate these conversations.

A utility player in the professional baseball ranks, Kim played in the Netherlands, Beijing, Australia, Spain, and Venezuela before taking an intern job in operations with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2009. At each stop as a player, he absorbed a new culture, built new relationships and opened a door to a new opportunity. "I've always had an interest in different cultures and experiences, and maybe putting myself in uncomfortable new situations," he once said.

"Make people comfortable and encourage them to speak up," said Kim, a Korean-America. "[We should] learn that people will want to do something, but they don't know how. Take the first step forward and be proactive, it will make a huge difference. Part of our responsibility as athletes is to create the best environment possible to grow and learn," Kim added. "If people don't take the risk of saying something, we will never move forward -- we have to start somewhere."
 

Doubted by many of ability to succeed in pro baseball due to his size, the 5-foot-5 inch Kim emphasized that being comfortable with who you are and what you look like will make a huge impact on who you become as a person. He continued by saying that just because you don't look like the person people expect you to look like, you need to be comfortable with yourself and show them who you are. "As athletes and those of us working in sports, sometimes you are so focused on performance -- you're so focused on getting better and helping the team win -- that you might not realize all the opportunities that you have as an athlete and as a coach," Kim said. 

Following the panel discussion, junior basketball player Julie Keckler of Trumbull observed that "I learned that mistakes shouldn't define you; instead, we should educate each other. I think it's important for athletes to be leaders with their actions and words on the subject of race."

Dr. Clemmons, who has performed in operas in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, joined the discussion by singing This Little Light of Mine. "We can never at this stage of our country's development stop talking about race enough because people are being hurt every day," offered Clemmons, well-known by people of a certain age for his role as Officer Clemmons in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and as a ground-breaker in race relations since 1968. "People are being hurt by the lack of sensitivity, the lack of knowledge, the lack of experience of white people." Clemmons claimed that we do not do enough to sensitize people that being different is OK.

 Junior soccer athlete Will Toomey of Willington expressed that "one thing that stuck with me was committing to empathy, because through a

consistent effort of offering support you can create relationships and environments where others feel able to open up on uncomfortable issues."

Clemmons made an impact on the athletes by emphasizing the fact that we are 'one' and in order to stand up, it is so important to have an atmosphere about unconditional love where people can talk to you. Unconditional love is bountiful. As a whole, it is so important to continue to stand up, it is not just about empathy, but commitment and being committed to what you believe in.
 

Sophomore softball athlete Alyssa Vilchez of Brampton, Ontario, offered that "my biggest takeaway from this presentation was when [Clemmons] talked about his unconditional love and acceptance." Clemmons highlighted that life won't change just because you want it to, that every human needs to find their balance and create an atmosphere where people can express themselves for who they are. 

Chun, the first Asian-American and first woman to serve as director of athletics at Yale, gave the athletes advice on how they can take actions within their teams and athletic department.

"It's easy to talk about, but how do we celebrate and embrace our students of color?," she asked. "As student-athletes, many have become such a huge part of social justice, and the student-athletes and coaches are starting to realize the power they hold in modeling the right way to do things and to speak out. It is important to understand that student-athletes have a four-year turnaround, so it is important to continue to model the right way and keep it going so the athletes under you can look up to you and learn and continue to pass it down. Student athletes, coaches and administrators are all activators and in order to create the goal environment, it is important to listen and trust. With the power athletes hold, they need to make change rather than muting people's feelings." 
 

Following the panel discussion, the public was invited to ask questions. "What is the best approach to forgive and educate a person that has made a mistake on the topic of race?", one viewer asked. The advice given by Ross was to ask "why they said it, understand what is going on underneath. Did they say it to hurt you or did they say it because they were uneducated? Rather than blowing up for what they said, take a deep breath, keep control of your emotions and determine the next step on how to move forward on educating them"

Carmen Nieves, a sophomore from Sutton, MA who plays women's soccer, responded that she "took away that each speaker gave a really interesting output with their experiences. For example, when discussing how -- instead of criticizing someone for saying a 'racist' or 'rude' comment -- we should start thinking about the reason behind why they said what they say. So, really just understanding other people's thoughts and why certain people say or do and taking that into consideration [is important]."

Another question presented to the panel centered on how one should approach talking to a teammate or friend that is being racist. The panelists responded that as a leader, one needs to give people a safe space to interact and have dialogues. 'Address the issue, correct it and move on', was the panelists' consensus. Referring to an athletic organization, the panelists felt that it is important to create an environment to make that change by re-creating what should be done and modeling it to those around you. The message was the more common we engage, the more change we will see that quick and angry action does not help but understanding how to respectfully go about the situation and moving forward rather than holding a grudge is the right way to help them understand. 
  "My biggest takeaways from the panel are that part of the responsibility as a leader is to create the best environment possible for your teammates," noted freshman soccer player Caleb Ennin of East Hartford. "Also, we must be committed for the long run even when it is tough to do so. Lastly, it is important to build trust by showing it in action and following through." 

The Eastern athletic community will honor this by moving forward to create a place of unconditional love so that it can create change.