Student Affairs

Athletics Leadership Development

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  5. Athletics Leadership Development

Actions Taken:

  • Athletics Department leadership provided to all student-athletes and athletics staff (through the most credible messengers) sets of resources for learning and growth in the area of anti-racism

  • Athletics Department leadership communicated with all head coaches to encourage dedication of time to team conversations about individual feelings, with a real focus on listening. Some head coaches did this in full team settings; some in sub-groupings

    • Examples of team-specific action include:

      • Men's basketball hosted a team conversation with Korey Dean and alumnus Zahir Carrington to share feelings, denounce racism, and discuss the pursuit of anti-racism behaviors

      • Women’s basketball organized student-athlete-led weekly readings/viewings and discussions

      • Rowing wrote a collective letter USA Rowing imploring them to consider the impact of their public post on social media

  • T.I.D.E. student-athlete group (Tackling Inclusion, Diversity and Equity) hosted a viewing of the documentary "13th" on Friday evening 6/5, and produced a set of follow up questions for reflection and discussion. Viewership included athletes, coaches and staff members

  • Flight45 staff introduced reflection questions about racism in a head coaches meeting on 6/9/20 and listened to staff perceptions to determine opportunities for continued learning

Planning Ahead:

  • Professional Development

    • Commitment to continue learning through books, podcasts, videos, articles and auditing our own biases/behaviors to better serve our student-athletes of color

  • Student-Athlete Development

    • Three priority areas of focus for the 20-21 academic year: (1) health and wellbeing, (2) connection/communication, and (3) career development.  We see inclusion and leadership as the “drivers” through which we will deliver educational programming within those priority areas.

    • Re-examine selection processes and procedures for Flight45 engagement groups and programs

    • Ensure all Flight45 efforts are building competencies within the areas of self-concept, inclusive collaboration, active citizenship, strategic adaptability and critical consciousness

    • Encourage student-athlete engagement groups to adopt initiatives they believe will enhance our Lehigh communities and our teams

  • Student-Athlete T.I.D.E. Group

    • Identify liaisons for teams not currently represented in T.I.D.E.

    • Connect with reps from each team this summer to talk about ways their teams are learning, growing and leading in efforts to be antiracist

    • Connect student-athlete leaders of T.I.D.E. to the department/staff T.I.D.E. group

    • Roundtable discussions with coaches 

  • Coaches Learning and Engagement

    • Engage colleagues from the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity with head coaches to learn more about opportunities for collaboration and integrated student-athlete support

    • Hold coaches accountable for continued self-directed and collaborative learning about antiracism

    • Coordinate a panel of student-athletes at a head coaches meeting to share perspectives on diversity and inclusion at Lehigh

    • Support the resurgence of the staff T.I.D.E. group in the Athletics Department