Tulane Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Department of Athletics Announce Green Wave Justice for All

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Department of Athletics announced today the creation of Green Wave Justice for All, a blueprint to discuss, promote, and exemplify diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice within Tulane Athletics, Tulane University, the greater New Orleans community, the United States and throughout the world. In addition, Ben Wiener Director of Athletics Troy Dannen announced that Mónica Lebrón, Deputy Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer, will serve as the department's Chief Diversity Officer.

Green Wave Justice for All was created by Tulane student-athletes and administrators after several discussions within the department including a Black student-athlete forum, an open forum for all student-athletes and an open forum with the entire athletic department. These forums provided student-athletes and staff voices to be heard and were instrumental in the creation of the action plan to create change within the Department of Athletics.

"It is clear that we all have a long way to go to ensure social justice and true equality and that process begins with each of us," said Dannen. "I applaud our student-athletes for taking the initiative to engage in sometimes difficult and uncomfortable conversations that eventually led to the creation of Green Wave Justice for All. This will be an ongoing program that we hope will continue to evolve. I also want to thank Mónica for agreeing to step up and serve as our first Chief Diversity Officer."

Green Wave Justice for All centers around three main pillars: dialogue, education and change. Through department-wide student-athlete led discussions, action plans for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year are now in place:

Dialogue

Establish a Diversity Council of student-athletes and staff members to address the concerns of the ethnic minority student-athlete population and hold their fellow students and staff members accountable in continuously dismantling racism within collegiate athletics, higher education, and in the New Orleans community. The Council will serve as a platform for student-athletes to have direct communication with administrators.
Establish a diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice hour designed to provide a brave space for athletics staff to learn, ask questions, seek guidance and discuss action and accountability plans.
Develop common language, build cultural competencies and equip staff, coaches, and student-athletes with the knowledge and encouragement to address racism, discrimination, and injustice.
Allot time during all staff meetings to discuss diversity and inclusion topics.
Develop a monthly book club with readings and discussions on the topics of social justice and racial equality.

Education

Diversity and inclusion education and training for all student-athletes throughout their time at Tulane including mandatory guest speakers, panels, discussion facilitations, required readings and/or films. This educational programming will be followed up with small group discussions and debriefings. This initiative is intended to foster open and educated conversations among student-athletes about racism.
Diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice training for all coaches and administrative staff twice a year with an added emphasis on racism within collegiate athletics.
Voter education for student-athletes, coaches and administrative staff. This will include an opportunity for student-athletes and staff to meet with professionals who have expertise in voting education, registering to vote and voter research.

Develop an evolving inventory of resources on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice for staff and student-athletes.
Expand partnerships with the Tulane Center for Sport and the Carolyn Barber Pierre Center for Intercultural Life to provide programming and education to staff and student-athletes.

Change

Foster unity and drive social change by participating in community service that focuses on exposure to and helping to dismantle systematic racism. This step is intended to unify student-athletes and encourage outreach to address racial disparities in our New Orleans community.

Create an art piece to be displayed in the athletics' facility that signifies the commitment of student-athletes and staff to fight racism and foster a culture that values diversity and inclusion. The fight against racism is on-going - as such, the art piece will be designed in such a way to leave room for future Green Wave student-athletes each year to add to the artwork.

Fund and support Black student-athlete run spaces.
Empower student-athletes by promoting and providing leadership opportunities for ethnic minorities within the Department of Athletics and the University.
Establish the Justice for Allgraduate assistant position to provide an ethnic minority candidate the opportunity to gain experience in working within intercollegiate athletics.
Conduct a demographic assessment of Department staffing. Review and adjust hiring practices based upon the results.

SAAC leadership noted, "these are important action steps we can take as an athletic community to create a more diverse and inclusive environment. This is not intended to be a conclusive or short-term list; we plan to grow over the long term. Fostering change takes time and we hope to continuously re-evaluate these initiatives to ensure we are following through in our commitment to create change within our own institution and beyond."

Tulane University Athletics

Tulane Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Department of Athletics Announce Green Wave Justice for All

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