2013 NCAA Convention

Student-Athlete Perspective: What Does Inclusion Really Mean?

Many perplexing issues facing intercollegiate athletics will one day be solved by today’s student-athletes as they ascend into athletics administration leadership positions. Inclusion can be a complex subject, but is critical to success. Come be a part of this session in which student-athletes will offer their perspectives on inclusion and its importance in shaping the future of intercollegiate athletics.

Moderator: Allie Kolezynski, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications, Chowan University

Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee vice chair Allie Kolezynski is a 2012 graduate of Chowan University, where she competed as a softball student-athlete and graduated with a degree in business administration.

Kolezynski was a four-year starter and captain of the softball team at Chowan, three-time all-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) selection, three-time CIAA Commissioner’s Scholar-Athlete Team member, two-time North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association all-state selection and Capital One Academic All-American.

In May 2012, she was selected as the CIAA Woman of the Year.

Kolezynski is assistant director of athletics communications and women’s cross country coach at Chowan.  She is pursuing a master’s degree in business through Cleveland State University and looks forward to continuing her career in athletics administration.

Speakers:

Kye Allums, Former Basketball Student-Athlete, George Washington University

While attending George Washington University, Kye Allums became the first openly transgender student-athlete to play on a Division I women’s basketball team.  Since graduating from George Washington with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, he has devoted time to fighting transgender ignorance through education and awareness engagements at schools and organizations across the country.

Mara Blesoff, Softball Student-Athlete, Wellesley College

Mara Blesoff is a senior at Wellesley College, pursuing a double major in peace and justice studies and Spanish.  Throughout her Wellesley career, Blesoff started for the regionally ranked Division III softball team.  She served as vice president of Wellesley’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2012 and helped found the Athlete Mentor Program, which she continues to lead.

While studying abroad during her junior year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she interned at a prominent lesbian and bisexual women’s activist organization, where she learned how community organizing and inclusion can succeed at local and national levels.  During the summer of 2012, Blesoff was community engagement intern for the Northwest Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse in Seattle.

Kyle Bradley, Wrestling Student-Athlete, University of Missouri, Columbia

Kyle Bradley has spent the last two years as the starter for Missouri in the 149-pound weight class, amassing two runner-up finishes at the Big 12 Conference championship and qualifying for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships both seasons.  As a redshirt freshman, his first year as a starter, he won 11 dual-meet matches for Missouri and finished the season with 15 total wins. Last year, as a sophomore, Bradley posted a 25-13 record, the third-most wins among starters, and was one of only three Tigers to compete in every dual meet during the season.

In high school, Bradley finished in the top three in his weight class all four years at the Missouri state championships and posted a career record of 191-9, highlighted by his 51-1 senior season. He was a four-year letter winner, a four-time conference champion, and four-time academic all-conference selection.

Tiara Iwegbu, Volleyball Student-Athlete, Dallas Baptist University

As a volleyball student-athlete at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Tiara Iwegbu was named Great American Conference Freshman of the Year.  Before her sophomore season, she transferred to Dallas Baptist University, where she is studying biology and planning to become a pharmacist.  Iwegbu’s coaches and teammates at Dallas Baptist note that she is always willing to learn new and innovative ways to improve the world around her and help others.

Iwegbu graduated with honors in 2011 from Duncanville (Texas) High School, where she was part of the academic all-star team, was selected all-district first team in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and earned Player of the Year honors in her final season.

Ryan Smith, Football Student-Athlete, Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University football student-athlete Ryan Smith graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2011 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in applied economics.

Smith helped lead the Mustangs to four consecutive football bowl victories from 2009 to 2012.  In 2011, Smith garnered 65 tackles, including 36 solo stops, in the 11 games he started.  He is an active member of Southern Methodist’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has been named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the past three seasons.

Ann Whited, Volleyball Student-Athlete, Gallaudet University

Ann Whited is a four-year letter winner in women’s volleyball at Gallaudet, the world’s only university with programs and services specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard-of-hearing students.  She was a member of a Bison team that received the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award each of her four years.

Whited helped Gallaudet to an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III South Region championship as a freshman.  She was named a member of the all-North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) first team in her sophomore season and helped lead the Bison to its first NEAC championship.  Whited was an all-NEAC second team selection as a junior, and Gallaudet won its second NEAC championship.  As a senior, Whited guided the Bison to a third consecutive NEAC title.  She was named first team all-conference and the NEAC Player of the Year.

Whited served as the secretary of the Gallaudet Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for three years. This past fall, she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team. She currently maintains a 3.76 cumulative grade-point average and will graduate in May 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in deaf studies.