Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
A small group of thoughtful individuals can change the world.
These were the messages shared with nearly 80 participants as they attended Common Ground VI at the NCAA national office last month. Established in 2014, the NCAA Common Ground program is guided by its vision to create a model of collegiate athletics that is safe and inclusive for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and faith perspectives, and inspires others within and beyond college athletics to strive for these goals. This marked the first year that the program has been hosted in-person since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Changing the values of participants has never been the objective of Common Ground. Rather, the program seeks to bring together groups of individuals with varying perspectives and break down barriers through conversations that foster empathy and understanding. As participants from various schools and backgrounds came together for this year's program, the differences in the room were evident. However, one goal united all participants: to develop skills and strategies to help create respectful and supportive environments for all student-athletes.
While the vision, mission and goals of Common Ground have largely remained the same since 2014, this was the first year that exclusively faith-based schools were invited to attend. It was also the first year the program prioritized a team-based approach, inviting multiple people from each school to attend.
"The Common Ground leadership team wanted to approach Common Ground VI a bit differently," said Jean Merrill, director of inclusion at the NCAA and member of the Common Ground leadership team. "We recognized that many faith-based institutions find today's divisive sociocultural climate challenging to both uphold their faith-centered missions and adequately support their students, particularly their LGBTQ+ students. We wanted to create a supportive yet challenging space for faith-based institutions to learn the vision and mission of the Common Ground initiative, to build trust with the leadership team and to listen to and learn about what faith-based colleagues are facing on their campuses."
Throughout the two-day program, facilitators led participants through pair and group exercises that encouraged discussion about this challenging dynamic. Participants discussed individual and institutional biases, difficulties they have faced within their campus communities, how to use inclusive terminology and goals they have for continuing to build inclusive environments.
"Being here is allowing me to express my thoughts and engage with other faith-based schools about the topic of safe spaces for our student-athletes," said Myron McClure, director of intercultural affairs at Pepperdine.
"It has been very informative and very helpful," added Nick Roberts, dean of students at Southern Virginia. "It has not been easy by any means, but I think that's what Common Ground is about: Let's get you uncomfortable, and then (figure out how) you can be supportive moving forward."
Between exercises, members of the leadership team shared stories with participants about their experiences at past Common Ground programs and provided insight into how the program has shaped both their individual perspective and the culture on their campus or within their organization. Throughout the program, the facilitators emphasized the importance of acknowledging shared humanity to help bridge gaps and work toward solutions.
While starting the conversation is a crucial first step, the Common Ground initiative emphasizes the importance of continuing these education efforts and conversations beyond the annual program. The final portion of programming allowed participants to meet with their school teams and discuss action plans, as well as converse with other individuals about what they plan to bring back to their campuses.
"We felt it was important to invite institutional teams," said Merrill. "This allowed groups to engage in intimate and nuanced conversations among one another, to brainstorm as teams on potential action items for their respective campuses and ultimately to serve as peer support for one another once they return to their campuses."
In the coming months, the Common Ground leadership team will continue to provide support and resources to participants and their schools.
"It was a blessing to be here and to understand things that aren't talked about a lot," Roberts said. "It was also impactful enough to where I want to go back and do something about it. Now that I have the information (about what is) happening around the country and at other schools, we know that we have students that need that support, and now we just have to go make sure it happens."
If an individual or school is interested in participating in a future Common Ground program, please contact Jean Merrill, director of the office of inclusion at the NCAA, at jlmerrill@ncaa.org.
Common Ground 2023 institutional teams:
- Anderson (Indiana)
- Asbury University
- Ashland
- Baylor
- Biola
- Bowie State
- Georgetown
- LeTourneau
- Liberty
- Marquette
- Norfolk State
- Northwestern-St. Paul
- Pepperdine
- Southern Virginia
- Virginia Union
