When five staff members from Ashland arrived back on campus after attending Common Ground VI at the NCAA national office last October, they asked each other two questions:
"How are we doing?"
"How can we do better?"
These simple questions have sparked ongoing evaluation and conversation about ways to foster inclusive environments for all student-athletes on campus.
Established in 2014, the NCAA Common Ground program, hosted by the office of inclusion, 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. It seeks to inspire others within and beyond college athletics to strive for these goals.
Last year marked the first time that only faith-based schools were invited to attend Common Ground, as well as the first year the program prioritized a team-based approach featuring multiple staff members from each school. This approach allowed for school representatives to discuss specific challenges they have faced, as well as strategies and resources they have used on their campuses.
Ashland, which had school representatives attend Common Ground for the first time, found this approach to be especially beneficial.
"It was nice to be in a room with other schools that have experienced similar challenges to what we have been experiencing at Ashland," said Elizabeth Hoge, assistant athletics director, senior woman administrator and director of academic support services for athletics. "I appreciated having small breakout groups where you talk to schools across divisions and across sizes. Knowing that we weren't alone in having issues with getting momentum on our campuses to have these types of conversations. … I think that was a really good takeaway for us."
"The most important thing was seeing that there are these other schools that not only have similar challenges, but how they've addressed them and some real concrete steps that they've taken," added Craig Hovey, a professor of religion at Ashland who also attended Common Ground VI.
One of the key themes of the program was encouraging teams to create an action plan for their return to campus. For those from Ashland, the first item on the agenda was to meet with their leadership cabinet to present their key takeaways from the event, as well as proposed action items, including the formation of an LGBTQ+ advisory group.
"We've quickly found a lot of fellow staff and faculty members who are interested in this group, and we've planned a couple of events," Hovey said. "We're gaining traction and momentum. … Our takeaway has impacted athletics but then our broader campus, as well."
The idea for this advisory group was born out of discussions the Ashland team had with other school representatives at Common Ground who had successfully implemented similar initiatives.
"We thought: If they could do it, we could do it," Hoge said. "We started out kind of as a small group reaching out to those that we knew would have similar interest in having these conversations and moving that agenda forward. The group is continuing to get larger as we find people are having that interest and wanting to be supportive of that environment."
The team also organized several events, including a safe space training facilitated by staff at a nearby school, as well as a "conversations on belonging" event that invited students and faculty members to engage in facilitated conversations about what life is like on campus for individuals of different identities.
Moving forward, Hoge and Hovey hope to apply a data-driven approach by consistently surveying and speaking with student-athletes to understand their experiences on campus and how they feel they can be better supported.
"What can we do to make that experience better for them? Just by asking that question, student-athletes and students see that someone out there must care," Hoge said.
The team looks forward to hosting future events, administering its own safe space trainings and continuing to promote open dialogue on campus while keeping the mission of Common Ground at the center of its work.
"It feels to us like we're part of something important and that we're doing some good work," Hovey said.
"It's a small beginning," Hoge added. "But we can continue to use that momentum."
If you are interested in learning more about Common Ground or participating in a future program, contact the office of inclusion at inclusion@ncaa.org
