The two 2025 Division III LGBTQ of the Year recipients are Mitchell McPartland, head volleyball coach at the University of Chicago, and the Massachusetts Boston athletics department. The recipients were honored at the NCAA Convention in the Washington, D.C., area.
The Division III LGBTQ of the Year Award Program, developed by the Division III LGBTQ Working Group, aims to celebrate the academic achievements, athletics excellence, service and leadership of LGBTQ student-athletes and the service, leadership and promotion of LGBTQ inclusion by athletics departments, administrators or coaches. The Student-Athlete of the Year Award was not given this year.
Learn more about this year's recipients below.
2025 Division III LGBTQ Coach of the Year: Mitchell McPartland, head volleyball coach, University of Chicago
Mitchell McPartland has used his platform to share his journey as a queer person in sports and empower others on campus to be their authentic selves. He has led social media campaigns for Pride Month, and he helped organize a Pride Game during softball and women's lacrosse games. He came up with a statement to read before each game, emphasizing UChicago's goal of creating inclusive spaces for members of the LGBTQ+ community both on and off the field.
On a personal side, with the help of other athletics staff, McPartland recorded a "letter to my former self" that talked about his journey as a queer person and posted it on the UChicago athletics social media channels. McPartland employs small, but impactful, changes, as well. At the end of his coaching biography on the school website, he includes that he has a husband.
"That way, if any future recruits might be reading my biography, mentioning my sexuality was an opportunity for me to be authentic and open to being a member of the LGBTQ+ community," McPartland said. "It is my goal to continue to create policies and create opportunities for UChicago athletics to be a safe place for any and all members of the LGBTQ+ community."
2025 Division III Athletics Department of the Year: Massachusetts Boston
The Massachusetts Boston athletics department has invested in sustained efforts around LGBTQ+ inclusion. In 2023, the department created a position of director of community engagement and inclusive excellence, filled in 2023 by Tiffany Alford. Alford created an active Athlete Ally chapter and school Pride Games and has dedicated resources to sending student-athletes to the Athlete Ally Activism Summit and administrators to the NCAA's Common Ground program.
The athletics department also has an internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that consists of students, coaches, athletes and administrators to discuss issues and promote sustainable solutions. In recent years, the department has participated in implicit bias hiring training, with the goal of creating a more diverse and equitable department. The athletics department is also proud to have many LGBTQ employees, coaches, administrators and student-athletes and their many allies, who represent their community and offer support, both informal and formal, creating a culture of acceptance and inclusion.
"Our department has worked hard to create partnerships between our teams and other parts of the university to promote our shared goals of LGBTQ inclusion. The University of Massachusetts Boston athletics department is proud to create and support numerous programs and activities related to increasing cultural and practical competencies around LGBTQ inclusion within our department and the broader university," said Peter Federman, faculty athletics representative.
