The Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign is meant to be a week of awareness, education and engagement showing the importance of inclusive environments in college sports, but it should not end there! The following are some ideas you can implement during the week’s campaign or at other times throughout the academic year to show your support.

Hold a training session for student-athletes and athletics staff based on diversity and inclusion

Encourage athletics staff and student-athletes to attend a webinar or seminar series to learn more about diversity and inclusion in sports.

• Discuss ways student-athletes and athletics staff can create an open dialogue where diversity and inclusion can be freely discussed.
• Have guest speakers such as team coaches and SAAC members discuss what they see on a day-to-day basis within their specific sport, and what changes they would like to implement.
• Discuss guidelines that student-athletes should follow to help make their campus environment a place where all feel welcome and safe.
• Discuss methods that athletics staff should follow to further work with student-athletes from marginalized backgrounds or underrepresented groups, such as helping these student-athletes achieve the goals they set in their education or athletic ability.

Designate home events to support diversity and inclusion

Encourage teams to declare one of the home athletics events during their season a “Diversity and Inclusion Game/Meet.” At that event, SAAC representatives and athletics departments can do the following:

• Highlight and draw attention to the 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign in general or to specific programming/social media activities taking place during the week.
• Invite offices and campus organizations focused on diversity and inclusion to the contest and showcase their work during down time. These may include the Office of Diversity and Inclusion/Multicultural Affairs, culture centers (e.g., race and ethnicity, LGBTQ), and support/equity services (e.g., disability, international, Title IX).
• Highlight departments that focus on diversity and inclusion work, such as women’s studies, ethnic studies, American studies, sport management, cultural studies, sociology, gender studies, queer studies and disability studies.

Create a community for underrepresented student-athletes from marginalized groups

Work with student-athletes, coaches and staff from underrepresented or marginalized groups to create support groups bringing together individuals holding similar identities:

• Provide a platform for marginalized groups to have their voices heard (e.g., support group, mentoring night, etc.).
• Showcase the value that underrepresented groups bring to your department (e.g., during Women’s History Month, Black History Month, Disability Pride Month, LGBTQ Pride Month).
• Put together a list of resources for marginalized and underrepresented groups at your school and within the wider community (e.g., LGBTQ organizations, resources for people of color, international student resources, accessibility resources).

Build strategic partnerships across campus and the community to drive diversity and inclusion action

One of the best ways to center diversity and inclusion work in your department is by forming alliances and partnerships with stakeholders on campus to guide you in doing the work. Put together a list of contacts with units across campus and in the community that can serve as resources for doing diversity and inclusion work:

• Form a diversity and inclusion committee for your athletics department, for your SAAC or within the school community at large.
• In-person or virtual trainings can be led by diversity and inclusion staff at the school to discuss key topics affecting student-athletes, staff and coaches (e.g., bias, microaggressions).
• Make sure a member from the athletics community is represented on schoolwide diversity and inclusion committees/councils.

Work with your school’s alumni association and athletics department to identify alumni from diverse backgrounds to connect with current student-athletes

After the campaign, continue posting about alumni who have helped drive diversity and inclusion on your campus. Participants can conduct brief interviews with these alumni that allow the alumni to reflect on the importance of diversity and inclusion to their career and life after sports.

Make diversity and inclusion resources on campus available to student-athletes, coaches and administrators

Your school will likely have resources available related to diversity and inclusion. For instance, work with offices or academic departments dedicated to diversity and inclusion (see examples above) to provide training opportunities for student-athletes, coaches and/or administrators. Administrators, in addition, can think about inviting trainers to one of their head coaches’ meetings to facilitate a training on topics such as microaggressions, facilitating difficult conversations, allyship, etc.

Attend NCAA inclusion programming

The NCAA office of inclusion has many resources to help you in your diversity and inclusion efforts. For example, every year the office of inclusion hosts the NCAA Inclusion Forum, bringing together higher education and intercollegiate athletics leaders and student-athletes to offer useful knowledge, engaging dialogue and practical takeaways to empower diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on their campuses and within their communities. Please check the NCAA Inclusion Forum webpage for updates on the 2023 NCAA Inclusion Forum to be held April 21-23 in Indianapolis.

For more ideas on how to promote diversity and inclusion at your school, check out these schools and conference offices that have succeeded at creating inclusive cultures.