Penn State AD Encourages Athletes to 'Find Their Voices'
Penn State student-athletes will be encouraged to address issues of social injustice next season, as long as they inform their coaches and do so respectfully, athletic director Sandy Barbour said.
In a video session with the media last week, Barbour said that she meets with teams annually and tells them that college is "a time to find their voices." Barbour said she will continue to do so with Penn State's teams when play resumes.
"I am really proud of the way our student-athletes have used their voices here in the last month, and that will not change," Barbour said.
College athletes across the country are joining, and even leading, discussions of racial and social injustice. At Memphis, the football team will wear a Black Lives Matter emblem on their helmets.
And athletes at Wisconsin have proposed a wearing a university crest with a black 'W.'
Penn State student-athletes have participated in demonstrations and protests, and several have addressed issues on social media. Three student-athletes (swimmer Olivia Jack, basketball player Myles Dread and football player PJ Mustipher) are representing Penn State on the Big Ten Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition.
Barbour said she expects to see more actions like these from Penn State athletes this fall. She said such statements are welcome under certain circumstances.
"I want them to find and use their voices and I will 100 percent support them even if I don't, and I'm talking generally, necessarily agree with their position if they do several things," Barbour said. "One, that they do it respectfully. Two, that they've done their research, they know what they're talking about and they're educated in the subject that they're using their voice around. And thirdly, that they make sure their coach knows what they're doing."
Asked specifically about the national anthem, Barbour said that the "predominant mode in college football" is for teams to be off the field during that pregame time. Penn State's athletic department recently issued a statement saying that its regular review of pregame procedures may include "timing and the location of teams during the national anthem."
Penn State football coach James Franklin recently told Fox Sports' Big Noon Kickoff that he has been proud of how his team has conducted conversations regarding social-injustice issues over the past month. Barbour said that coaches will be integral to any future athlete statements.
"Yes, it is an individual voice, but if you're going to use the Penn State platform, if you're going to use the team platform, then it involves the team," Barbour said. "And so I anticipate that there are going to be lots of conversations on the team level about how teams want to express themselves and how they want to allow individuals on their teams to express themselves."
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