Petition Calls on UW Athletic Department 'to Actively Work to Dismantle Racism Within Our Athletic Community and Greater Nation'; Barry Alvarez Releases Statement
Earlier this week, a petition on Change.org created by former Wisconsin track student-athletes Hanna Barton and Banke Oginni addressed athletic director Barry Alvarez and the UW athletic board.
As of 3:30 p.m. CT Wednesday afternoon, 1,790 people signed the petition that strongly advocates UW "to actively work to dismantle racism within our athletic community and greater nation" and take further actions.
Those included the following, as seen in the petition:
We know that MSAU [Minority Student-Athlete Union], SAAC [Student-Athlete Advisory Committee], and SAESO [Students Equally Supporting Others] will be working with UW Athletics to implement lasting change within the current student-athlete body; however, we implore you to take additional actions as an administration and coaching staff to:
*Further educate yourselves on America's deep history with anti-Black injustice by:
**Reading: A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
**Watching: 13th by Ava DuVernay (netflix), When They See Us by Ava DuVernay (netflix)
*Confront white privilege and fragility by:
**Reading: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, and Other Essays by Peggy McIntosh
**Hiring a consultant such as Jen Fry (https://jenfrytalks.com/ to lead and facilitate antiracism workshops for student-athletes and staff
*Partner with and learn from University resources like the multicultural student center in the Red Gym and professors in the African American Studies department.
*Look at how many staff of color exist in the entire staff directory, especially at the senior admin level, and review hiring practices to take corrective actions.
*Publicly release a diversity and inclusion report each year outlining the specific actions UW Athletics has taken to:
**Increase representation
**Support student athletes and staff of color
**Engage fans of color*Reflect critically on UW Athletic’s relationship with UWPD and how their presence impacts the experience of Black student-athletes, fans, and staff of color at athletic contests.
*Donate to local organizations like, Nehemiah (https://nehemiah.org/ Urban Triage (urbantriage@gmail.com), and Freedom Inc. (info@freedom-inc.org).
Early Wednesday afternoon, Alvarez responded in a statement on social media:
"Thank you to the past and present Wisconsin student-athletes who endorsed a recent letter to me and to the UW Athletic Board -- as well as to the members of our community who have reached out -- about the racial issues that concern so many of us. I am inspired by the courage and intellect and passion I see for making meaningful change.
I would like to begin by saying that BLACK LIVES MATTER.
To me. To our coaches. To our staff.
Racism has been a plague on our country for centuries and the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery are just three of the latest, most public examples. As I stated 10 days ago, it is a priority for four athletic department to make sure that voices are heard and support is provided to everyone in our athletics family.
UW Athletics' commitment to leading change will live beyond the tragedy of pain of these past few weeks. As our student-athletes wrote, "we have a duty to step up and lean into challenges, not shy away from them. Change is not easy but it is important, and it starts with us."
Back in 2016, Wisconsin became one of the first athletic departments in the country to add a Director of Diversity and Inclusion (the current director is Sheridan Blanford) to its staff. It was an important step for the department and there are now two assistants to the director of that unit. In January, former Badger student-athlete Michael Jackson was added to our senior administrative team and given oversight of all of our diversity and inclusion efforts.
In February, Michael and Sheridan formed the Equity Diversity Council that is "staffed" by current and former UW student-athletes, current UW Athletics staff members and local community members. In addition, Michael and Sheridan have been working for several weeks now on a strategic plan designed to further move UW Athletics forward in terms of diversity and inclusion-related initiatives. I am appreciative of their efforts.
As we all know, however, we need to turn our strategic plans into strategic actions. Change will come when each of us looks within ourselves and decides to act. I ask our current and former student-athletes, as well as our coaches, staff and community members, to hold each other -- and our department -- accountable for creating change.
I was a college student-athlete in the 1960s. Change happened then, but we are still dealing with many of the same issues 50 years later. We have another opportunity now. Let's work together to make sure we don't waste it.
Thank you, again, to all who have reached out. Your commitment to change is inspiring.
Barry Alvarez, Director of Athletics
University of Wisconsin
Update: AllBadgers.com is clarifying when the petition was created, which was on Sunday.