Kiera Collins-Joseph ’24 feels “lucky to work with athletes across the Athletic Department to discuss important issues regarding identity and athletics and help foster community between BIPOC athletes.” Collins-Joseph is an executive board member of the Smith College Sport Committee for Diversity and Inclusion (SCID), a student-run organization on campus that works closely to link athletics administration, coaches, athletes and the general student body with the goals of diversity, equity and inclusion in sport. With two representatives from each Smith varsity sport as well as an executive board, the committee hosts events for BIPOC students, fosters conversation and change in athletics and is an open space for Smith athletes to share their experiences in sports.
Their last board meeting, hosted on Feb. 12, was open to all students, and representatives brought up team-specific projects, including: the desires to make conversations about diversity and inclusion more mandatory or structured within teams, the rowing team’s efforts to change the Pioneer mascot and the lacrosse team’s new land acknowledgement.
Anna Gullace ‘25, a representative for soccer, raised her concern that conversations about diversity and inclusion weren’t happening outside of Cromwell Day. Gullace is working on a structure for this and “would love for people from SCID to contribute if they would like.” While many SCID members share this concern, SCID is unable to make anything mandatory for teams, and the group has been reprimanded for doing so in the past.
Following that, basketball representative Ashlyn Bohn ’23 suggested Gullace implement a team-specific DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) board. Basketball’s DEI board works with their coaches and teammates on biweekly media and current event discussions. Bohn cited that a team-specific DEI board has made conversations with coaches about inclusion issues easier and more formal. This is an idea that other teams, including rowing, have implemented as well.
Not only does SCID foster these kinds of discussion within athletics, they also hold all-student events to support Smith’s diverse community. This Spring, they plan to host a speaker event and BIPOC hang out. Additionally, they discussed possible topics that may guide them in selecting a speaker. One idea was to continue last year’s topic: transgender legislation in sports. Other ideas included advice for taking a Smith experience into community-based work.
SCID also plans an annual letter-reading event. This year’s event is scheduled for April 23 and is an opportunity for student athletes to “share their experiences about the intersection of identity and athletics,” as stated by executive board member Molly Taketa ’23. Players and faculty alike have found past letter reading ceremonies to be profound experiences. Everyone is invited to attend.
SCID is now concerned with increasing attendance at their and other similarly-minded organizations’ events. The executive board hopes that improved social media presence and marketing will assist in their mission. To do this, they are looking for help from social media savvy student-athletes and committee members.
SCID encourages important conversations to take place in Smith sports. Collins-Joseph hopes that “any athlete who is interested in how we can better the Athletic Department joins SCID meetings and that BIPOC athletes join the next BIPOC event.”
