With calls for action being heard throughout the U.S., Winthrop Athletics issued a statement regarding racism and an action plan on June 8. Winthrop Athletic Director Ken Halpin said the statement came after an “incredibly emotional” conversation with around 150 staff and student-athletes.
“It became really clear that our students and a lot of our staff were really wanting as an athletic department for us to come together and say something,” Halpin said.
“The theme that really resonated wasn’t just the statement. I think everyone acknowledged that a statement is empty without some type of follow through or some type of action, so that’s where the action plan idea came from.”
Two goals of the action plan are to “educate” and “communicate.” Steps toward both of these goals include monthly gatherings and learning opportunities for staff and student-athletes to hold conversations focused on race.
Winthrop Athletics held its first open town hall, “Knowing Our Place In History,” for all Winthrop students, faculty and staff to examine Rock Hill’s role in the Civil Rights Movement on Wednesday, Aug. 28. The virtual event had 172 attendees and featured a discussion with Frederick Taylor, director of the Friendship 9 documentary entitled Counter Histories: Rock Hill.
Halpin, who is a member of the new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group which helped organize the event, said the group chose to discuss Taylor’s documentary because it wanted to “start locally with issues of race” and explore the community’s history in the fight for racial equality.
Another step in the Winthrop Athletics action plan was to identify and designate a Diversity and Inclusion Representative by June 18. According to Halpin, that role has been filled by Senior Associate Athletic Director Kelley Kish.
“She’s been unbelievable,” Halpin said. “She’s so passionate about diversity and inclusion in our department and she’s brought people together and brought a lot of this work together.”
Kish is also a member of the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Working Group and is the department’s Senior Woman Administrator.
The Winthrop Athletics action plan also states that each year moving forward, an exhibition men’s basketball game will be held to raise money and awareness towards fighting racism and promoting justice. It was announced on June 17 that for the 2020-21 season Winthrop would host Liberty University in this match on Oct. 24.
This announcement was met with criticism from some Winthrop students and fans who questioned if Liberty was an appropriate opponent to play in a game geared toward fighting racism. Halpin said that while these concerns are valid, the grander perspectives of the universities were not considered when scheduling the match — which still has many uncertainties due to COVID-19.
“Our head men’s basketball coach Pat Kelsey and Liberty’s head men’s basketball coach Ritchie McKay… are both responsible for raising young men – black and white and (from) all across the globe,” Halpin said. “They have a platform to help provide a message and they’re passionate about providing a message to fight systemic racism together.”
As for peaceful demonstrations like those seen in the NBA, the MLB, NASCAR and other pro sports leagues, Halpin said he isn’t sure yet what kind of action Winthrop athletes may take.
“At the end of the day, we support our student-athletes and our student-athletes’ voices matter to us,” he said. “We’re working proactively to listen to our student-athletes and hear what their desires are and their thoughts are, how they want to engage with what they are experiencing and their social responsibilities, and how we can best guide them to do so appropriately and support them in doing that.
“We just have a responsibility from an education standpoint to make sure that we’re encouraging it in a way that’s proactive [and] positive, that it’s empathetic for all human beings [and] empathetic of all people’s positions, but that it’s also anti-violence, it’s anti-harm to others, and it’s anti-systemic racism,” Halpin said.
Graphic by Lizzy Talbert
