This past Sunday, the Big South conference hosted a Zoom meeting with the intention of ensuring that every Big South institution is a place where LGBTQ+ athletes feel comfortable being themselves.
The Student Athlete Advisory Committees across the conference agreed that they’d like to see more done in this area.
“SAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) leaders wanted to see more done on allyship and promoting inclusivity with our students,” assistant athletic director for academic and student success Claire Mooney-Melvin said.
The 90 minute meeting was led by Shane Diamond, a gender equity consultant and former collegiate ice hockey player.
Some points of emphasis he covered were relevant terms and definitions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, introduction to policies and laws that govern transgender inclusion in sports at the state and federal level and opportunities for interactive participation. The meeting ended with a Q&A session with Shane.
“I think it was a good opportunity for students to kind of learn on how to interact with them (LGBTQ+ student athletes) and support them on their teams,” Mooney-Melvin said of what the attendees got out of the event.
The attendees were a mix of student athletes, regular students and officials from other schools across the Big South region.
In Mooney-Melvin’s opinion, having meetings like this to show solidarity with those who may have been previously uncomfortable expressing themselves at Winthrop was a step in the right direction. Especially in an area of the country that traditionally isn’t as welcoming to the entire gender spectrum.
“This is not an area that is as welcoming. So trying to help them fight, and having students that may not be part of that community help them fight and gain those rights. Kind of opening the eyes of people on what they don’t get,” Mooney-Melvin said.
“Unfortunately the LGBTQ+ community does not have the rights they deserve in a lot of ways, especially in the Big South (conference) states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.”
Winthrop University specifically however does their best to combat this by enforcing Title IX according to Mooney-Melvin.
“We go off of Title IX in making sure that our students feel safe,” she said.
In general Mooney-Melvin believes Winthrop Athletics was already a safe place for diverse sets of people.
“I think our student athletes are pretty inclusive. They’ve seen a lot of different walks of life, you know? People that walk a different lifestyle or believe different beliefs. People who come from different backgrounds. So we have a pretty inclusive student body,” she said.
“But I don’t know that this is something that’s talked about very often.”
Malpractice wasn’t Mooney-Melvin’s issue so much as exposure to the topic.
“I think it’s something that needs to be talked about. Having students kind of open their eyes to it (inclusion) may be a little bit uncomfortable for them, but I think it’s important. All of our students need to feel welcome and included in whatever kind of way they live and identify. I want our students to feel safe like this is a safe space.”
Winthrop’s next diversity focused cultural event will be “NOT the Africa you Thought you Knew: Insiders’ Perspectives on the Traditions, Treasures, and Trends Today”. It’ll be this Friday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Dina’s Place.
