Black Student Athletes Urged to Avoid Colleges in States with Anti-DEI Laws

TFD – Discover why black student athletes are urged to avoid colleges in states with anti-DEI laws. Learn about the implications for collegiate sports and the push for inclusivity and justice in higher education.

Black student athletes are being urged by Black activists, political figures, and advocates of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to abstain from attending schools and institutions located in states that have enacted or supported anti-DEI laws.

Their appeals coincide with the introduction of 81 anti-DEI laws in Congress and 28 states since the beginning of 2023, which target college programs, as per a count by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Eight have been ratified in several states, including Florida and Texas.

The University of Florida implemented significant adjustments following the Florida Board of Governors’ January ban on public universities using state funds for any DEI program.

Earlier this month, the state’s flagship university announced that it had closed the office of its Chief Diversity Officer to comply with the Board of Governors’ directive.

In retaliation, the NAACP wrote to National Collegiate Athletic Association President Charlie Baker on Monday, pleading with both current and potential student athletes “to reconsider any decision to attend, and compete at a predominantly White institution” in Florida.

The importance of Black athletes to collegiate sports programs was underlined in the letter.

The letter states, “When considering the all-too-often unseen business behind college sports, Florida’s dismantling of core representation and curricula is even more egregious.”

“Football, in particular, is an industry worth billions of dollars, with Black student-athletes bearing the lion’s share of the revenue.”

The significance of Black educators to the whole student experience was also mentioned in the NAACP letter.

In a statement that accompanied the letter, Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, stated that DEI is “essential (to) guaranteeing fair and efficient educational results.”

Johnson stated, “There is no comparison to the value that Black and other collegiate athletes bring to large universities.”

“It’s time for those athletes to take their talents elsewhere if these institutions cannot fully invest in them.”

DEI programs at state universities and colleges were defunded under a statute signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in May of last year, who described them as a “distraction from the core mission of public universities.” Similar legislation prohibiting DEI offices at state institutions was also enacted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, which resulted in the termination of student services from several University of Texas at Austin campus programs.

The NAACP letter came after other outspoken advocates for DEI penned messages to Black athletes in recent weeks, encouraging them to protest Florida’s anti-DEI laws or sign with schools in states that support DEI on college campuses.

Emmitt Smith, perhaps the most well-known alumnus of the University of Florida and one of the most accomplished careers in the NCAA and NFL, expressed his “utter disgust” with the alma mater’s decision to close its DEI office in a statement posted on X last week.

“The DEI department is necessary to accomplish those goals, and we need diverse backgrounds and ways of thinking to enhance our university,” Smith wrote.

“We continue to fail based on systemic issues and with this decision, UF has conformed to the political pressures of this day and age, instead of displaying courage and leadership,” he continued. “To the many minority athletes at UF, I ask that you be aware of this decision and speak out against the University’s lack of oversight in closing its doors to other minorities.”

Black players have been instrumental in helping predominantly White universities become well-known in college athletics, according to Frank Harris, a professor at San Diego State University who teaches diversity and equity in higher education. Harris made this statement in an interview with CNN.

Star Black athletes on their teams have helped several, like the University of Florida, win national titles, he noted.

“In many ways, I think it’s hypocritical for an institution to profit from Black talent and Black excellence in athletes while not making a comparable commitment to their academic and personal success,” Harris stated. Furthermore, we are aware that the true goal of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives is to support students as wholes. to guarantee that they are made to feel at home in a facility.

Legislators in Alabama may soon approve a bill that forbids public funding of DEI initiatives at state agencies and colleges.

“No problem organizing Black parents and athletes to attend other institutions outside of the state where diversity and inclusion are prioritized,” stated Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin in a Facebook post on February 21.

“Parents of student athletes have a lot more influence than they think,” Woodfin wrote in an email to CNN last week.

“Do these colleges wish to recruit elite athletes? They must thus exert the same effort to promote inclusiveness and justice. Should that not be the case, those athletes will go where they are accepted, even if it is outside of this state. That’s how easy it is.