Thread by @WayneLBlack1

Y’all really would’ve had to have been in that #ASHE session last week, b/c I’m not cappin when I say every single person in that room was engaged in critical conversation around college athletics in a way I’ve never seen in a HESA space. Largely that’s due to us not being given

A space to have those convos with others in the field. There weren’t just only college sports scholars in there. Most ppl who came were there to support their friends and ended up fully participating in and we all connected with something. It was beautiful and that’s why we need

More of that. I’m not saying we need 100 athletics session at HESA conferences but what I am saying is maybe don’t just lump all the athletics ppl into one place. Yes, having that space is great but we also can be in other spaces and add tremendous value to them. Athletes are

A marginalized student group, idc what anyone says. They deserve the same support as any other marginalized group on campus and the same goes w/the ppl who work w/& study them.

@ezinneofoegbu brought a great point in saying that we don’t even consider athletic professionals as student affairs…but why not? They provide the same exact services as other SAPs, but their experiences are often left out of convos or siloed away. It doesn’t have to be this way

There’s so much space for us all to collab and lean into different experiences and expertise to make a better space for all college students. And this isn’t to say HESA is only at fault. Athletics does the same thing and it’s a clear separation btwn what they value. We just gotta

Take these barriers out the way and start working TOGETHER as DISCIPLINES and UNITS to shift the culture. If not, we are going to get the same shit we’ve always gotten when it comes to college athletes, athletic departments and the college going experience for those in it.