Over the past few weeks, our Athletics department has reached out to our student-athletes and we have engaged in open, honest, and difficult dialogue. The courage they displayed when speaking about their experiences and voicing their opinions was nothing short of inspiring. We listened to their pain and felt called to action. Following these conversations on June 3rd a task force of administrators met to discuss further actions in creating a community devoted to ending racism. This task force is currently expanding to include as many perspectives as possible from our student-athletes, administrators, and coaches. Their task is ensuring that our athletics department stays focused on these issues not just for an immediate response, but for years to come. 

Fordham Athletics is committed to fostering an inclusive space that has zero tolerance for intolerance. We will use the following steps to ensure that the conversations we are currently engaged in will endure for years to come, recognizing that we can always learn more and improve.

We are...

• Committed to organizing bias education and racial justice training for all Fordham Athletics coaches and staff
• Committed to supporting Fordham SAAC with their initiatives in The Bronx
• Committed to implementing a protocol for reporting racist and prejudice acts in our community
• Committed to aiding students in creating a space to connect and engage in conversation on their experiences
• Committed to the creation of two positions to the SAAC executive board:
  • Position 1: Focuses on student-athlete well-being/welfare 
  • Position 2: Focuses on diversity initiatives
• Committed to adding student-athlete representation on the Student Development & Athletics Committee
• Committed to prioritizing representation as part of our hiring process
• Committed to including community education as part of the orientation process for incoming students
• Committed to permanently honoring "Juneteenth" as a paid holiday. 
• Committed to having no athletics activities on Election Day 
• Committed to continuing to listen, learn, and engage with our students. 

Going forward WE ARE COMMITTED to following the core values set out by our Ignatian teachings, striving to do more, committed to justice, being men and women for others, caring for the whole person, and reflecting on our past and future actions. We believe that these values are central to improving our community.