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Inclusive Excellence

Huskers celebrate historical inclusion initiatives for 6th annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit

Husker student-athletes and staff recently completed the 6th annual diversity and inclusion summit by honoring the past, living the present and creating the future. A motto frequently used by athletic director Bill Moos; athletics utilized the theme #BuiltForThis to show Huskers how the past has made Nebraska built to maintain an inclusive environment. 
 
This year's Summit featured several current and former Huskers. Speakers included current Husker Bowling head coach Paul Klempa, bowling student-athlete Leah Glazer, former Husker Preston Love, current executive specialist Linsey Chamberlin, diversity and inclusion postgraduate intern Jeff DeVaughn, and community organizer Eric Reiter. The group of presenters all brought a unique perspective to our Summit this year and showed that they are #BuiltForThis. The annual Summit was held via Zoom, featuring an opening video narrated by Nebraska wrestling letter winner Jordan Burroughs. Burroughs is an Olympic gold medalist, and walked the participants through the history of Nebraska Athletics through an inclusive lens.


 

 


 
As the Summit began, participants were invited to watch three videos, all centered on different themes inside the Summit to provide a wide variety of opportunities for the entire audience to connect. Bowling head coach Paul Klempa and Bowling student-athlete Leah Glazer started the Summit with a conversation regarding the Bowling team and their participation in four diversity and inclusion workshops to help build on their team culture. Coaches and student-athletes saw what is being done at this moment and how these experiences can make your team and locker room better. We often tend to speak more than we do, but our bowling team took action and laid a foundation down for others to follow. For Klempa and Glazer, the sessions served as an opportunity to challenge their assumptions, and get to know the team on a more personal level, laying the foundation to have conversations around diversity and inclusion. 

 



Shortly after, attendees heard from Preston Love, a former football and track and field athlete and member of the Magnificent Eight. Love, a civil rights leader, also served as the campaign manager for Reverend Jesse Jackson during his 1984 presidential campaign, attributed his passion for civil rights and equality to his roots in Nebraska. Linsey Chamberlin, an executive specialist in Nebraska Athletics, is a native born Nebraskan now taking strides as an active member of the Husker Inclusion Council (HIC), advocating for changes within the department. Both native Nebraskans, Love and Chamberlin have experienced diversity and inclusion differently. We may all achieve and celebrate diversity and inclusion differently. Love helped us capture the history of Nebraska Athletics and how far we have come since then. 
 

To close, participants watched an example of a crucial conversation. Crucial conversations are bound to happen when bringing up diversity and inclusion topics. Jeff DeVaughn sat down with Eric Reiter to show our coaches, student-athletes, and staff how to have a crucial conversation. DeVaughn wanted to discuss and show his flaws that he had in this new role of being the postgraduate intern for diversity and inclusion. "I appreciated the Inclusion Summit this year. I think the Diversity and Inclusion department did an excellent job of selecting content that was both challenging and inviting," said Dr. Brett Haskell, Director of Sport Psychology for Husker Athletics. "I particularly appreciated Jeff DeVaughn's authenticity and vulnerability in the video with Eric Reiter; I'm sure Jeff's perspective welcomed others to be more comfortable asking questions when they don't know and challenging stereotypical behaviors." Providing an example of the conversation laid the foundation for breakout rooms for participants, where they were able to practice a conversation similar to DeVaughn and Reiter's. It was important for us to show how to have these conversations as a dialogue and not a debate.

Campus faculty, staff, and athletic staff and athletes participated as moderators, guiding participants through a number of questions aimed to continue the conversation around inclusion. For moderators, the program provided an evidence of intentionality and thoughtfulness to the program. "I participated as a moderator during the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Summit. It was clear how much work the staff put into this event and it was really inspiring. I especially loved the videos, particularly the modeling of how to have a courageous conversation. From a communication perspective, it was brilliant," said Dr. Angela Palmer-Wackerly, a moderator and professor an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies. 






It was special as we unwind back into our history and acknowledge all the good we have done over the decades to ensure the environment was inclusive. Although not perfect, Nebraska had courageous people trying to make change, and make an effort to better their moment of time. It was important for us to highlight our history in this summit to show the obstacles some of our former athletes and staff had to overcome. The theme was successful in capturing the attention of the audience, especially in a virtual setting. You can see a timeline of Nebraska Athletics diversity and inclusion efforts here.

This Summit was meant to inspire current student-athletes, staff, and coaches to build off the history and continue to fight for what is right and wrong. Wearing that "N" on means that you are #BuiltForThis will continue to create inclusive environments wherever you may be. For the athletes and staff alike, the historical perspective was inspiring and provided new perspectives. "I love the fact we had people from different sports and different parts of the world and that played in different eras to speak, it changed how I look at diversity as a whole" said football student-athlete Jamin Graham. #BuiltForThis is your own personal challenge on what you want to leave an impact on. It can be social justice, diversity and inclusion, or community service. From this summit, hopefully dialogue will spark an action of doing to help better create more inclusive spaces within our department, locker rooms, and community. 
 
With a diverse lineup and breakout sessions, the 2021 Diversity and Inclusion Summit allowed those in attendance to discover commonalities, differences, and allowed attendants to become more self-aware about Nebraska Athletics inclusive history. Participants had the opportunity to have a dialogue about all different aspects of diversity and inclusion, and challenge themselves on how they are #BuiltForThis. As we know, diversity and inclusion experiences are not just onetime events. From the survey that was presented, 82% of staff either agreed or strongly agreed that the Summit made them more likely to engage in additional diversity and inclusion related programs. Following the Summit, Nebraska Athletics provided staff members with monthly experiences, gathered from a number of campus resources to ensure the education and awareness continues to grow within our department. The Summit serves as a reminder of the commitment to inclusion, and Nebraska Athletics is rising to the next level as an inclusive Department of Athletics.