EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette athletics, in alignment with the College's campus-wide effort and the formation of the Patriot League's Anti-Racism Commission, announced the ways it is committed to taking action against racism and to ensuring that our community is one that supports diversity and inclusion. 

"Athletics has a responsibility to the larger community to be positive leaders on campus. I am proud of the engagement of our student-athletes, coaches and staff as we collaborated on establishing the first steps to improving our community," said Lafayette Director of Athletics Sherryta Freeman. "Throughout our recent conversations, we consistently heard a desire to learn from each other and to keep the dialogue going. We plan to do just that and more. We also recognize that there are other important topics to tackle and plan to use our collective voice to address other significant issues necessary to improve our campus community."

The discussion among student-athletes, coaches and staff has led to the development of initial, impactful steps in areas of education, representation, awareness, support and programming and resources and pledges.

Lafayette Athletics will: 
 

EDUCATION

• Commit to engaging in regular conversations that educate our community on racism, diversity and inclusion.
• Require every coach and athletic staff member to participate in mandatory multicultural training on an annual basis.
• Require every student-athlete to complete a fall and spring session/educational seminar to increase awareness and knowledge of diversity and inclusivity.

REPRESENTATION

• Commit to increasing the diversity on our athletic teams and representation on our athletics staff.
• Commit to consistent hiring practices that ensure a diverse pool of candidates of color - including a diverse hiring committee and finalist pool.
• Enhance diversity and representation within alumni volunteer groups. 
• Launch the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Committee to propel the voices of student-athletes from underrepresented groups.
• Ensure student-athletes of diverse backgrounds are nominated and encouraged to apply for student leadership opportunities, awards, etc.

AWARENESS

• Promote awareness and support for Black Lives Matter at competitions throughout the year.
• Annually reserve Election Day as a day off for student-athletes to engage in the voting process, work within the community to promote voter participation, and reflect upon the importance of utilizing your individual right to vote
• Identify and bring awareness to campus policies and procedures that are contradictory to diversity and inclusion.

SUPPORT AND PROGRAMMING

• Support the development and initiatives of the Athletes of Color organization. 
• Designate an (NCAA) Diversity Coordinator to generate ideas for programming, monitor our progress and ensure that diversity and inclusion issues remain a priority for our department.
• Host annual McDonogh Network Forum to discuss the experiences of current and former student-athletes of color while also providing networking and mentoring opportunities.
• Commit to serving Easton and Lehigh Valley community youth programs that focus on underrepresented groups.
• Maximize our input and impact through the Patriot League Anti-Racism Commission.

RESOURCES AND PLEDGES

• Reboot the RESPECT initiative, develop an athletic department inclusion statement and create a Leopard Pledge that includes expectations for student-athletes' use of social media. 
• Encourage our athletics community to take the RISEtoWin Pledge.
• Create an avenue for student-athletes to submit feedback/experiences about race, diversity and inclusion to the leadership team for review.
• Maintain race, diversity and inclusion resources to share with members of our community.