CCIW Announces Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee

October 20, 2021 Update

Institutional Actions

• Michele Hancock named VP of College Culture for Inclusion.
• The second year of Carthage's ARISE Program is going strong, with twice as many faculty, staff, and alumni as last year serving as Equity Coaches for first-year students. Two athletic coaches currently serve as Equity Coaches for the ARISE Program.
• First-year orientation added new material to their program, including a session focused on Belonging at Carthage. Two athletic coaches currently serve as facilitators for that program.

Athletics Actions

• Athletic staff participated in a NCAA OneTeam LGBTQ workshop last winter, and will participate in a Racial Equity Institute workshop this winter.
• The department has added a DEI segment to our athletic compliance and orientation meetings. During that, student-athletes are provided information about Bias Incident Reporting, the NCAA OneTeam commitment, the ARISE program, and the Intercultural Center on campus.
• Each athletic team will attend at least one mandatory DEI program during the academic year, which can be something the college is already offering or something that a staff member finds for their team off campus.

October 29, 2020 Update

Short Term Actions

• The Carthage Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) has formed a Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee, and put on various events in support of campus-wide DEI initiatives.
• The College and athletic department have committed to no longer purchasing athletic apparel and equipment featuring Red Men or Lady Reds, and will refrain from using the nickname until a new one is chosen in spring 2021.
• The Carthage Athletic Department has committed to not holding any athletic-related events on National Voting Day, November 3.
  • Coaches and members of SAAC have passed on information for each team to participate in the CCIW "All In Voting Challenge," with a goal for teams to get as many student-athletes registered as possible.
  • SAAC created a Voting Subcommittee, providing voting locations and information for all Carthage student-athletes.

Long Term Actions

• The Carthage Athletic Department has coordinated with the CCIW office to host a DIII OneTeam Program.
• Various teams within the Carthage Athletic Department have held meetings with Carthage's Director of Diversity and Inclusion Roger Moreano, and Carthage's Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion Cicely Hunter.
• Cross Country student-athletes initiated and helped host a run in support of Black Lives Matter on September 26, while fundraising for the Carthage Office of Equity and Inclusion, and the new Intercultural Center on campus.
• The Carthage swim and dive teams donated their money raised during the Carthage Virtual Stay at Homecoming Alumni Meet to the Carthage Office of Equity and Inclusion, and the new Intercultural Center on campus.
• All Carthage Athletics coaches were made aware of and invited to help fundraise for two new scholarship opportunities for Black, African American, and mixed-race students called the Wiggan-Kenniebrew Scholarship, and Experiential Learning Grant.

Initial Action Plan (August 5, 2020)

Short Term Actions

• Ask the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to form a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) subcommittee to work with the Athletics Advocacy Task Force on some of these short term and long term initiatives.
• Send a survey to our 2020-21 student-athletes to gain a better understanding of their experiences related to issues of diversity, equity, & inclusion, and use their recommendations to help shape the future of other athletics DEI initiatives.
• Commit to no more purchases of athletics apparel or equipment that says Red Men or Lady Reds.
• Commit to moving away from having athletic contest public address announcers and any athletic releases or stories for home contests call our teams the Red Men or Lady Reds.
• Commit to not holding any athletic-related activity on Tuesday, November 3rd to provide time for student-athletes to vote in national and local elections. In future years, the athletic department will keep a focus on local and national voting opportunities for student-athletes, with an emphasis on education about local polling places and absentee ballots.
• Commit to having an athletics representative attend Carthage's Equity & Inclusion Committee meetings.
• In all future athletic staff meetings, include time for the Athletics Advocacy Task Force to speak about valuable information related to DEI campus initiatives & opportunities.
• Update the student-athlete orientation to include information on our campus resources for diversity, equity, & inclusion.
• Add an "Advocacy in Athletics" link to the athletics website, including links to the Carthage College Equity & Inclusion Resources website.

Long Term Actions

• Arrange a virtual workshop or webinar for student-athletes to attend this semester related to DEI in athletics.
• Arrange a Q&A session for our coaching staff about DEI resources on campus, and discuss current issues or potential situations.
• Commit to hosting a DIII OneTeam Program.
• Encourage alumni to phase out the use of Red Men and Lady Reds.
• Have an athletics representative among each year's DEI certificate program cohort and/or have an Intercultural Development Inventory facilitator within athletics.
• Develop an Athletics mission statement which will clearly state our support of all Carthage student-athletes regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or religion.
• Commit to working with the sports information staff of schools we compete against to refrain from using Red Men or Lady Reds in any fashion of publication or public address.
• Coaches will commit to continuing education within their own teams and remain knowledgeable of campus resources.

Annual Observations and Celebrations:

• Hispanic and LatinX Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15)
• NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Week (October)
• Native American Heritage Month (November)
• National Girls & Women in Sports Day (Early February)
• Black History Month (February)
• Women's History Month (March)
• Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month (April)
• Pride Month (June)
• Juneteenth (June 19)