Week of September 28th – October 2nd, 2020
Bowling Green State University
Description of Institution’s Activities
This nomination is based on last year’s community service efforts. One of our goals as an Athletic Department was to hit a total of 5,000 or more community service hours. When the COVID pandemic hit in March 2020, we had already completed 2,973 hours of service. There is no doubt in my mind we would have achieved our goal if there was not a global pandemic. Of those 2,973 hours we had five teams rank in the top ten of the nation with their service efforts. We had an economic impact of $73,242 and provided support to a wide variety of organizations in our local community. Our goal this year is to continue to invest in opportunities that will allow our student-athletes to give back in a safe and beneficial way in our “new normal”. We do not intend to slow down in our community service efforts.
The 2020-21 Give Back Leadership Awards will be awarded each week to the Mid-American Conference institution, sport program, or student-athlete that has demonstrated excellence in service and citizenship that week. The three awards will be awarded on a rotating weekly basis, outlined below, and are intended to highlight the activities of MAC members in local communities. Award nominations should highlight the contributions that the institution, sport program, or student-athlete made to the broader community. The winners are selected by a representative of the MAC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs).
Other Nominees
University of Akron
The University of Akron Athletic Department deserves to win the Give Back Leadership Award based on our commitment to service and citizenship in the past week. The University had over 50 student athlete’s record tapings of the Hog Mollies, a thirteen-book series created by the 2nd & 7 Foundation, to be shown to second graders all over Northeast Ohio. The mission of their Foundation is to promote reading by providing free books and positive role models to kids in need while encouraging young athletes of the community to pay it forward. With the help of our driven student athletes we have helped over ten different grade schools in the area and the 2nd & 7 Foundation has recognized us on their social media for our help. In the spring of 2020, we started this partnership and we are excited to work with such an incredible organization. In addition to the readings we will be slowly getting back into schools to read face to face, we are helping an individual who cannot be at school to see the recordings by sending him personalized readings, and we are starting tutoring to help the kids in these grade schools.
Ball State University
Ball State’s 2020 Day of Action took place on Friday, Sept. 11. As a campus community, we contributed to numerous charitable causes and volunteered for a variety of charitable projects throughout Delaware County to help improve the lives and futures of families across our community.
Some of the projects included:
- A book drive to help Muncie BY5 stock more than 35 Little Free Libraries in Delaware County.
- A hygiene product drive (i.e. travel shampoos, soap, body wash, toothpaste) to share with local shelters and schools.
- COVID-19 safe self-initiated community service projects, like fence painting, trash pickup, flower/tree planting, river clean-up
- Ball State talent videos to send to send to nursing homes and assisted living facilities have been on lock-down since March with little to no entertainment for its residents
- Last year, Ball State employees raised over $149,000 for the United Way and unlocked another $58,800 in matching gifts.
Kent State University
Each year we order student-athlete t-shirts, and on the back of the shirts is a slogan or motto that the president and vice president of SAAC choose to represent the athletes for that year. This year the department has adopted a slogan for this year: “Together We Change.” To promote social change in all aspects of society (racial, LBGTQ, women rights, etc.) We will focus on educating each others and making change together. These shirts took off when they hit social media when two athletes covered up our campus rock with this year’s saying, after it was painted with “white Lives matter”. Many people started reaching out to see where they could get the shirts and purchase them. That is when we decided as a department and SAAC to make it into a fundraiser for our campus Diversity, Equality and Inclusion office! The month of September was spent with athletes, coaches and staff reaching out to family, friends and alumni asking to support a great cause that went back to help current and future students! In the end we raised over $1,000, and sold many shirts to campus staff, alumni friends, and family! “Together We Change”
Northern Illinois University
With issues of race relations and social justice rising to the forefront of national consciousness, Northern Illinois University Athletics has enacted an aggressive social justice education plan based on information, conversation, and action. This includes:
- Virtual meetings of all student-athletes led by NIU professors.
- Focus groups for all student athletes based on differed topics such as systematic racism, activism, advocacy, etc.
- Individual team counseling sessions on the topic of race relations.
- "safe spaces" for African American student-athletes.
- All department town halls with coaches and staff with topics focusing on understanding and empathy
- Training and education of staff in partnership with NIU’s Office of Academic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (AEDI) on topics such as cultural competencies, impact bias, bystander interventions, etc.
- Inviting additional members, including students, to be a part of the Athletic Diversity and Inclusion committee
- Creating a student led Diversity and Inclusion branch of the larger DIG Committee
- Inspired by the initial conversations, NIU student-athletes devised and created social media plans including a video with the theme of #StartTheConversation that was released over the summer. In addition, they have been the driving force of recent protests on campus supporting the Center for Black Studies which had been vandalized.
University of Toledo
Toledo athletes and coaches in football and women’s tennis volunteered at the Toledo Northwesterm Ohio foodbank on 9/12 and 9/14 respectively….providing assistance in packing meals for families in the NW Ohio area.
Western Michigan University
“The Socially Constructed Assault on Black Men:” A Living Memorial to Jamal Williams was presented by Dr. Mark Orbe, Professor of Communication, on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Dr. Orbe addressed the many issues contributing to the social injustices frequently experienced by black men and in this case, 2020 WMU Football Alum Jamal Williams. George Floyd's death had a significant impact on Jamal resulting in a deep depression. Coaches supported Jamal’s family to get him admitted to a hospital on a psychiatric hold in Munster, IN on June 20, 2020. The very place that everyone hoped would help him took his life. Jamal was shot and killed by a security guard acting outside of hospital policy. Jamal's death hit many on the WMU campus very hard. Most did not have an opportunity to process the loss of one of our own. WMU Athletics supported the participation of its coaches and student athletes in the presentation. Over 60 coaches, student athletes, and community members joined the call live, with several hundred engaging with the posted recording. It allowed participants to learn, share, and express grief and frustration that we are not immune to the ills of our country. We continue to work closely with our student athletes and coaches to address diversity and inclusion and to increase cultural competence across our community.
