With community and police relations going from a simmer to a boil in many cities around the country, a San Diego philanthropist has created a program that brings together three universities, law enforcement agencies and the public for focus groups followed by attendance at sporting events.
San Diego State University, the University of San Diego and Ohio State University have implemented the Game Changer program by providing meeting space and game access. Other partners are the San Diego district attorney’s office, the Urban League of San Diego County, Alliance Healthcare Foundation and the San Diego Gulls.
The program was initiated in December 2016 by Sean Sheppard, a philanthropist from San Diego who conceived the program after seeing “unnecessary loss of life between law enforcement and people of color.”
Sheppard said he “didn’t see anybody offer any solutions to how we can minimize those type of violent instances in various communities across the country,” so he decided to create a platform that does just that. He wanted to have the meetings at sports games, he said, because “sports brings people together” from all walks of life.
“I knew based on my background in collegiate athletics, as an athlete and as a coach, that a lot of the unrest in the community between law enforcement, particularly White male officers within law enforcement and people of color, is really due to a lack of exposure, a lack of understanding, a lack of comfort, a lack of familiarity with one another,” said Sheppard.
Sheppard, a Brooklyn native, earned his bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University and a master’s degree in physical education with an emphasis on sports psychology at San Diego State. He formerly was director of strength and conditioning for Olympic sports at Ohio State University.
The ultimate goal of Game Changer is to change people’s perceptions, resulting in changed behaviors, in the hopes of creating more peaceful outcomes between law enforcement and the public, said Sheppard.
