Across the country, present and past collegiate student-athletes are finding their voices on issues related to racism.
At Clemson University, former football players DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson are petitioning the university to remove the name of slave owner John C. Calhoun from the university’s honors college. Hopkins wrote on Instagram, “I am joining the voices of the students and faculty.”
At the University of South Carolina, alumna Heather Armel started a petition directed to the university’s president, Robert L. Caslen, seeking to rename the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. The late senator was a vocal supporter of racial segregation and an opponent of the Civil Rights Act. More than 17,000 people have signed the petition to date, including several prominent former student-athletes.
Throughout the country, student-athletes are taking action to address systemic racism, inequality and injustice.
“Everyone around the country is waking up and decided that enough is enough, and you’re seeing this at every level in every sport,” says former NBA player Etan Thomas, author of the book We Matter: Athletes and Activism.
“We’re in a pandemic, but racism is at an all-time peak right now,” says Howard University lacrosse player Tiffany Hunt, the newly elected president of Howard’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). “Student-athletes should be voicing their opinions.”
The issue of renaming
