One prominent, well-debated issue in the American higher education system is whether university officials should remove the names of individuals with racist pasts from campus buildings/structures that bear their namesake. The purpose of this study was to analyze basketball and football facilities at Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions to explore the racialized history of the people whom these facilities are named after. Utilizing a collective case study approach, the authors identified 18 facilities that were named after athletic administrators, coaches, and philanthropists who engaged in racist activities or harbored racist views. The authors argue, using critical race theory and systemic racism theory as interpretative lenses, that naming buildings after racist persons legitimizes their legacies, rationalizes systemic racism, and continues to unjustly enrich this particular group.

The emergence of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals (i.e., staff with DEI-specific responsibilities) is a fairly recent phenomenon, and research to date has rarely examined the experiences of these DEI administrators despite the fact they are often solely charged with driving DEI within and beyond their department. Utilizing Ahmed’s diversity work framework, this study draws from semistructured interviews with 23 athletic administrators to identify barriers to efforts for driving DEI action in the context of intercollegiate athletics. Five higher-order themes were identified in the data, representing barriers to effective DEI work: (a) structural barriers, (b) cultural barriers, (c) conceptual barriers, (d) emotional barriers, and (e) social/relational barriers. Findings indicate that DEI athletics professionals perceive barriers on multiple levels, from personal levels (emotional and social/relational barriers) to those of a systemic nature (structural, cultural, and conceptual barriers). Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for praxis are discussed.

No abstract

The number of NCAA international student-athletes (ISAs) on US college campuses has increased to upwards of 20,000. This current study sought to investigate their transition experiences into colleges, based on the ISA transition adjustment model. More specifically, this study sought to better understand how recent changes in the NCAA have impacted the ISA population and if the antecedent factors in the transition adjustment model (personal, inter-personal, perceptual, and cultural distance) still represent the best indicators of successful transition for ISAs. To conduct this study, semi-structured interviews were completed with 10 current and former female Division I ISAs from six separate schools and seven countries. The results from this study suggest the core antecedents of the model – personal, inter-personal, perceptual, and cultural distance – were all still relevant. However, the factors included among these antecedents have shifted over time, with this study finding the importance of faculty and students (inter-personal) and nutrition (cultural distance) as significant factors in the transition of ISAs into US colleges. The results provide insights to administrators of US college athletics regarding how to help international student-athletes’ adaptation.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals in the NCAA athletics governance structure. The specific focus was centered on the multiple crises of summer 2020, including both the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for social injustices and its effects on DEI work and the impacts on DEI professionals within college athletics. In total, 23 semi-structured interviews were completed with the DEI professionals, with five major themes emerging from the results, including: (1) Reorganization of Priorities, (2) Reactive vs. Proactive Work, (3) Challenges of Virtual DEI Engagement, (4) Emotional Fatigue, and (5) Validation of DEI work. The implications for future research and practitioners will be further explored.