A message from Orange Coast College Athletics
Dear Pirate Community,
We have always been an athletic community that supports social justice and respect for each and every person, and want to make clear we support Black lives, and they matter to all of us. Countless Black lives have been lost due to violence and systemic racism, and each loss of life is tragic and unacceptable. Racism has no place on our campus or in our department, and we strongly condemn any acts of racism, prejudice, or bigotry. We will fight against those evils and for our Black students, and all other students that experience discrimination.
We, and our colleagues in the athletics department, believe that creating a safe environment for our athletes starts with each and every one of us. It starts within our athletic teams, in our classes, and individual offices. It starts with building relationships with our community and knowing who they are and what they experience. It starts with listening, standing up for what is right, and acting on it. We believe our student-athletes are the most important people on our campuses and we need to model that belief by investing all we can within our areas of influence so they feel safe, accepted, and supported.
We also feel fighting unjust actions, or aggressively addressing racial inequalities requires ongoing conversations and subsequent actions from those conversations to ensure we are creating safe environments.
With our summer intercollegiate classes meeting virtually on Monday, we want to provide our students and athletes with some insight on how we are looking within to be active members in this fight against prejudice, hate, and racism. The first step we have taken has been to create a task force to discuss, study, and create solutions that initiate and support real change and growth. Comprised of administration, faculty, and staff, the task force identifies key initiatives that allow us to be active leaders on campus to help promote the change that is needed to ensure we create a true environment of inclusivity.
These are very challenging times and they need to be met with thoughtful, inclusive, and honest conversations that lead to real growth and lasting change. Change and maintaining a model of acceptance are essential for our students to be successful, to feel safe, and to thrive after they leave Orange Coast College.
We stand together in this fight.
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Michael Sutliff Dean, Kinesiology, Public Health and Athletics
Jason Kehler Athletic Director |
