NCAA Inclusion Week Day 4: Taking Action

NCAA Inclusion Week Day 4: Taking Action

NCAA INCLUSION WEEK

BOSTON – Over a four-day stretch from October 22-25 members of the NCAA will be taking to social media to start the discussion, speak out on, and promote diversity and inclusion as key elements of student-athletes success.  

The goal of this annual campaign is to engage social media to create a dialogue on diversity and inclusion and to communicate the benefit of inclusive environments to the student-athlete experience.  

Suffolk athletics joined the national movement and all members of Ram Nation – alumni, fans, friends, family, faculty, staff and beyond – are encouraged to follow the content over the next four days on the official social media channels of the department at GoSuffolkRams on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.   

Use the campaign’s official hashtag #NCAAInclusion if you would like to join the movement and be sure to use #RamNation to see the latest news and notes on all things Suffolk Athletics.  


DAY FOUR – “TAKING ACTION”
The fourth and final day of NCA Inclusion week calls NCAA members to outline personal action steps for inclusive excellence. Ram Nation took the stand by making a pledge on how it will make inclusion a priority on its teams. 

     


DAY THREE – “BETTER TOGETHER”
Thursday, Oct. 24 the focus was showcasing the strengths and diversity of your campus or conference community.  

Suffolk athletics who expanded from 13 to 19 sports in 2016 has since added more culture to its teams with diverse backgrounds and geographical makeup. 

For a glimpse of Suffolk University’s make-up check out the graphic below. 


DAY TWO – “BROADENING OUR HORIZONS”
Wednesday’s (Oct. 23) focus was to create connections across campus and highlighting diverse friendships, mentors and roles models. 

Suffolk baseball’s Blase Cormier is a prime example as this as an Orientation Leader.  

Cormier balances the academic workload of a business management and finance major, playing baseball and being a role model for the newest Rams on campus. 

As part of the Family Logistic Orientation he worked with families, oversaw the orientation leaders and worked behind the scenes to schedule and create events to ensure orientation ran smoothly.  

“A big part of me joining the orientation team was when I was a freshman at orientation and I saw how willing the orientation leaders were to help me out and make the process of college so much easier,” Cormier said. “I love to help people and put myself out there.”  

Cormier continued, “Suffolk offers students so many ways to get involved around campus. There are so many clubs and organizations that students can join to make friends and connect with new people. The athletic department does a great job being flexible in allowing its student athletes to participate in more than just their sport, which has allowed me to become more than a student-athlete.”

While Cormier has made connections on campus, women’s basketball senior Alexis Hackett has branched out in the work field interning at State Street. 

Hackett, who has a knack of juggling a full course load with a two-semester long basketball schedule, worked as a corporate tax intern where she edited tax returns and worked with tax compliance. 

Her on-job experience has evolved into two jobs offers one from PwC and another from KPMG, which are two of the “Big 4” accounting firms with the corporate tax internship positions at either set for the summer of 2020 and potentially lead to full-time positions following her graduate school coursework.  

“Suffolk University and Suffolk athletics has allowed me to be more than just a student-athlete,” Hackett said. “The school is very supportive and resourceful when finding internships to apply for and encourages students to make connections outside the University. As a student-athlete, I have learned a tremendous amount about responsibility, time management, and how important it is to value relationships, whether it be on the court or in the real world. Everyone in the athletic department is supportive and positive about not only my time in a Suffolk uniform, but my future.” 

  


DAY ONE  – “THIS IS WHO ARE WE ARE” 
Tuesday, Oct. 22 the focus was on student-athletes core values and multiple identities. The purpose of the day was to show who the student-athlete is as a person.  

Five members from a variety of different of Suffolk’s teams took a stand in the first day describing how they are more than a student-athlete. To see how Rams are more than a student-athlete, click on the graphics below.