Georgia Tech Athletics Unveils Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Pledge

vapspwi said:
I’m just glad we have a bye this week so the day off to vote (haven’t I been hearing something about early voting?) doesn’t really affect game prep too much.

JRjr
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Game prep? Surely you gist!
 
DustJacket said:
Is this the official election day thread?
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I am fully supportive of the statement. We recruit these athletes and are entertained by their competing as athletes. Our football, basketball and track athletes are majority black. Our tennis players are predominantly foreign. I want to listen to them, to learn from their experiences, and allow them to use their platforms to advocate for social change. Our coaches cannot recruit these athletes with promises they really care about their overall welfare and do any less than listen to them and support their right to advocate for social change. “Just shut up and play” is a selfish, hypocritical stance by those who care about these athletes only for the entertainment value they bring to their lives.

However, a call for respecting diversity must be just that. I believe Georgia Tech must also respect the right of an athlete to use their platform to advocate for social change if that athlete embraces conservative social and political views to enact that change. The Total Person Concept is a great way to model our athletes listening to one another, seeking to understand one another and insisting on mutual respect for one another. Diversity and requiring group think are mutually exclusive. The unity we seek should be based on mutual respect, not requiring unanimity of thought and practice.
 
Come on folks, if you haven't been paying attention this is a national feel good movement that a portion of the citizenship believe needs attention. Whether you agree or not, maybe some change needs to occur in order for certain people to feel secure and respected. Again,you and I might not agree to all demands, but let this play out and see the results. This is just my opinion.
 
yellowbritchies said:
Come on folks, if you haven't been paying attention this is a national feel good movement that a portion of the citizenship believe needs attention. Whether you agree or not, maybe some change needs to occur in order for certain people to feel secure and respected. Again,you and I might not agree to all demands, but let this play out and see the results. This is just my opinion.
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Respect is earned.
 
It is likely just banal slogans and no one really thinks about it much one way or another.

To be pointed about it: I don't like including the word "fight". Fight is tied to violence and there was too much violence in the past year. Fight also means you are fighting something or someone, that word creates an opponent. I don't think that was the point of the message and if it is then it basically means the message was built on hypocrisy.

That also shows up to a lesser extent in One Voice. Are athletes that disagree with other athletes forced to be quiet so that there is only One Voice?

I don't mind statements about Unity or even Diversity for stuff like this.

American is built on Freedom and that include Freedom of thought and action so people need to be united that others can think and act in diverse ways.
 
agt45 said:
I think that will be the eventual evolution. Kids with different political beliefs may not get recruited because of fear it might upset ‘team unity’
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It scares me that can even be inferred in some of the communication.

There are 100s of players and other staff on a football team. There are at least a few that have (AND SHOULD HAVE) opposing POVs and anyone trying to censor that is gross.

FWIW, it seems like the only action taking place is a push to vote and support of that process. I have zero problems with that.
 
Is the Everyday Championship better or worse than the Championship of Life?
 
77GTFan said:
However, a call for respecting diversity must be just that. I believe Georgia Tech must also respect the right of an athlete to use their platform to advocate for social change if that athlete embraces conservative social and political views to enact that change. The Total Person Concept is a great way to model our athletes listening to one another, seeking to understand one another and insisting on mutual respect for one another. Diversity and requiring group think are mutually exclusive. The unity we seek should be based on mutual respect, not requiring unanimity of thought and practice.
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But you are wrong, as you can see from the language of the statement. A student athlete that wanted to campaign against gay marriage would be violating the premises of the program, according to the GTAA.

Let's get real – our country has no shortage of diversity, no shortage of independent political thought, ample opportunity for any student to get involved in any political or social movement he wants to. Colleges are hotbeds of political activism and unrest, and have been for centuries. The problem isn't that kids have no way to get involved – the problem is that these programs / initiatives / statements are trying to promote a certain vision of diversity that is actually ideologically uniform.

This isn't about giving kids something they otherwise don't have – it's about using the institutional power of CFB to push a certain political agenda. It's definitely making me rethink my GTAA donations.
 
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77GTFan said:
I am fully supportive of the statement. We recruit these athletes and are entertained by their competing as athletes. Our football, basketball and track athletes are majority black. Our tennis players are predominantly foreign. I want to listen to them, to learn from their experiences, and allow them to use their platforms to advocate for social change. Our coaches cannot recruit these athletes with promises they really care about their overall welfare and do any less than listen to them and support their right to advocate for social change. “Just shut up and play” is a selfish, hypocritical stance by those who care about these athletes only for the entertainment value they bring to their lives.
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"Our football, basketball and track athletes are majority black."

Interesting that you believe all these athletes believe the same thing primarily because they are black.

That's pretty racist, bud.
 
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