Donovan Wilson is an Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership (IAL) M.Ed. graduate student currently interning as a Big Ten fellow for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the University of Washington Athletics Department. Donovan recently spoke with Jake Silver from the University of Washington Center for Leadership in Athletics about his ongoing work to advance equity in athletics.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Q: Could you describe your role within the University of Washington Athletics Department?
A: Each school in the Big Ten receives a fellow for the academic year who can working various spaces within the athletics department . Here at UW, I work with our DEI and student-athlete development staff. Within the DEI department, I support and co-lead all our DEI strategies and programs we provide for our student-athletes and staff. I also help lead our efforts for heritage months as well as other external facing initiatives and serve as an advisor for our student-athlete affinity groups. In the student-athlete development staff, I help create the curriculum and facilitations for our classes that are provided to all student-athletes.
Q: What have been some of the most impactful experiences or projects you’ve worked on during your internship that relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
A: One of the more impactful projects I’ve had is the opportunity to lead our Purple Project initiative. This initiative provides families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds with free tickets to a Husky sporting event. We provide them with food/drink vouchers and a t-shirt to give them the full “game-day” experience. The key intention with this initiative is to use sport as a vehicle to bridge the gap with families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to ultimately show them that college is an option.
Q: How has this internship shaped your understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion in athletics?
A: Doing this work on a college campus has displayed how wide the reach of DEI is. I think many people believe that DEI consists of race, gender, and sexual orientation. However, our work encompasses far more than that such as disability, socioeconomic status, national origin, and more. This experience has truly shown how much responsibility is required of the DEI department on a college campus.
Q: What do you believe are the most significant barriers to achieving true equity in athletics, and how can leaders in athletics address these challenges?
A: There are many barriers as to why true equity is not achieved in athletics, but most of it stems from how our society was built and is structured. Sports is a cis male, heteronormative, able-bodied space. As athletics professionals, we often fail to create space for those that do not align with these dominant identities. As professionals, we can do better with educating ourselves with knowledge outside of our comfort zone. Building on our knowledge will assist in breaking down barriers that keep us from achieving equity, inclusion and belonging for everyone.
Q: From your perspective, what role does leadership play in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within college athletics?
A: Leadership plays a huge role in promoting equity, inclusion and belonging within college athletics. It is nearly impossible to execute initiatives, strategies and programs aimed to increase inclusion and belonging if it does not come from the top down. DEI is already a space that makes people uncomfortable so it is crucial for leadership to buy into DEI in order for it to be embedded throughout the entire department.
Q: How do you envision leveraging your education from the IAL program and your internship at UW to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in your future career?
A: The opportunity to work with the UW DEI staff is something I am extremely grateful for. Through this experience I know that I will have a greater understanding of how to effectively run a DEI department and how to ensure this work is embedded throughout a whole department. Through the IAL program, I will have a deeper understanding of how the various departments operate. This will grant me with confidence on how I can provide value in my own department as well surrounding departments.
Q: What was your favorite course from the IAL summer session, and what made it particularly impactful for you?
A: My favorite course was the coaching class with Dr. Hannah Olson and Dr. Julie McCleery. I’ve been involved in sports in some capacity almost my entire life, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked in depth about the concept of coaching. The class discussions were insightful because everyone had varying viewpoints on what coaching should/shouldn’t look like which definitely challenged my perception of coaching.
