{"id":3061,"date":"2021-04-28T13:41:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=3061"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:02:24","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:02:24","slug":"gatekeeper-for-sports-diversity-and-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/gatekeeper-for-sports-diversity-and-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Gatekeeper for Sports Diversity and Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column3061_366ee9-b8 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3061_aed0a3-5e\">Dr. Jason James, an assistant professor in the College of Business, has been named Wilmington University\u2019s Athletics Diversity and Inclusion designee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the role, which was approved by Divisions I, II, and III at the NCAA Convention in January 2020, he will serve as a gatekeeper of information related to diversity and inclusion, a core value of the Association.&nbsp; According to the NCAA, the position was created partially in response to feedback from athletics administrators who reported that \u201csometimes information gets bottlenecked and doesn\u2019t arrive to key recipients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3061_3c53fc-83 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3061_3c53fc-83\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"351\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Jason-James-351x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-15509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Jason-James-351x480.jpg 351w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Jason-James-183x250.jpg 183w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Jason-James.jpg 366w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 351px) 100vw, 351px\" \/><figcaption><em>Dr. Jason James<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. James assumed the post in June, and began working with Director of Athletics Dr. Stefanie Whitby and Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Matt Wilson. \u201cOur first big initiative was to socialize me with the athletic coaches, the team leaders and captains, and the teams as a whole,\u201d he says. \u201cFrom there, we conducted individual interviews with all the coaches about race and justice as it relates to sports.\u201d&nbsp; They then utilized the coaches\u2019 input as the basis for focus groups with student-athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOne thing we learned is that Wilmington Athletics really does foster a spirit of family,\u201d says Dr. James. \u201cThat comes from the coaches, the student- athletes, and from the environment that the Athletics administration fosters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He credits his partnership with Dr. Whitby and Dr. Wilson with facilitating his transition into the new role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. James plays tennis, but his real connection to sports is through baseball. He is an avid fan, and has visited several Major League ballparks as well as the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. His great-great uncle, Frank Fountain, managed a Negro League semi-pro team in Milford, Delaware, during World War II, and his younger brother played Division I baseball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says he is honored to have been chosen as the University\u2019s Diversity and Inclusion designee. \u201cThrough this role I\u2019ve gotten a deeper appreciation and understanding of how sports fits into the larger college scene,\u201d he says. \u201cStudent-athletes are a very special group, and to hear their passion about what they do, it magnifies how important it is to pay attention to them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Jason James, an assistant professor in the College of Business, has been named Wilmington University\u2019s Athletics Diversity and Inclusion designee. In the role, which&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[621],"class_list":["post-3061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2021"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":621,"label":"Magazine Spring 2021"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":621,"name":"Magazine Spring 2021","slug":"magazine-spring-2021","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1178,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":23,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3061"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15510,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3061\/revisions\/15510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}