Michigan State Athletics Hosts Inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation on Race, Sport and Social Change
6/10/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football, General
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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State Athletics hosted its inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation, exploring the storied history of Race, Sport and Social Change on the campus of Michigan State University, on Thursday evening in the Clara Bell Smith Center Auditorium.
Panelists included MSU football head coach Mel Tucker; journalist, writer and activist Jemele Hill; MSU Athletics chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Ashley Baker; and filmmaker, author and educator Maya Washington. She is the daughter of Spartan football great Gene Washington, who played football and ran track & field at MSU, and was a part of the Spartans' back-to-back Big Ten and National Championships in 1965-66.
Those in attendance heard from keynote speaker, MSU Dean of the Graduate School and University Distinguished Professor of History Dr. Pero Dagbovie, with a presentation on the early history of African Americans and sport at MSU. Dr. Dagbovie highlighted some of the pioneers of MSU Athletics, including legendary head coach Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty's involvement in advancing the integration of college football, and how Michigan State was credited with being the "Underground Railroad of college football," and the players that Daugherty brought to Michigan State.Â
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MSU Dean of the Graduate School and University Distinguished Professor of History Dr. Pero Dagbovie was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation, exploring the storied history of Race, Sport and Social Change on June 9, 2022 in the Clara Bell Smith Center Auditorium.
Dr. Dagbovie also highlighted Spartan legends Gideon Smith, who was the first African American to participate in athletics at the university and one of two African Americans to play college football in the nation. Additionally, Dr. Dagbovie talked about Dick Lord's legacy as one of the first black players to play hockey, not just at Michigan State, but in the United States, as well as Mable Lucas, who was MSU's first Black volleyball player, graduating in 1927.
Following Dr. Dagbovie, the attendees heard moving talks from the impressive panel, led by moderator Brian Hines, with a panel discussion on the personal and professional experiences of the intersection between race, sport and social change.Â
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MSU football head coach Mel Tucker was a panelist at the inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation, exploring the storied history of Race, Sport and Social Change on June 9, 2022 in the Clara Bell Smith Center Auditorium.
Coach Tucker highlighted the story of his own father, who when he was a senior in high school in 1965, learned about the possibility of going to college on a scholarship, and how things progressed to Coach Tucker's senior year in high school, when he had a large selection of which college to attend. Coach Tucker also spoke about his first arrival at Michigan State in 1997 as a graduate assistant coach and learning how MSU integrated college football along with the impact and generational change that Spartan football led throughout the college football landscape.
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Filmmaker, author and educator Maya Washington was a panelist at the inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation, exploring the storied history of Race, Sport and Social Change on June 9, 2022 in the Clara Bell Smith Center Auditorium. She is also the daughter of Spartan football great Gene Washington, who played football and ran track & field at MSU, and was a part of the Spartans' back-to-back Big Ten and National Championships in 1965-66.
Along with recognizing her father's teammates in attendance, Washington also talked about the 1966 "Game of the Century" between No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State, with MSU's eight Black starters and Black quarterback, while Notre Dame had one Black player in Alan Page, and the national television audience, with the pressure and attention on her father and his teammates.
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Journalist, writer and activist Jemele Hill was a panelist at the inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation, exploring the storied history of Race, Sport and Social Change on June 9, 2022 in the Clara Bell Smith Center Auditorium.
Hill addressed the impact that the "Game of the Century" had on her as a student at MSU from 1993-97, and the importance of understanding history in order to push the boundaries of the future. She also talked about MSU University President Clifton R. Wharton, MSU's 14th president, and the first African American president of any major university in the United States, from 1970-77, and Merritt Norvell, who was Michigan State's 18th director of athletics, the first African American AD in the Big Ten in 1995, as well as Bobby Williams, who was MSU's first African American football coach, and the importance of Black student-athletes being able to see themselves in the faces to know what past, current and future leadership is and can be.
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MSU Athletics chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Dr. Ashley Baker was a panelist at the inaugural Spartan Summer Conversation, exploring the storied history of Race, Sport and Social Change on June 9, 2022 in the Clara Bell Smith Center Auditorium.
Dr. Baker spoke on the importance of Black students and student-athletes finding the right platform to use their voice. She talked about how necessary representation is, including having diversity in leadership at MSU, and how it is vital to continue to push boundaries.
All four panelists provided advice to those in attendance to be strategic in their actions, but also be educated, informed and supported. They also all talked about using history to impact not just the present, but also the future, along with how MSU has the ability to continue to be changemakers as it has in the past by embracing the legacy and history of Michigan State Athletics.
Thursday was the first of Dr. Baker's vision for the Spartan Summer Conversations, to educate and bring together the campus and the community as one. Â Â
