SMU Athletics Hosts Black Excellence Celebration
Feb 28 | Student-Athlete Success
The Event Was Held At Moody Coliseum On Feb. 18
DALLAS (SMU) – This year, SMU Athletics held a "Black Excellence Celebration" to recognize and celebrate Black alumni, faculty and staff. The event, a new addition to SMU's DEIB efforts, builds upon the annual Black Excellence Brunch and other events. In its inaugural year, the Black Excellence Celebration included a pre-game mixer and brunch, a suite in Moody Coliseum and halftime recognitions, complete with roses and commemorative items, for alumni, faculty and staff.
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"We have really made it a point of emphasis to try to gather and recognize our alumni, and in this case, our Black alumni, faculty and staff on a more regular basis," SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart said. "We want these events to be first-class. It's important that people to feel welcome, appreciated and valued."
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At the pregame mixer, alumni, faculty and staff along with their families had the opportunity to eat and gather as a community. Alumni groups gathered around cocktail tables to catch up and take pictures at the custom photo backdrop, while staff such as Assistant A.D./Senior Director of the ADSA Teiana Jones took the opportunity to network with attendees. Jones not only appreciated the event and the festivities, but found it very valuable to converse with Black staff working in various departments across campus.
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"It's really helpful for student-athletes to see that there are other areas of diversity on campus so that they are more likely to utilize different resources at SMU and find their community in different spaces," Jones said. "Getting to know them and those resources is so important so that they can get to know more people and take advantage of everything SMU has to offer."
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Director of Inclusive Excellence Brenda Scott hopes to continue growing the event and giving faculty and staff incentive to participate. She wants to provide an additional reason for alumni to come home to the Hilltop.
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"We hope that this type of recognition for our Black alumni, Faculty and Staff grows every year," said Scott. "I hope more and more come to network and celebrate a part of the history at SMU that they helped create."
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SMU's ADSA department was among many initiatives created in the previous 20 years to better serve student-athletes. The ADSA consists of academic counselors, learning specialists and tutors that cater to the unique academic challenges experienced by collegiate student-athletes.
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Mustang alumni Jabari Hearn and Reggie Dupard were quick to comment on the increased resources and programming provided to SMU's student-athletes. Aside from the new facilities, alumni were introduced to Life After Ball (LAB), a program that connects student-athletes to other alumni and professionals working in a multitude of fields. Hearn '97 said that he hadn't been back to SMU in 27 years before this year's Black Excellence Celebration on February 18.
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"To come back and have programs (for) undergraduates, Black athletes, Black students, to have Black Excellence Week... I feel like a kid in a candy store!" remarked Hearn. "We didn't have this kind of programming while I was playing."
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