NEAC Delivers Message about Racial Inequity and Social Injustice

Over the past couple weeks and months, we as a society have come face-to-face with the racial inequality and social injustice that exists in our country. The recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too many others are horrific, tragic, and unacceptable. But we can no longer turn a blind eye to an issue that we have been unable to overcome. As a conference, we stand with our NEAC institutions, student-athletes, families and alumni in feeling outraged, angry, sad, and disheartened. All of the emotions that we are feeling are real, raw, and valid. We must create space to express these feelings.

Since its beginning, the NEAC has been committed to remaining a diverse and inclusive conference. Our members stretch from metropolitan areas to small, rural towns while our student-athletes come from all over the country and beyond. With such diversity, we recognize that working harder to eradicate discrimination, systemic racism and inequality are of great importance to our entire membership. While our conference begins to recommit to this ideal, we know it is one thing to say diversity and inclusion remains one of our pillars. It is another to live it in everything that we do. We stand in solidarity with our NEAC communities, but standing in solidarity is no longer enough.

We have begun to reflect how we can all do better. We will continue to take time to listen. We will spend time over the next few weeks to develop definitive steps that we can share of how we can bring this to the forefront of our work. We often discuss the influence that athletics has to be the leaders among us and bring about positive change. There has never been a more important time for us to step up. Change is non-negotiable. We look forward to engaging our conference administrators, coaches and student-athletes to chart the course ahead. We are living history in real time and we all have the ability to impact what happens next. For us, this statement is a start, but what matters more is what we do next.

Our work is just beginning.

Stephanie Dutton (NEAC Commissioner) & Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour (NEAC Presidents' Council Chair)