UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – During the Board of Trustees Committee meeting on Outreach, Development and Community Relations on November 12, women's basketball student-athlete Anna Camden and football student-athlete PJ Mustipher presented on student-athlete activism and the social justice work of Intercollegiate Athletics and its student-athletes.
"I am so proud of our student-athletes and the tremendous social justice work they have participated in since the summer," said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour. "The work of our women's basketball and football programs is a great representation of the efforts by our Intercollegiate Athletics Department. We have always supported our student-athletes using their voice and platform to push for positive change or supporting causes that are important to them."
Camden spoke of the women's basketball program's Ignite the Change initiative. She explained in the program's motto, PRIDE, the "R" stands for respect – treat others how they want to be treated. The women's basketball team has committed to taking purposeful steps on the fifth of every month in honor of George Floyd, who wore #5 on his basketball team. The Ignite the Change activities have included a candle lighting, voter registration for the team, ordering "Black Lives Matter" wristbands and watching the documentary "13" and challenging others to do so. The women's basketball program also engaged the women's soccer team in meaningful conversation about the film.
Mustipher shared with the committee that the football team had numerous discussions throughout the summer and fall regarding social justice and were encouraged by Head Coach James Franklin to express themselves by using their voice and platform as student-athletes to initiate change. Mustipher also discussed his role on the Big Ten Equity Coalition and mentioned several teammates are on different boards and committees at the University and beyond to continue to bring awareness to current issues in society.
The members of the Penn State football program discussed how they wanted to represent a social justice movement in competition and what that representation meant to them. Following those discussions, the football program rolled out the Penn State United campaign. The team wears a uniform patch, helmet stickers and warmup shirts with a special social justice logo to promote unity for the 2020 football season.
The logo Penn State football student-athletes will wear in competition this year to symbolize our journey for unity. The goal of Penn State United is to construct a culture of respect, appreciation and empathy for all differences. We are a country, state and institution rooted diversity, shared experience and hope. Penn State Football believes, more than ever, we can help create a better society by publicly and peacefully acknowledging our pursuit to move beyond simply tolerating differences to recognizing these differences can enrich our Commonwealth.
The logo, which features the outline of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with diverse interlocking hands in Penn State's signature blue and white color, was born out of a discussion with the football program's leadership council. The football program, and many other ICA programs, have had numerous social justice conversations throughout the summer and are dedicated to creating a society of diversity and inclusion.
Social justice work continues to be a priority for all of Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics and as other programs begin competition, they will have the ability to adopt the Penn State United logo or introduce their own social justice initiatives.
