The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is proud to celebrate the 2022 NCAA Division III Diversity and Inclusion Week. This week conference members will be participating through various social media platforms to create awareness, education, and engagement showing the importance of inclusive environments in college sports. The annual NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign was first launched in 2018, in partnership with the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the National Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, to use social media to create a dialogue around diversity and inclusion and communicate the benefit of inclusive environments in college sports.
Blackburn College reached out to Autumn Wilson, senior volleyball player and President of SAAC for both the SLIAC and Blackburn College, for a quote regarding Diversity and Inclusion Week. Autumn has played a major role in the improvement of a diverse and inclusive culture surrounding Blackburn College while she has been enrolled at the school.
When asked to define Allyship, which was the theme of Wednesday this past week, Wilson quoted the following.
“Being an ally is being a team player. Allyship is celebrating the difference in your team. This is done by actively wanting to learn more about diversity you don’t quite understand. Inclusivity is not talking for those who need to be heard, but rather supporting through their own opportunities to shine on their own. It’s about being the teammate they need to overcome adversity.”
Autumn has made countless achievements during her time at Blackburn, some of which have gone unnoticed. Her contribution towards establishing a more diverse and inclusive environment at Blackburn has been one accomplishment that has not gone unnoticed. Around campus, Wilson is well-known for being the beacon of diversity and inclusion. Her work at Blackburn around this cultural area has been remarkable.
Wilson will be finishing her time at Blackburn in May 2023, when she intends to graduate.
*To read the full story on the SLIAC Diversity and Inclusion Week, click below.
https://www.sliac.org/general/2022-23/releases/20221021fvifpa