Diversity and inclusion are not new topics for Kenneth Gormley and Brian Baptiste.
Long before Gormley became President of Duquesne University and Baptiste was named Athletic Director at La Salle, they did groundbreaking work in their separate spheres related to the changing face of the modern workplace.
In the early 1980s as a Harvard Law School graduate, Gormley set up a writing program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law primarily for minority students and women returning to school after having children.
As a student at St. Thomas University College of Law in Miami, Baptiste served as the Southern Regional Chair on the National Black Law Students Association Board.
Opportunity. Access. Purposeful dialogue. Engagement. Sustainable change. Gormley and Baptiste engaged in all of those areas as they relate to diversity, inclusion and equity long before it was at the forefront of the national conversation. And now, the Duquesne President and La Salle Athletic Director are linked through two bodies, one Atlantic 10 and one NCAA, that address and take action in diversity, inclusion and equity: the Atlantic 10's Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC).
Baptiste describes last summer as “a moment of intense urgency,” and one that had been coming for some time.
“We were grappling with a bunch of issues, but for me, it doesn’t necessarily start there,” said Baptiste, who holds membership in the NCAA’s Black AD Alliance and was named to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 List in April 2021. “As a Black male in this country right now, it’s important to always be a proponent of inclusion and diversity. I’m also a father of three daughters, so it’s important from an equity standpoint that they know they can achieve whatever they want to achieve.”
Last fall, Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade asked the two leaders to co-chair the league’s inaugural Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, heading up the conference’s proactive approach to be a part of the solution through action, activism and education.
“The commission provides an opportunity for the Atlantic 10 to unite our people and resources on each campus to effect change locally, regionally and nationally,” McGlade said when the commission was announced on Sept. 15, 2020. “We have strong programming and initiatives within each of our 14 universities and colleges, thus the opportunity to collaborate will enable all to be stronger together.”
More than a year later, the commission has morphed, in Gormley’s view, into something of a national model that he’s hopeful other conferences will adopt. Gormley reports positive feedback nationally, having served on the MOIC since 2018, where he regularly shared the commission’s progress. His term on the MOIC concludes this month; in May Baptiste began a three-year term.
“People were super impressed, and I got the sense others were going to copy our idea,” Gormley said. “One of the decisions we made early on was extremely important in my view. This would not be a commission that would relate to just athletes at these 14 institutions. It would be a commission that talked about diversity, equity and inclusion for the broader campus communities at all 14 institutions. I don’t know that there are a lot of parallels in other divisions where you have this kind of unity going beyond the athletic sphere.”
That unity has made the A-10 the vanguard of a national movement toward diversity in college sports that extends into campus life as well.
“Part of that is just a testament to the really close relationships that have been forged among our institutions over the years and among our athletic directors and our coaches and our presidents,” Gormley said. “I think in most conferences, frankly, this would not be possible.”
A carefully crafted mission statement set the tone for the commission. Diverse representation, inclusive practices and student participation are at the heart of the statement, which focuses on action over words. That includes the conference schools taking bold stands that support racial equity and social justice and creating safe, nonjudgmental opportunities on those subjects.
Baptiste was key in structuring the commission’s subcommittees into four groups: accountability and assessment; advocacy, activism, and action; education and training; and policies and practices. The commission represents each of the A-10 schools through a structure that calls for three members from each university — one student-athlete, one appointee of the president or athletic director, and one subject matter expert.
The eclectic mix of committee members includes Davidson cross country director Renny Waldron, who established a “Cats Cues” newsletter built around racial and social justice; Rhode Island’s Mary Grace Almandrez, the Associate Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer who provides leadership on issues of diversity; Richmond’s Jaide Hinds-Clarke, a graduate assistant and former women’s basketball student-athlete who previously participated in NCAA Inclusion Forums; and George Mason Athletic Director Brad Edwards, who chairs the A-10 Sports Competition Committee.
“I was blown away by the positive response,” Gormley said. “We populated this commission quickly with lots of talented people from all institutions.”
The immediate buy-in, Baptiste said, moved the process along.
“I’m proud of the level of engagement that we’ve had across the board,” he said. “Every session we have had with the full commission, everyone is fully engaged.”
“Brian’s been a real rock star,” Gormley added. “He grabbed ahold of this commission with ownership and responsibility. In a short amount of time, we got up and running a rather complex and impressive entity.”
A webinar centered around the Rooney Rule — the NFL policy requiring more minority candidates to be interviewed for senior level positions in professional football — was among the first of the initiatives. It came at the suggestion of Gormley, a longtime friend of the Rooney family, which has owned the Pittsburgh Steelers since 1933. The webinar included Duquesne alumnus Dan Rooney and his son, Jim, who has written a book about his father’s leadership style. Jeremi Duru, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on sports law, also participated with Gormley and Baptiste moderating.
More than 1,000 tuned into the webinar.
“We sparked conversation about the Rooney Rule: Has it been effective? Has it not been effective?” Baptiste said. “Everyone who was part of the session was really candid and open and honest.”
“That’s the kind of collaboration that has been the hallmark of this commission,” he said.
The commission has made an impact in many ways.
Last fall, each of the campus communities promoted voting in the general election, sharing recorded video messages and “I voted” posts on social media.
“We did a voting PSA that we put together really quickly that I thought was pretty powerful,” Baptiste said. “We all have the right to vote and to help people understand the power the impact they can have.”
Another win for the commission, Baptiste said, came during the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and during Black History Month. Each of the 14 schools commemorated the occasion in its own way; the commission and the conference amplified the messages through social media. As part of the celebration of Dr. King, Saint Joseph's and La Salle began a home-and-home series on MLK day. The 2021 game aired on CBS Sports Network, which interviewed Baptiste about the commission and its efforts as part of their coverage of the game.
Now with his term just starting on the MOIC, Baptiste is enthusiastic about meeting with colleagues from across the nation from Division I, II and III and trying to enact change at a broader level. Like the A-10 Commission on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the MOIC promotes the causes of ethnic minorities through equitable access to opportunities and resources.
Having an A-10 representative, especially one that also serves as co-chair of the A-10 Commission, provides a unique synergy between national conversations and how the Atlantic 10 is effecting change on a national, regional and campus level. It also provides the opportunity to help steer the NCAA efforts and drive the national discussion, as Baptiste alluded to in meeting with constituents across all three NCAA divisions so that when the A-10 Commission takes an impactful action, it can be communicated and possibly implemented by the NCAA membership as well. The MOIC, which predates last summer's social justice spotlight, is a significant NCAA appointment that for many years has helped lead the discussion on equity issues in college athletics.
During Gormley’s tenure, the MOIC finalized policy to create an Athletic Diversity Inclusion Designee at every school. The person in that new role is the primary point of contact in athletic departments and conference offices to receive and distribute information on diversity and inclusion topics.
“That was a significant accomplishment,” he said.
With campus communities returning to some sense of normalcy this fall following the uncertainty a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gormley and Baptiste anticipate more engagement and change. The A-10 Commission, Gormley said, “is just getting started.”
“It’s that next generation that is going to continue to push,” Baptiste agreed. “We’ve just scratched the surface.”
Added Gormley: “We’re living in the middle of another moment of history. There’s going to be meaningful change.”
And the A-10 will continue to lead the way for it.
Vicki L. Friedman, the recipient of the 2013 Mel Greenberg Media Award and an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award, has been writing about collegiate sports for 30 years.