By Simon Bravo
NIRSA lives by its mission, continually strengthening our strategic values with not only our Association’s members, but also with our partners in higher education, sports, and recreation.
The Nike LGBT Sports summit allowed NIRSA to practice all of our strategic values, focusing on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
At the Nike LGBT Sports Summit, NIRSA was proudly represented by President Kathleen Hatch and NIRSA member Wendy Motch of UCLA and member of NIRSA’s Commission for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
NIRSA President Kathleen Hatch and NIRSA member Wendy Motch at the NIKE LGBT Summit with NBA player Jason Collins.
The Nike LGBT summit is a think-tank composed of college and professional athletes, coaches, administrators; political figures; LGBT advocates; and recreation-related organizations. Together, these groups collaborate and brainstorm how to create an inclusive environment in all aspects of sport and play. This year’s summit, which took place in Portland, Oregon from June 12-15, focused on best practices, overcoming obstacles, and how all venues for recreation—whether it be in a professional sport stadium or campus recreation facility—can spearhead our communities toward a bias-free world in sports, recreation, and beyond.
An impressive array of sport and LGBT leaders and organizations attended the event. One of the summit’s founders, LGBT sports pioneer Pat Griffin, was in attendance. Pat Griffin holds ties with NIRSA as he and Wendy Motch presented an educational session together at the 2013 NIRSA Annual Conference. The themes of their session, “Policy and Best Practices for Making Club and Intramural Sports Safe and Respectful for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Students,” were further explored at the summit. Both Kathleen and Wendy were excited to share NIRSA’s new statement for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (read more). This statement will serve as a resource for future NIRSA tournaments and events, as well as an example for our partners in higher education.
