For the second year, the NCAA launched its “Diversity and Social Media Inclusion Campaign,” which ran from Oct. 22-25, and several MIAC schools participated.

St. Thomas wasn’t one of them, but that doesn’t mean the university isn’t taking steps toward a more inclusive environment.

A statement from sports information director Gene McGivern said: “The university as a whole is currently undergoing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic planning, led by Associate Vice President of Inclusive Excellence, Kha Yang. Vice President Yang is working with all departments – including Athletics – to assess climate and strengthen DEI efforts.”

Yang filled the new position, which reports directly to St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan, in July.

One example of St. Thomas’ push for diversity and inclusion is a partnership with RISE, “a national organization dedicated to addressing racism and social justice in sports.”

The RISE website lists St. Thomas, Macalester, Carleton and the MIAC Conference as Minnesota’s only collegiate RISE partners. The other partners include the Vikings, the Twins, the Timberwolves and the Sanneh Foundation.

In working with partners, RISE states its mission to “engage leagues, teams, schools and community organizations across the nation” in multi-week programs, workshops and critical conversations.

Currently, Athletics Director Phil Esten is leading the strategic planning to help the athletics department further align with St. Thomas’ push for diversity and inclusion.

St. Thomas athletics would have “happily” participated in the week had it been aware of the efforts, according to the statement.

NCAA Inclusion Director Niya Blair reported a 20% increase in Twitter participation from the previous year across all divisions.

“Schools can participate via social media, but some schools will participate more internally,” Blair said.

NCAA member institutions had the creative capacity to make videos for social media, which were reposted by the NCAA over the four-day span.

Although every school is notified prior to the week, Blair aims to get a higher percentage involved every year, starting by sending out the information earlier.

“Diversity and inclusion is always a place we can all grow,” Blair said. “Diversity and inclusion is not an ending point.”

In the future, Blair wants to collect more feedback from student athletes as she works to expand diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Resources on the NCAA inclusion website give schools ideas on how to make progress all year long.

The site lists diversity, inclusion and gender equity among student athletes as a core value and is implementing these new programs to foster equal participation in athletics for people of all backgrounds.

Blair and the NCAA encourage schools to sponsor athletes’ attendance at the NCAA Inclusion Forum, which will be held April 17-19 in Denver.

“A social media campaign is one way we can elevate athletes’ voices, but that isn’t the only way,” Blair said.

Mia Laube can be reached at mia.laube@stthomas.edu.