DAVIS, Calif. - "Even when I was little, I was always the type who wanted to stand up and say something," says Mikaela Adolphus, a two-time Big West Conference-champion sprinter and a 2020 UC Davis graduate. "I get that from my dad. He was big on right and wrong, regardless of how you may feel about someone or the space you're in. Having that instilled in me really taught me to stand up for things."
Sadly, Adolphus' father, Michael, passed away when Mikaela was midway through her sophomore year at Upland High School. Michael originally hailed from Belize, and thus annointed his daughter with the Spanish version of his own name, which is why her name is pronounced properly as "Mi-KYE-lah." Mikaela's willingness to speak up and effect change not only carries on his traits, but honors his memory.
As seen in a previous Aggie EVO story, Adolphus is one of four co-founders of the Coalition of African Diaspora Student-Athletes, along with teammates Flora Oliveira and Sierra Sheppard, plus football player De'Andre Morgan. She was hand-picked to attend the 2019 Black Student-Athlete Summit at the University of Texas, then served as CADSA's inaugural president in 2019-20.
"The summit blew my mind," said Adolphus. "I saw that student-athletes at every other school were doing this. They were having a lot of the same issues that we were having at Davis, and having a group really helped them navigate those issues or improve whatever was going on. That was one of the driving things for me."
For starters, Adolphus was already active with Aggie EVO, the department's student-athlete outcomes program. The summit organizers emphasized the benefits that involvement in a student-athlete resource group could have for one's career building – particularly for individuals who are unable to fit an internship or job into their busy schedule of school and sports. For Adolphus, who also served as an officer for Athlete Ally, a student-athlete resource group directed to the LGBTQIA community, a résumé boost was merely an added bonus.
"I have always been involved, always like being involved beyond what had to be," she said. "So not only do I want to do this – I'm passionate about it – it will also help me in spaces that I don't really have time to feed into."
The word "passion" is the true motivator for Adolphus, who served as track & field team captain in her senior year. Her tireless, on-the-go spirit not only helped her post fast times on the oval, but it drove her outside of her sport. She graduated with two majors: sociology and African-American studies. Today, Adolphus works full-time as a lead development representative for the software company Five9, and yet still finds the time for her latest project: taking CADSA to the national level.
The decision to stretch CADSA beyond the UC Davis campus borders is also rooted in the Black Student-Athlete Summit. Not even a year after her eye-opening introduction to the event, Adolphus earned an invitation to present at the 2020 summit. She had previously taken part in a 10-week summer fellowship with the UC Davis Office of Educational Opportunity and Enrichment Services, where she researched support for black LGBT+ student-athletes at 19 colleges and universities around the nation.
With mental health being the central theme of the 2020 BSA Summit, Adolphus seized the opportunity to share her research in a presentation entitled "Supporting a virtually invisible group: a mixed research approach to solving the black queer crisis of invisibility in Division I collegiate athletics."
"It felt good to do it, but it was so scary," she recalls. "What made it such an experience for me was that I was the first person ever to bring up sexuality at that summit, and to bring up sexuality in athletics for black student-athletes."
By the 2020 BSA Summit, Adolphus had completed a full year as CADSA Davis president. While in Austin, conversations with her peers from other schools revealed a critical trend: many black student-athlete organizations operated separately and distinctly from the overall black community. In contrast, her own group at UC Davis focuses on connecting its member student-athletes with the larger black community.
"That's our difference," she said of CADSA. "We want to connect the two black communities, and get rid of that divide."
It also became clear that some black student-athlete groups at other schools had not even attempted to reach out to the available campus resources. So again, Adolphus spotted a need and – true to her nature – decided to act on this shortcoming. She resolved to make CADSA a national organization.
"I decided we need to make this bigger than just Davis, because it's not just a Davis issue," said Adolphus. "So that's what pushed me. I was graduated after winter quarter, so I said I would take spring all the way through summer to get this set up and going."
Adolphus' efforts resulted in the launch of a CADSA national website in August. Bryant College (Smithsfield, R.I.) and Duke University (Durham, N.C.) were the first two schools to affiliate with CADSA's expanded presence, so much so that two student-athletes from those schools now serve as officers for the national organization. Bryant's senior wide receiver and Academic All-NEC honoree Matthew Caruso serves as the outreach coordinator. Former Duke women's lacrosse defensive standout and two-time IWLCA Academic Honor Roll member Michelle Staggers holds the post of web designer.
As CADSA grows across the country, the UC Davis-based leadership offers advocacy and guidance for black student-athletes to launch their groups on their campuses. If a school does not have a cross-cultural center, for example, then Adolphus will advise seeking out the African-American studies department, which can help in the formation of the organization and/or help with sources of funding.
Adolphus set a goal of five schools registered during the first month after launching CADSA on a national level, with a larger target of 10 schools by the end of the 2020 calendar year. CADSA hit both numbers within that first month. At least in the short term, the CADSA Davis leadership has gotten away from the plan of having a national central organization with campus chapters, since schools with differing financial resources or even different geographical locations will have varying abilities to get started. Instead, CADSA is more of an alliance of almost a dozen campus-level groups.
One of Adolphus' former Aggie teammates, Emma Redick, is now helping the national organization earn its non-profit status. With a strong nucleus of partnering schools already on board, this status is the new focus for the Fall 2020 quarter. The ability to accept philanthropic support will enable CADSA to offer grants that aid black student-athlete organizations at other institutions.
Adolphus has devoted much of her time to the paperwork in obtaining non-profit status, and now seeks individuals – perhaps a former UC Davis student-athlete of color – who can help with the legal side, such as scrutinizing the paperwork before it gets filed. For that matter, she has hopes to eventually have CADSA run by alumni and not just current student-athletes.
"Our scope is getting bigger and bigger, the more people we talk to and the more we think about what we want to happen," said Adolphus. "Emma said, 'you did so much in such a short amount of time, you realize just how big this could actually be.'"
An immediate CADSA goal is to partner with the Big West Conference SAAC to ensure that every conference member institution has a black student-athlete organization. A larger focus is to partner with the NCAA – more specifically, to have CADSA become an official advisory group, similar to Athlete Ally's presence as a LGBT+ resource. Adolphus has set a goal of January 2021 for this.
"We want to be the group that works with them to help improve the experience for black student-athletes, not just at each campus or each conference, but at the NCAA level," she said. "There are obviously policies that are not good for us, and they might not even realize it because they don't know the history of how systemic everything is."
On May 12, 2018, actor Chadwick Boseman served as a commencement speaker for his alma mater, Howard University. With more than 2,200 graduates from 39 states and 32 countries beginning the next chapters of their lives, Boseman advised them to find not just a job, but their purpose. "Purpose," he told them, "is an essential element of you – it is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history."
It is quite unlikely Adolphus listened to Boseman's speech live, since it was delivered on the very day of that year's Big West Conference track and field championship meet. Still, now that she has entered the "world of work," she seems to heed the wisdom of the late Black Panther and 42 actor. While her goals for CADSA are concrete, with strict deadlines and tangible targets, her own career aspirations are not driven by mere entries on a resume. Adolphus enjoys her new job at Five9, and still has intentions of going back to school for a Ph.D to pursue more research possibilities.
However, it is purpose that drives her.
"I want to stay in the activist space," said Adolphus. "Organizations are part of my vision, but I want to find a way to connect that beyond non-profit work. It's really easy to get access to those in higher education. I want to take it out of there, and start making changes in other spaces, which is why I wanted to go the corporate route after finishing my undergrad. Five9 is the perfect route for that. They want to implement me into their DEI stuff."
Adolphus also considers serving the community by teaching, which would certainly put a Ph.D to work, although research remains her primary reason for earning that degree.
"Right now, I want to be on the ground, trying to really make a change – working to help educate people and changing up the culture on identity," she said. "It's like a hierarchy: everybody races to be the best thing. If you're this, then you're not as good as that. I want to get rid of that. Understand that differences are what make us who we are, and are what make our society what it is – for good, not for bad. But it's hard to get through that because everything is a competition."
Adolphus also continues to reach out to Mike Lorenzen, who heads the Aggie EVO student-athlete outcomes program. When she joined Five9, she voiced concerns to her mentor about how to continue doing CADSA.
"And he said, you just do it. You don't have to see CADSA as a side thing or the main thing. It's whatever you want it to be," Adolphus recalls. "It's more about what is your purpose. Is what you are doing working toward your purpose? Is it fulfilling what your meaning in life is? Now I realize I can do the work I want to do, and reach more people, by being in those spaces throughout my life."
NOTES: The CADSA national website, launched in July, is www.cadsanational.org, with regular updates on the group's Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/cadsa.national/)... Former Aggie thrower, Xochitl Bryson, designed the national logo with the silhouette of Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Peter Norman on the 1968 Olympics 200-meter medal podium as its main image... The previous story on UC Davis' CADSA launch is at ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/7/10/aggie-evo-cadsa-focuses-on-education-tangible-change.aspx... Links are above.
ABOUT UC DAVIS:
With the addition of equestrian and women's beach volleyball in 2018, more than 700 student-athletes represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation on one of 25 intercollegiate athletics teams.
UC Davis, a national leader in Title IX gender equity and leadership, is centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley; and offers an unrivaled student-athlete experience that features the ideal combination of elite academics, Division I athletics and personal growth.
Ranked annually in the top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis is uncommonly committed to preparing student-athletes for life after graduation with Aggie EVO — an innovative student-athlete outcomes program that helps young women and men develop passions, gain real-world experience, and enjoy a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school. Through Aggie EVO, Intercollegiate Athletics provides unmatched resources and a vast network of working professionals to ensure post-graduation success for its student-athletes.
