DAVIS, Calif. -- For a select group of Aggies, the 2019 Black Student-Athlete Summit was a valuable and unique experience, rich with discussion on a variety of topics, including racism, media portrayals, academic issues and social activism. The summit also exposed a need: UC Davis student-athletes of color did not have a similar organization at home.
The eye-opening nature of the BSAS was, in fact, by design. Under the guidance of senior associate athletics director Mike Lorenzen and his student-athlete outcomes office, several SARGs (student-athlete resource groups) had already surfaced. Athlete Guidance & Support provides resources regarding mental wellness, while Athlete Ally supports the LGBTQIA community. A similar space for black student-athletes would be a welcome addition.
Enter Dwight Smith, a former Davis High and UC Davis football player, who had rejoined his alma mater as an outcomes advisor and leader of the athletics department's Diversity, Equality & Inclusion initiative in 2018. There were previous attempts to form a space for black-student athletes, he said, but nothing that had really stuck. Smith knew that if any organization was to take hold, it could not come from him, nor from Lorenzen, nor from athletics director Kevin Blue: it had to come from the student-athletes.
"Mike's vision for the SARGs is to allow student-athletes to be their own vehicle, and we give them resources and a platform to do that," said Smith. "So how do we create an environment where black student-athletes see this possibility?"
Smith identified a few key student-athletes who were interested in leadership opportunities. Dr. Blue's connections with Dr. Leonard Moore, a professor/vice president at the University of Texas, put the BSAS (which Moore founded) on the calendar. As a result, Mikaela Adolphus (track & field), Sierra Sheppard (track & field), Flora Oliveira (track & field) and De'Andre Morgan (football) co-founded a new SARG: the Coalition of African Diaspora Student-Athletes, or CADSA. Adolphus, an African-American & African studies major and track & field co-captain, served as CADSA's first president.
"In the beginning, we were kind of unsure how it would be because we weren't really experienced with SARGs," said Oliveira, who replaces Adolphus as the organization's president in 2020-21. "We hadn't really talked about it much, and it was really new for us. Mik brought that experience from Athlete Ally, and that's how it started. We took off running. We had a couple of missteps but I think it was all a learning process. A lot of people joined the group and we went from there."
Now heading into its second full year (third overall), CADSA holds an even more important place than ever for UC Davis athletics. The revelations surrounding the death of Ahmaud Arbery, plus the tragic deaths of such figures as Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade and Dion Johnson sparked worldwide protests near the end of the spring, which in turn raised the debate surrounding race relations in every American institution.
The initial purpose for CADSA was largely educational: to introduce black student-athletes to the existing support systems on campus. Through the group's efforts, UC Davis coaches are also made aware of such resources for their prospective student-athletes – e.g. a PSA's tour of campus can include an introduction to Kayton Carter, the executive director for the university's Center for African Diaspora Student Success.
"When we came together, we realized we didn't know a lot of the resources that were available to us until later into our university experience," said Mahlah Catline, a UC Davis soccer player and fourth-year international relations major. "It's about offering resources for black student-athletes and other black students. With events and stuff, student-athletes are often busy and can't attend them. We do miss out on a lot of things. We're about trying to get that together for other people."
Co-founder Sheppard served as an outreach coordinator during 2019-20, while Morgan joined with football teammates Khanii Lesane and Erron Duncan as CADSA's education coordinators. As the group's financial officer, Catline heads fundraising efforts. Another track & field athlete, Xochitl Bryson, serves as vice president and events/activities coordinator; while volleyball player Mahalia White continues her role as CADSA secretary.
Adolphus graduated this spring, but Oliveira has retained her predecessor's expertise in the role of "expansion director," which seeks to grow the organization's reach beyond the campus boundaries. As Adolphus' work continues, expect to see a large coalition of CADSA-type organizations around the country. For her part, Oliveira's passion for advocacy also sees her serving as a vice president for the REVIVAL Zine, the university's student-run feminist publication. The gender, sexuality & women's studies major joined the publication last fall, and her two most recent articles covered race-related topics.
"In regard to leadership, all student-athletes are at different stages of their development, just holistically, but Flo is just an adept communicator," said Smith. "She's really focused on creating a space for all voices to be heard. She's an organizer in that way. It made sense with her leadership style, and Mikaela, who was a captain on the track team and helped to start Athlete Ally. You had two different styles of leadership that I think worked really well together. I'm really excited about the year ahead and what CADSA will be able to accomplish."
Given the different experiences that might compel a student-athlete to seek CADSA's resources, the group has also become a valuable community unto itself – i.e. ‑a "safe space for black student-athletes," as Catline describes it. Sharing experiences can be traumatic, but sharing experiences in a small circle of trust can be cathartic.
For that matter, Oliveira and Catline bring different perspectives than some of their fellow Aggies due to their backgrounds. Oliveira was born in the large Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte. Much of the race relations in the world's fifth-largest country are rooted in the practice of branqueamento, which literally translates in Portuguese to "whitening." These policies, which reached peak levels in the late 19th century, served to actively wash people of color from society, either through extermination and genocide – which particularly impacted the indigenous people of Brazil – or by forcing black people to blend into the higher-numbered white population.
As such, Oliveira falls into what is now a statistical plurality in Brazil: the 2010 census showed that 43.1 percent of Brazil's population self-identifies as mixed race. Thus, Oliveira says, questions of racial identity did not truly surface until her family moved to the U.S., a country that historically relies on an either-or, "one-drop rule" of racial classification.
"Moving here was a whole new awakening, and I really connected to my race," said Oliveira, who moved to California at the age of eight. "When growing up in the U.S., I tried so hard to ignore my blackness, because that's what I was taught. The evolution from ignoring it to accepting it to welcoming my culture brought a lot more happiness and security in myself. Once I did that, I also felt my black community here in America welcoming me. They were feeling the same things I was feeling, and sharing the same experiences in different ways. It was really binding."
Catline, whose ancestry is rooted in the Caribbean, hails from the Thames Valley town of Reading, England. In her home country, black people make up about three percent of the population, less than a fourth of that of the States. Her home country has its share of racial issues, but that smaller minority of black people makes taking action more difficult.
"I have felt this feeling in England where it's like, 'damn, I really need to do something,'" said Catline. "But in England, we really don't have the numbers to do it, so it's almost quite demoralizing. I do like being here, where we can start this group. I really think it's a monumental moment on campus, to be honest."
The recent events and worldwide unrest have also seen more non-black individuals looking to enter the conversation as advocates and allies: educating themselves and seeking measurable ways to promote racial equality. Thus, while CADSA's close-knit nature promotes a safe space for black student-athletes, both Oliveira and Catline foresee occasional events that welcome all students to educate themselves. Meanwhile, CADSA continues to expand its focus toward specific issues facing black student-athletes. For example, in 2019-20, the group launched a food initiative, which specifically researched food discrepancies and scarcity on campus.
"For next year, the greater theme is having administration and coaches understand how race affects people on every different level of athletics, not just what we see and what we hear, but food, security, everything," said Oliveira. "We're always trying to single out one cause, one area, or one solution. In reality, we have to have a wider, very educated understanding of what is happening, and actively try to hit it from all angles. That will be our goal: to see very active steps in reevaluating what is already intrinsic to athletics at UC Davis."
Catline echoes Oliveira's sentiments, and pushes for tangible changes. Among these, she hopes to see the implementation of racial bias training within the athletics department, and to have a designated official to whom black student-athletes can report incidents.
"We've had conversations with administration, like Kevin Blue. It feels like something is finally starting to happen," said Catline. "For the next year, I would love to push for education, obviously, and really making sure people understand – people who can change their minds and influence opinions."
"Seeing some tangible change on campus for the next year would honestly be such an immense accomplishment for our group," Catline continued. "Not just 'we're doing this and we're doing that' or 'things are happening and we're trying.' Things that you can see. By the time I graduate, I would like to see this campus have something it did not have when I came in."
Smith continues to serve as a staff advisor for CADSA and thus largely stays out of their except to help facilitate to process. "My goals for them are much more about each person's individual development as a leader. Their actual content is not my central driving force. But if I was a student-athlete, I'd be fired up about their content – it's that important."
ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE: Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 women's athletics programs. Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year. All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs. Visit this site for more information.
