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Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
College Sports Communicators Announces Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Program Class of 2022-23
Second year of programming extends partnership with the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics; Diversity represented in affiliation, gender, race and experience level.
College Sports Communicators introduces its second class of participants for the Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship in partnership with the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Eighteen members are slated to study issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion in athletics communications and within college athletics overall.
The program begins this month and culminates at the association’s 2023 convention in Orlando, where the fellows will plan and execute diversity programming for the entire membership. The selection process was based on ethnicity, gender, age/experience, divisional representation, HBCU representation and senior-level administrative representation.
"The CSC Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship class in conjunction with the Knight Commission is one of the very best pieces of programming our organization has done,” College Sports Communicators President
Jessica Poole said. “As an organization we have been focused on enhancing our profession from a diversity, equity and inclusion standpoint while also cultivating allies and this program has helped us make great strides on that front. This year’s Fellowship Class represents leaders in our industry who are committed to enhancing our profession and I look forward to their growth and leadership in these areas."
Sessions will center on leadership, mentorship, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and focus on insights into how athletics communicators can be change agents to bring attention to diversity issues. The program faculty will include highly regarded thought leaders from within college athletics and outside the industry. The program is administered by members of College Sports Communicators’ Racial and Social Justice Initiative.
“Our strong relationship with the Knight Commission has enabled us to offer impactful programming for our members, allowing them to critically consider how diversity, equity and inclusion relates to their work on behalf of student-athletes, their hiring practices within the department and the future of the profession,” College Sports Communicators Executive Director
Erik Christianson said. “It’s our intention to keep this initiative going strong so as many of our members as possible can benefit from being part of the fellowship.”
Introduced in early 2022, the Fellowship is a year-long educational series for select members of College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) designed to provide insights into diversity and inclusion issues, values and opportunities for communication professionals in college sports. The program is a partnership between CSC and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and encourages a greater understanding of how those in athletics communications offices at all levels become effective champions for diversity and inclusion in college athletics.
“We are pleased to sponsor this important initiative," said
Amy Privette Perko, CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. “CSC’s Fellowship program will help achieve the goals the Knight Commission advanced in its “
Achieving Racial Equity in College Sports” report. In addition to diversifying the CSC membership, it is important to remember that these members play an important role in telling the story of college athletics. The Fellowship will equip future leaders with the ability to ensure the story is reflective of the diversity within college athletics. We appreciate this synergy and commend College Sports Communicators for their leadership.”
College Sports Communicators Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship Class of 2022-23
Sebastian Bush – The City College of New York (NCAA Division III)
Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications & Sports Information
Sean Cartell – Sun Belt Conference (NCAA Division I)
Assistant Commissioner, Communications & Branding
Tommy Chasanoff – University of the Cumberlands (NAIA)
Assistant Director of Athletics, Sports Information
Pearllan Cipriano – Shippensburg University (NCAA Division II)
Sports Information Graduate Assistant
Maya Dawson – Atlantic 10 Conference (NCAA Division I)
Media Relations Intern
Travis Jarome – South Alabama (NCAA Division I)
Associate Director of Athletics for Strategic Communications
Adam Ledyard – East Texas Baptist University (NCAA Division III)
Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications
Kendrick Lewis – South Carolina State University (NCAA Division I)
Assistant Director of Athletics for Athletic Media Relations & Marketing
Michael MacEachern – Young Harris College (NCAA Division II)
Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Communications
Bridget McCann – Washington University in St. Louis (NCAA Division III)
Director of Athletics Communications
Eddie Morelos – Sun Bowl Association/Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl (NCAA Division I)
Media Relations Director
Megan O'Brien – Centenary University (N.J.) (NCAA Division III)
Sports Information Director
Jayson Ameer Rasheed – Lincoln University (Pa.) (NCAA Division II)
Assistant Director of Athletics for Marketing & Communications
Colin Terrill – Milwaukee School of Engineering (NCAA Division III)
Director of Athletics Marketing, Communication, and Game Management
Derick Thornton – Army West Point (NCAA Division I)
Assistant Director of Athletics/Athletics Communications
Tony Venegas – Belmont Abbey College (NCAA Division II)
Assistant Director of Athletics Communications
Judy Willson – Geneva College (NCAA Division III)
Director of Graduate & Online Admissions/Athletics Communications Assistant
Chuck Yahng – Maryville University (NCAA Division II)
Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications
For more information regarding the program, please contact
Laurie Bollig, College Sports Communicators Director of Membership Engagement at
lauriebollig@cosida.com.
About College Sports Communicators
The second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics, College Sports Communicators was founded in 1957 and rebranded in August 2022. The organization, now in its 66th year as an organization, was previously known as College Sports Information Directors of America, or CoSIDA.
Today, College Sports Communicators is a vibrant 3,600-plus member international association, comprised of the athletic communications, media relations, digital and creative professionals throughout all levels of intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. CSC’s signature program is the Academic All-America® program, honoring thousands of outstanding scholar-athletes annually.
College Sports Communicators has two primary missions as it seeks to have its profession, organization and membership take its rightful leadership role within the decision-making levels of the intercollegiate athletics community:
1) Provide communications professionals at all college and university levels with professional development and continuing education as it relates to strategically and effectively managing and influencing the many issues, challenges and opportunities that exist within the fast-paced and ever-changing communications environment. 2) Play a significant leadership and resource role (i.e., develop strategic communicators) within the overall enterprise of college sports, thus helping their campuses, conferences and other management groups and their respective memberships deal with a set of communications-based issues that is the most complex and challenging in history.