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I guess it is only fitting my favorite guest speaker was on the night of my favorite subject – sports and society. This topic has always interested me because I believe it is one of the most intriguing areas of sports. The way sports can impact society, influence policy, and start necessary conversations is incredible, which may have been why I did my undergraduate thesis project on activist athletes. However, our Sports Seminar last week changed my understanding of sports and society. After Dan Lebowitz of the Center of Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University spoke to our class, I realized it is not just athletes who can be activists and mentors – but as humans and journalists, we also play a role in starting the conversation about race and gender equity.
“Use the hook of sport to create a dynamic, to find commonality – find common ground,” said Lebowitz. And the other night, as Lebowitz started talking about his program and the kids he works with, it brought to mind a significant moment in my life when I used sports to find a common ground with some kids I was very different from.
Last spring after I graduated, I decided to visit my sister who is a part of Teach for America, and works in East Nashville. Having just packed up my entire apartment and cleaned out most of my closet, I figured I would visit her sixth-grade class and load them up with some of my old Duke gear.
I showed up, planning to just say hello, drop off some shirts, and observe from the back of the classroom, but my sister had another idea. As someone who wants to change all of her students’ lives, my sister wanted a recent college graduate to talk to her kids about future opportunities. Yet, she wanted me to talk to her students through my athletic experience. And to get them hooked on the conversation, she introduced me as her younger sister Ashleigh, the Duke athlete. At first, I was very caught off guard – mostly because I wasn’t expecting to talk at all, but also because I thought these kids should be motivated to look to a future education because it’s valuable not just because of sports. However, a majority of these children are growing up with parents and grandparents who might have a high school diploma, but definitely do not have a college diploma. And so the only way these kids get to see the world of college is from another group of people they follow – athletes.
Now, my sister completed the pre-law track in college, and is quite the interviewer, so she definitely knew how to control the conversation the way she wanted. Yet, through discussing my athletic experience and my desire to swim in college, I explained I could only do it by going to class and working hard for good grades, before I was able to reap any of the benefits of being a collegiate athlete. After sharing stories about being a Duke athlete, the conversation transitioned to genuine questions about college – and some kids even wanted me to answer questions about high school.
What started off as a conversation about how I knew Duke basketball players, studied with Duke football players, and took classes with Duke lacrosse players, quickly turned to the importance of higher education beyond middle school. I was able to use sports to discuss how these young sixth graders could start planning and working hard so that one day they could try to get a higher level of education. Whether it was making a goal to be the first in their family to graduate high school, or attending a community college, a state college or a private university – it didn’t matter. But explaining how sports and education intertwine, I helped these kids – even just for a little – understand some benefits of a higher level of education that they had never heard before.
After our seminar, I thought right back to this moment and my sister’s strategy made so much more sense – sports help to bring people to a level playing field. It creates a connection among people who are so different, and allows the conversation about significant topics come more easily. An understanding of perspectives is created after people establish a common bond or interest over sports. Then from there, conversations about bigger issues in society can be discussed and people are more willing to listen to everyone’s ideas or opinions. Sports and society are continually intertwined, and it is not just athletes or coaches that need to start the conversation. Everybody can use sports to start a discussion, and with that we can work to create a collective well-being and a greater sense of equity within society.

To be honest, when I saw the topic we would be covering in seminar I was not expecting to leave with it having such an impact on me. Sports have always been my escape. When I am stressed, I workout. When I have had a bad day, I turn on a game. Whatever it is, I always turn to sports to make me feel happy, and I’m sure a lot of other people do the same thing. But now looking deeper into my past, and what was said last week, I realize how impactful sports can be when used as a common ground.

Throughout my years at BU there have been times that I have taken for granted what I have. Dan Lebowitz even said “people from Andover, Wellsley and towns like that… they have it all.” However, this struck a chord with me. Yes, in some ways we do, but my town is more divided than he might think. Lebowtiz mentioned some of his experiences with kids from under privileged towns he has worked with who use sports as an escape. This goes to show that even people from a more privileged town can relate to those who are not. Sports puts everyone on a level playing field regardless of the environment.

The environment someone grows up in is important to their future. After hearing some of the encounters Lebowitz has had, it has opened my eyes to who I can be and what an impact I can have on others. As a rising journalist that is something I want to embody. With a pen, or computer, I have the ability to influence those around me. Jeanna Trotman mentioned in her discussion that she never realized how big of a role model she was until an elementary school all wrote her thank you notes. That is why it is so important that we as journalists understand our role in society. We reach audiences from kindergarten to senior homes. The world is bigger than sports and sometimes its hard for people to see that. However, sports are a way to bring a big topic to a smaller sphere.

One of the most powerful lines Lebowitz said all night was ‘what if you had to live someone else’s life?’ I sat there for a while contemplating what this meant and even after leaving class I thought about what if I was someone else. What if I didn’t grow up in Andover or what if my parents didn’t show the love and support they do? Would I think of things differently? And the answer was yes. The biggest lesson my parents have taught me was do onto others what others do onto you and treat everyone with respect. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. I understand that in our world today there are going to be competing views, but it is the right thing to listen to both sides of the argument. That is why as a journalist it is our job to get the story and tell it as unbiased as possible. Yes, we all have opinions and we all want to share them, but sometimes we have to look at the bigger picture.

Lebowitz will leave a lasting impact on me, and me as a journalist. I contain the ability to have an impact on others. I never thought of myself as someone who could hold this power, but in truth: we all have it. We all have the power to make a difference in this world and whether we chose to use this or not is up to us. After this seminar, I realize that I do want to make an impact on others, and in order to do this I will use sports to begin the conversation that everyone is scared to have.

For me, this seminar was not about working in sports, it was about being a good person in today’s hostile political/social climate. What I mean by this is the importance of changing your perspective and opening up conversations that will positively impact not only interpersonal relationships but society as a whole.

Everyone has a story, and some are rougher than others. A person’s past, present or future often creates a label for him/her, and that label creates a lens that others view them through as an outsider looking in. In my Technology in Society class, we discussed the limited effects theory, which is when an individual approaches everything with his/her own set of ideas about a certain topic. If what we encounter goes against our beliefs, we discard them, and if what we encounter goes with what we believe, we accept and run with it. It is hard to gain common ground and open the floor for deeper discussion when our preconceived beliefs are so ingrained in us, but to properly understand others, we must make the effort to step past these notions. The first step is digging deeper into our own selves and discovering what we can do to work through our own beliefs. We might even find that we’re all more similar than we think.

While I previously said I believe this seminar was held to help us further understand the importance of listening to others to help change our perspectives, I also think it was meant to provide an important tip for the room full of future reporters. When interviewing coaches/athletes/etc., it’s important to try to find common ground to not only produce a good interview but to build those much-needed connections. Being able to delve deeper than the average reporter that may just be there to get a quote and leave will produce much more favorable results for yourself and, more likely, a better overall experience.

The topics Dan Lebowitz of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society brought up have always been issues in society, but with the expansion of movements such as the Me Too movement, they have become extremely pressing. As college students venturing out into the real world in just a few short months (scary), it’s important that we both understand these topics as a whole and how we can both help others understand as well as make an impact through our work.

Being a journalist is not just about telling stories, it’s about being human. For me, being a good human means understanding and learning about others’ stories and perspectives. It’s our job as future journalists to dig down into that raw emotion and tell these important stories in a way that our audiences can come to understand and potentially even relate to. After all, as one of my professors recently said, “If you don’t have any emotion, you shouldn’t be a journalist.”

I have replayed last Thursday’s seminar a dozen times in my head since leaving class. The passionate words that Northeastern’s Dan Lebowitz set upon us meant so much more to me than just the “do’s and don’ts” of sports journalism.

Simply put, Dan humbled me. As no shocker to anyone in class, I am a white male who has experienced the benefits of white privilege. I come from an upper middle class family, my parents are together, and both my sister and I are studying at premier universities. As hard as I can think back, I cannot remember a time in which I found myself unable to achieve a legitimate goal due to a racial, gender related, or financial obstacle. Needless to say, I have experienced a very alternate upbringing than Dan and his adopted kids have. This does not necessarily mean that one side is better or more deserving than the other. I should not be “held back” in life because of my fortunate childhood and current status as a student at the elite Boston University. However, it is important for those in my position to remember the challenges that others had to face in finding success and making it to where they are today. Especially when these are challenges that I have not gone through myself.

One of my favorite movies growing up, titled “The Blind Side”, encompasses all that is important with sports and its relationship to people in different communities. A well-off white mother of two, named Leigh Anne Tuohy, opened her arms to Michael Oher, a black teenager who lived a disturbing life on the streets. Tuohy is exactly the type of person that Dan suggested we strive to emulate. When you see somebody in a less fortunate situation, we can take two paths: understand that we have our differences but ultimately leave them to fail, or lend a helping hand and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. At the end of the day, just like the players on a sports team, each and every person is in this together. Let’s start acting like it.

In addition to Oher’s past, other minority groups face constant adversity that I, as a white male, have not endured. In “Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man?”, Charles Barkley and Michael Wilbon outline shockingly common stereotypes that the black demographic faces. But just like Touhy, those in a more blessed position can do something that matters. We need to continue to discuss these issues, help our brothers and sisters, and try to turn things around – even it our efforts impact just one person.

Sports can truly be a way to find a common ground between opposing groups of people. We can look to the past Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea to prove that. North and South Korea, two countries in extravagant tension, presented players that paired up for the women’s ice hockey events. Although the mixed team failed to take home a medal, the stain it left on sports and the world in general could very well be paramount.

The more I think about it, sports acting as a unification tool makes perfect sense. Hypothetically, a Ku Klux Klan member and an African-American could both be fans of the New England Patriots. The two might rock the same Tom Brady jersey and retro beanie, swear Roger Goodell is “out to get them”, and maybe even shed a tear after the recent Super Bowl loss. Two completely different individuals, with significantly separate roles in society, bonding over a game. Even if somebody is not a “sports person”, they must respect that as something truly remarkable. At the very least, a commonality (such as an obsession with the same sport or team) can be used to initiate a discussion that could possibly result in change.

Dan is the perfect example of how the “nice guy” does not finish last. In the world of sports journalism, we get so caught up in recording the best quote or producing a better highlight reel than someone in our class, that we forget to extend a helping hand. Dan does not come across as somebody who is always working to outdo the next person in his field. Instead, he aims to be the best person he can be, even if that means helping others succeed along the way. In this wildly competitive field, that is a standard we all could remember to hold ourselves to every once in a while.

How have I used my privilege to help others? Since the question was posed by Dan Leibowitz, I’ve been unable to get it out of my head.

And I think that’s because I haven’t really done much of anything with the privilege I’ve been afforded. Yes, I worked hard and made it to Boston University. But what have I done since I got here? How have I made a positive impact in someone’s life?

There are plenty of opportunities that I have been afforded as a student here at BU that other, less fortunate peoples likely don’t have access to. Opportunities that could empower to make a change for or have a positive impact on someone. Yet many of those opportunities were squandered by me, and I have no one to blame for that other than myself. Life lessons, experiences and the benefits provided to me by almost any activity I could partake in or anything that I could realistically take advantage of here in Boston could all make a difference or have a real impact on someone’s life, whether they were less fortunate than I am, unable to take advantage because of a condition, or what have you. I wasted those chances, not only for myself but for others who could have mutually benefitted as well.

Realizing all of that through Dan’s words was a humbling experience to say the least.

With their platform, athletes have the power to change the world. We, as the journalists that cover those athletes, have a similar power. Through the connections we build with the players, the agents and others in the industry, it’s almost as if journalists are here to make a difference outside of reporting the news. Whether it be something as insignificant as putting a person in contact with someone you may know, or asking a contact for a favor to help someone out, journalists have the power to make a real difference to some people, even if it may not seem like it on the surface.

And that’s why this seminar was so important; it showed us that Sports and Society is about much more than just the top level. It’s about more than just the sport you cover and more than the relationship between a sports group and its fan base. It’s about being human and being a good person and doing whatever you can to help others who may need you and you are in a position to help.