Mike Neville – Sports Editor
The Owls’ mission to battle racial tensions in the United States and in New Haven came to fruition with the first virtual meeting of Athletes Fighting Injustice.
The forum, which is open to athletes only, included: field hockey coach Kelley Frassinelli, junior Bayleigh Takacs of lacrosse, senior Jazmyn Martinez of softball, and junior Elijah Ortiz of men’s track and field, among others.
“One of the main purposes of the event today was all of us to find a movie clip to highlight an important topic we were going to discuss after we finished,” said Takacs.
She said a takeaway from one of the clips is that people are not born racist, and that children adapt to what is being preached in front of them.
The turnout for the event was expected to be a smal since it was only limited to athletes.
“I think we got enough people where they can relay the message to other teammates and get more athletes involved for the next event,” said women’s soccer midfielder Madeline Sweeney, a sophomore.
The events are planned for every Sunday night at 4 p.m., with a privilege walk in the works for next week.
“A privilege walk is an activity to show each person’s privilege and give you a perspective on how people’s lives differ,” said Ortiz.
Moving forward, the athletes agreed that this will be a big step.
“It allows for another platform for students and athletes to learn more, discuss, share their own personal experiences and have important conversations with events on campus and in the world,” said Takacs.
The goal for AFI is to be open to all students.
“We want this to be open to as many students as possible to deliver the message, I think those meetings are for planning purposes,” said Associate Athletic Director of Athletic Communications Ken Sweeten, “but we are always open for discussions.
