Lawrenceville, NJ – The Rider Department of Athletics is pleased to announce the creation of its Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. The task force includes 28 Rider administrators, coaches and student-athletes and has held weekly virtual meetings over the last two months.
Since its inception in early September, the task force has been working on actionable goals for change while fostering efforts to enhance Rider as a community where individuals of every race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, religion and disability feel supported, included and welcome.
"The decision to create the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Task Force was an important one and this group's efforts will collaborate with the University's Inclusive Excellence Plan," said Director of Athletics
Don Harnum. "It's essential that we bolster advocating for awareness, inclusion and diversity while taking action to continue fostering a welcoming environment within the department and the University community as a whole."
Operating under the title "Broncs for CHANGE", the task force identified the word CHANGE as a meaningful one to reflect the group's efforts of:
Combating hatred;
Healing;
Advocating;
Nourishing;
Guiding;
Educating.
Some of the goals of the "Broncs for CHANGE" task force include providing guidance and support for current student-athletes, coaches and staff, encouraging education, advocacy and training, opening lines of communication, promoting civic engagement and establishing programming to create impactful action.
To date, the "Broncs for CHANGE" task force held a t-shirt giveaway in conjunction with the University's "On Wednesday's We Wear Cranberry" weekly spirit campaign to share information about social justice and encourage the Rider community to watch specific videos to continue the conversation. Additionally, the group also had a topical discussion after watching the movie "Fruitvale Station" together and plans to hold a campus-wide event in the spring to show and discuss the movie and its impact. The task force has also been behind voting initiatives the department has undertaken to register Rider's athletic teams to vote, provide information on how to vote, and created a powerful "I Vote Because" video that was shared on the department's social media platforms prior to Election Day. Additionally, some of the head and assistant coaches on the task force held virtual meetings with various Rider teams to encourage open dialogue on some of the social justice issues in the country.
Members of the "Broncs for CHANGE" task force:
Karin Torchia, senior associate director of athletics for external operations/SWA
Kevin Baggett, head men's basketball coach
Lynn Milligan, head women's basketball coach
Davon Ortega, head softball coach
Jeff Rotondo, head volleyball coach
Marritta Gillcrease, assistant women's basketball coach
Taner Bay, men's soccer student-athlete
Jerome Boyer, men's track and field student-athlete
Samantha Butler, women's track and field student-athlete
Austin Devereux, men's golf student-athlete
Alexander Diamantis, baseball student-athlete
Kaitlyn Flemming, field hockey student-athlete
Elena Gonzalez, softball student-athlete
James Green, men's track and field student-athlete
Rebecca Green, women's swimming and diving student-athlete
Ajiri Johnson, men's basketball student-athlete
Ethan Laird, wrestling student-athlete
Maeve Lersch, swimming and diving student-athlete
Kyla Massey-Edwards, women's track and field student-athlete
Daija Moses, women's basketball student-athlete
Alejandro Perez, men's soccer student-athlete
Anilee Sher, volleyball student-athlete
Kaitlyn Siciliano, women's soccer student-athlete
Matt Siley, men's track and field student-athlete
Madeleine Tarin, women's soccer student-athlete
Justin Thomas, men's track and field student-athlete
Danielle Tyson, field hockey student-athlete
Genesis Walker, women's track and field student-athlete
