McMaster Black Student Athlete Experience Systemic Review

A Systemic Review of the
Black Student-Athlete Experience

and the McMaster Athletics Climate
Submitted to:
Associate Vice-President (Students and Learning) and Dean of Students: Sean Van Koughnett
By:
Lead Reviewer: Dr. Ivan Joseph, Vice-President: Student Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University
In cooperation with the review Task Force:
• Aaron Parry (student)

• Faith Ogunkoya (staff)
• Marlice Simon (staff)
• Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh (faculty) – Task Force Chair
October 24, 2020

Systemic Review
Executive Summary
This report is the outcome of a systemic review of the Black student-athlete experience and
McMaster Athletics culture and climate over the last ten years following reports of anti-Black
racism from former student-athletes. The review involved over two dozen individual and group
interviews with current and former Black student-athletes, current and former Black staff and
coaches, and current and former non-Black staff and coaches. There were also written
submissions. Participant input and consultations with the Task Force informed the observations,
insights and recommendations herein. As much as possible, participants’ insights and comments
were conveyed in their own words to provide readers with direct access to their voices.
The framework of the report, along with all insights and recommendations, are offered in the
spirit of understanding and with the intention of inspiring and enabling McMaster and its
Athletics Department to move toward an inclusive culture that is welcoming and supportive of
Black student-athletes. Based on the evidence collected during this review, it is clear that there
is a culture of systemic anti-Black racism within McMaster Athletics as a result of individual and
group actions and inactions from staff, coaches and Department administrators. This culture is
evident in explicit and implicit examples of anti-Black racism. It is also evident in a widespread
lack of awareness, education, understanding, empathy and systemic perspective on issues of race
and inclusivity.
The review also illustrated that Departmental leaders approached by Black student-athletes
repeatedly failed to meaningfully address complaints or take decisive action to transform the
culture. Time and again throughout the review, Black student-athletes and their allies described
situations where they brought issues of anti-Black racism to the attention of the coaches and
administrators charged with their care, only to have their concerns downplayed, ignored or
dismissed. These missed opportunities to act on these concerns suggest that the leadership did
not prioritize the experience of Black student-athletes. This culture of systemic anti-Black racism
is and has been harmful and traumatizing to current and former Black student-athletes, many of
whom report that they continue to struggle with the mental health impacts of their experience
at McMaster long after they have graduated.
Along with sharing key observations and insights related to participant input, this report
identifies eight areas where gaps exist related to fostering an inclusive culture and offers five
priority recommendations, along with specific suggested courses of action, as context for the
strategic planning of the Department and university related to addressing systemic anti-Black
racism.
This report urges the Athletics Department leadership and community to reflect on how they got
here and what they need to do to transform the culture and climate moving forward. The report
also serves as a reminder and call to university leadership, more broadly, to consider its critical
role in visibly and proactively addressing system-wide anti-Black racism so that departments, like
Athletics, have clear accountabilities and are better equipped to respond to anti-Black racism and
to create welcoming, respectful and equitable experiences for Black students.
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Contents
Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... i

I. Context and Framing .................................................................................................................... 1
II. The Review Process and Report.................................................................................................. 7
III. The Black Student-Athlete Experience ...................................................................................... 8
IV. Culture, Climate and Systemic Racism .................................................................................... 24
V. Gaps .......................................................................................................................................... 32
VI. Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 41
VIII. Closing Comment ................................................................................................................... 52
VIII. Appendix ................................................................................................................................ 53
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I. Context and Framing

The only appropriate way to begin this report is to recognize the bravery and courage of the
current and former Black student-athletes who came forward to tell their stories and be heard.
By participating, they persevered through the difficulty of sharing their experiences in order to
demand better of their university and the athletics program that played such a prominent role in
their lives.
In particular, many former Black student-athletes who participated in the review conveyed that
while they had lost faith in McMaster as an institution, they felt motivated to come forward
because they hoped this review could help McMaster Athletics move towards a more inclusive
culture and eliminate systemic anti-Black racism in the athletics program.
The evidence collected during this review clearly indicates that a culture of systemic anti-Black
racism has existed and continues to exist in the McMaster Athletics Department. The review
revealed extremely concerning experiences from student-athletes that point to a culture lacking
a sense of belonging, respect and a feeling for Black student-athletes that prevents them from
bringing their whole selves to the Department and the sport that they love.
This culture has been harmful and traumatizing to current and former Black student-athletes,
many of whom continue to struggle with the impact of their experience long after graduation,
including through reports of long-term mental health impacts.
With the experiences of Black student-athletes as a central focus, this report has many purposes.
It is an attempt to provide clarity about what happened, to begin to repair some of the harm, and
to ensure that similar harms do not occur in the future.
For staff, coaches and administrators involved with McMaster Athletics, this review is an
opportunity to see the athletics culture and climate from the perspective of Black student-
athletes. This is crucial because the experiences of Black student-athletes, as conveyed through
their first-person accounts, provide an essential lens for assessing, interpreting and
understanding incidents, actions and inaction related to anti-Black racism.
For everyone in the McMaster community, this review is an opportunity to accept the role they
have played in creating the extant culture and to recognize approaches, practices and decisions
that have led Black student-athletes to feel that they don’t matter or belong.
In particular, this review is an opportunity to acknowledge that McMaster Athletics cannot hide
behind the fact that it did not know what was going on. Some coaches and Department
administrators knew what was happening and repeatedly opted not to take significant action.
Time and again during this review, Black student-athletes shared stories of situations where they
brought issues of anti-Black racism forward to the coaches and leaders charged with their care,
only to be met with inaction. And when allies brought issues forward to leaders and
administrators within the Department, they too were dismissed.
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A focus on the Black student-athlete experience

This review is a form of qualitative research that has elements of ethnography—a researcher
from outside of a culture learning about it and offering insights with a goal of prompting
understanding, learning and change. Everything in this report has been reviewed and considered
by the Task Force, but I take full responsibility for everything contained herein.
Given the nature of the review, it seems most authentic and appropriate for me to write this
report in first person because the findings and insights were, ultimately, received and shaped
through my point of view. It is also useful to comment briefly on why the focus on the Black
student-athlete experience made me a suitable choice to be the Lead Reviewer
I was invited to conduct this review because of the number of commonalities between my
background, experience and perspective and all of the groups connected to the McMaster
Athletics Department. I was a Black kid from Jane and Finch who excelled at sport and attended
an all-white college in Iowa. I spent 15 years as a varsity soccer coach at two different universities
in two different countries. I spent 10 years as an Athletic Director at one of the most diverse
universities in Canada. And I have been Vice Provost, Student Affairs at Dalhousie, a U15
university that shares many qualities with McMaster, and am now Vice President, Student Affairs
at Wilfrid Laurier University.
The student experience has been a central focus of my entire career. It is my passion, expertise
and domain. As a sport psychologist, my work is informed and shaped by student development
theory. Understanding a student’s perspective and embracing a student-centric mindset has
always been my priority. On any team I join, my approach is to help everyone see things from a
student’s point of view.
A road map for racial equity

The framework I have chosen for organizing this report comes from the work of a thought leader
I admire, Dr. Robert W. Livingston, who is a Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard University’s John
F. Kennedy School of Government.
Livingston offers a model for organizational change with five stages1:
1 https://hbr.org/2020/09/how-to-promote-racial-equity-in-the-workplace
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During the ten-year period that is the focus of this review, individuals and groups within the
McMaster community have been moving through the Problem Awareness phase at their own
pace.
Recently, as a result of police violence against Black people in the US and Canada, and the protest
movements that have followed around the world, there is a more widespread sense of urgency
around anti-Black racism on campus. Following a statement from the university and Athletics
Department, Canadian professional football player and former McMaster student-athlete,
Fabion Foote, shared his experiences of anti-Black racism within McMaster Athletics publicly on
Twitter, prompting the widespread awareness of the problem within the McMaster community
that led to this review. This Problem Awareness phase will continue throughout the process of
this report being disseminated.2
2 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/mcmaster-athlete-racism-review-1.5632430
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This review, including the creation of this report, is a form of Root Cause Analysis aimed at helping
the McMaster community understand the nature of its athletic culture and the prevailing systems
through the lens of anti-Black racism. In describing the Root Cause phase, Livingston offers a
definition of what we are exploring in this review:
“Understanding an ailment’s roots is critical to choosing the best remedy. Racism can
have many psychological sources—cognitive biases, personality characteristics,
ideological worldviews, psychological insecurity, perceived threat, or a need for power
and ego enhancement. But most racism is the result of structural factors—established
laws, institutional practices, and cultural norms. Many of these causes do not involve
malicious intent. Nonetheless, managers often misattribute workplace discrimination to
the character of individual actors—the so-called bad apples—rather than to broader
structural factors.”3
This review is an attempt to identify and understand the “established laws, institutional practices
and cultural norms” that have created barriers to positive and inclusive experiences for Black
student-athletes.
Understanding as a foundation for empathy and action

As an educator first and foremost, I view this process as an exercise in understanding. Together,
our job is to use this as an opportunity for learning, for expanding the way we think, and for
seeing more clearly, more deeply, more broadly.
If we achieve the objectives of this review, this report and everything that happens around it will
be a catalyst for McMaster Athletics as it moves through the final three phases of Livingston’s
model: Empathy, Strategy and Sacrifice.
The final two phases will take place largely after this report is published. The Strategy portion
begins with the recommendations herein and will be carried through the strategic imperatives
identified by the Department and the university as a result. That’s when the Sacrifice phase
begins—doing the hard thing, making the tough choices, and making change happen.
As readers of this report, members of the McMaster community are participating in an ongoing
conversation about root causes. They are also responsible for fostering the quality—individually
and collectively—that is a cornerstone of racial equality: empathy.
For some, the Empathy phase has been underway for years. For others, it began when they heard
George Floyd calling for his mother as he was suffocated. For others, it began when they heard
or were reminded about what took place when Fabion Foote and his peers were student-athletes
at McMaster. For others, empathy will arise as they read this report. And for others, it will come
later as the community works through these issues together.
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Empathy is not sympathy or pity. Empathy is the ability to share the feelings of others, to see
things not just from one’s own insular perspective but also from the perspective of others.
With its focus on Black pain/privation, mainstream discourse can position Black people as objects
of sympathy/pity in need of support. It is important to recognize that equity/inclusivity/access is
not a question of benevolence, but of justice. The intention of this report is to seek change and
turn hard truths about what has been happening in McMaster Athletics into opportunities. By
changing practices, administrators, coaches and staff will not be doing Black student-athletes a
favour; they will be creating an environment where every athlete can thrive.
This sentiment was evident in observations made by McMaster’s Associate Vice-President, Equity
and Inclusion, Dr. Arig al Shaibah in her University Affairs article “How to mobilize and sustain EDI
change in the academy”:
“The first and foremost pre-condition is that we get beyond thinking and talking about
EDI in terms of benevolence (the nice and kind thing to do) or compliance (the thing we
must do or suffer consequences). Behaviour motivated by compliance does not generate
long-lasting progress and culture change.”4
A national conversation
The McMaster community is on a shared journey to create the most positive and inclusive climate
possible for Black student-athletes. It is contributing to a time-honoured tradition of enabling
young Black women and men to create opportunities for themselves through athletics. It’s a path
I know well, because everything that has happened in my life and career began when a college
recruiter and admissions officer gave me a chance.
I feel honoured to have been invited to play a small part in helping the Athletics Department and
the university at large navigate these complex issues. I commend McMaster for having the
courage and conviction to lead in this historical moment. And I know that the work we are doing
together will inform the national conversation as university athletic departments across the
country grapple with these challenges. What we are doing here doesn’t just matter to Black
student-athletes at McMaster. It matters to past, current and future Black student-athletes
across the nation.
Accepting and acknowledging what has happened

In closing this section, I would like to share the thoughts of a member of the Task Force who
described the purpose and importance of this review in this way:
“The Task Force’s intention is to provide support, increase dialogue and prioritize helping
McMaster Athletics move toward a more inclusive culture. And while it is not the Task
Force’s aim to finger point or accuse, we believe that it is imperative to acknowledge that
4https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/how-to-mobilize-and-sustain-edi-change-in-the-
academy/
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the duty of care and a robust understanding of race, racism and racialization has not been
present in the Athletics Department.
Our hope is for readers to see the impact that a lack of suitable understanding and action
had on the experience of Black student-athletes so that their hurt and pain can be
addressed and acknowledged.
Anti-Black racism leadership has not been implemented in the Athletics Department and
members of the Black community have suffered as a result. Only from this premise of
acceptance and acknowledgement can change begin to be built.”
In this light, let me close with this suggestion of my own.
The most powerful, generous and potent thing every member of the McMaster community can
do while reading this report is to see the experiences of Black student-athletes from their
perspective. Adopting that lens will open doors and possibilities—for them, for the Department,
for the university, and for the entire McMaster community.
With respect,
Dr. Ivan Joseph

Lead Reviewer
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II. The Review Process and Report

Guided by the Terms of Reference for the Review Task Force (Appendix), I conducted a few dozen
individual and group interviews, had one-on-one conversations, and read through written
submissions. The interviewees included current and former student-athletes who were divided
into groups (football and non-football, Black and non-Black) and interviews with current and
former coaches and staff (Black and non-Black). Former student-athletes, coaches and staff from
the past ten years were invited to participate.
For context, in any given year, the Athletics Department will have up to 37 full-time and 700
student staff members, and 130 coaches (both paid and volunteers). There are also about 1,200
student-athletes.
There were 72 review participants. 32% (23) of the participants were current student-athletes
and 38% (27) were current Athletics staff (including coaches and administrators). 23% (17) of the
participants were former student-athletes (student-athlete alumni), and 7% (5) were members
of the community (former staff of the Athletics Department or connected to the University in
some way).
Among the participants, 69% (50) self-identified as Black or biracial with Black ancestry, of which
40 were student-athletes, current and former, and 10 were current staff including coaches. 3%
of the participants were Black and racialized female-student athletes, identified by their
membership on women’s teams.
All student-athlete participants self-identified as Black or biracial with Black ancestry. While
participation was clearly stated as voluntary, and there is no evidence for the motivation of non-
participants, it is worth examining whether there were broader cultural challenges or pressures
that contributed to non-participation by non-Black student-athletes.
The interviews were documented through recorded interviews, notetaking, or written

submissions.5
My focus in the interviews was on adopting a conversational and supportive approach that
created a safe space for participants to share their experiences. I also used a series of
foundational questions to ensure that every participant had an opportunity to share their
thoughts on several topics, including their experience, their perceptions of the systems and
processes within the Department, and their recommendations for how the Department can go
forward.
5Not all participants were comfortable with the sessions being recorded, so, in those cases, we are left to rely on
my notes and impressions. Participants’ comments have been lightly edited to remove all identifying markers (to
protect their identity) and to ensure clarity and readability.
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Throughout the process, I strove to address four of the objectives set out in the Task Force Terms
of Reference:6
1. To identify and document the experiences of Black student-athletes within Marauder

Athletics, and to gain a holistic understanding of the individual challenges and
systemic barriers Black student-athletes may face academically, socially, and
athletically;
2. To examine the extent a culture contributing to anti-Black bias and/or systemic racism
exists within Marauder Athletics;
3. To assess whether gaps exist in programs, processes, supports and organizational
structures which influence the culture and the student experience for Black student-
athletes;
4. To recommend areas for improvement in programs, processes, supports, and
organizational structures to address anti-Black racism and foster a culture of equity
and inclusion.
In drafting this report, I have told the story of what I heard and what I think it means, and
wherever possible, I have provided direct access to the voices of the participants.
III. The Black Student-Athlete Experience

Objective 1: To identify and document the experiences of Black student -athletes
within Marauder Athletics, and to gain a holistic understanding of the individual
challenges and systemic barriers Black student -athletes may face academically,
socially, and athletically.
In sharing the experiences of current and former Black student-athletes, I provide direct access
to their voices as much as possible. When I insert myself, it is for context, clarification and detail,
where necessary or expedient. Each item is labelled, with a brief explanation, and there are three
major categories.
1. Incidents and Responses

Jailbreak-themed rookie party
The following is a comment from a Black female student-athlete who attended her team’s rookie
party, which had a “jailbreak” theme. She described white players dressed up as “criminals” with
cornrow braids in their hair.
6Early on, it became clear that there was a need to narrow the focus of the review process. While there were a
handful of references to issues related to intersectionality, which are the focus of Objective #5 in the Terms of
Reference, this was not a sustained focus of this review. These topics are important and relevant, but they could
not be treated in a comprehensive way within the constraints of this review and are, as such, not a focus of this
report.
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“They made me feel like I was less. When I went to the student-athletes, they didn’t
understand. When I went to the coach, he didn’t understand. He didn’t know how to
handle, help me. He felt sorry for me, but he didn’t know how to help me. He didn’t know
what to do. I found him floundering over his words, where I had to comfort him. That’s
not my job.”
Black History Month celebration game cancelled
A plan was put in place to celebrate Black History Month at a home game in February. Close to
the date, it was called off and students believed that it was replaced with a Pride-themed event.
Several Black student-athletes conveyed their interpretation of the experience:
“We already had the Black History Month tee shirts, and we were told we couldn’t do it.
It’s not even Pride Month, it’s our month. Were we meant to feel like we should be
ashamed? Why couldn’t we do both?”
“I came across the Black History Month shirts … the shirts were printed, they were ready
to go and it just never happened … kind of makes me feel like McMaster puts other things
above the Black community.”
“It’s not to say anything about Pride or the LGBTQ+ community, but I don’t remember the
last time ever hearing about any Black Lives stuff … the LGBTQ+ community is something
that’s always pushed.”
Perceptions of the men’s basketball Black student-athletes and a derogatory comment

from a women’s basketball alumna
The theme in comments from current Black student-athletes on the men’s basketball team was
the view that the change in demographics on the team had not been well received by the
McMaster community. They spoke about their sensation of having the lens of the university on
them. They have noticed that there is a significant white population that watches the women’s
games and much smaller crowds at men’s games. These student-athletes made comments such
as these:
“There’s a huge white population that watches the women’s game, and nobody stays for
our games.”
“Our team is the most Black team, and we seldom see the leadership and administration
at our games.”
“Super fans have dwindled in the men’s basketball.”
Several of them referenced a moment when a non-Black [Marauders alum] attending an

event…commented on the men’s [basketball] team: “When did the team get Black
overnight? That’s not the McMaster way.”
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Incidents of racial slurs
Almost every Black student-athlete who participated in the study shared examples of racial slurs
they heard coming from either non-Black student-athletes or non-Black coaches and staff. Here
are a few examples.
“A -- player came out with a whole bunch of racist statements. We don’t know…if anything
was done.”
A -- alum was reported to have contacted a coach several years after graduating to get in
touch and the coach replied, “What’s up, my n***ah??”
“During my first year, I was called a n***er [at a restaurant on campus] by one of my
teammates. I was angry. I was furious. This ended up leading to an altercation, which was
broken up by teammates.”
“During my second year at McMaster, in the weight room, a -- coach said to me, ‘When
are you going back to Africa?’ And he laughed after he said it. I reported the incident to a
coach. Nothing happened. They just went on casually.”
“My -- coach once called me King Kong or Donkey Kong. I kind of laughed it off because I
didn’t know how to react, but when I got home, I cried about it because I felt like an
animal. It hurt a lot because I felt weak, and I felt like I couldn’t do anything about it
because this is my -- coach. This is the person that determines whether or not I play.”
Derogatory comments based on race
During the review, current and former Black student-athletes, staff and coaches shared many
examples of comments they experienced as anti-Black racism:
A coach indicating to a Black student-athlete that another player got playing time because
he wasn’t “fully Black.”
From a Black coach: “A white coach said people that are in this community need to meet
nice guys or good Black guys like Coach Grant or Obama. That compliment is based on the
assumption that a good Black man is rare, that it’s the outlier. I get that one a lot. Wow,
you’re well-spoken.”
“I remember -- was wearing his pick in his head or like a du-rag or something. I think it
was a pick though. And I think a man at the front desk said like, ‘Oh, this is not a
barbershop,’ or something like that.”
In a student house, a housemate said to a Black student-athlete, “I lost my wallet. Are you
the one that stole my wallet? Everybody knows that Black people steal.”
“I will never forget…we were preparing to face -- in a playoff game. While watching film,
the -- said that the only reason Black athletes go to -- is because they can’t get into any
other schools with a 60% average. All the white players laughed and agreed with him,
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while the Black guys, including myself, sat there awkwardly. Just imagine, you’re in a room
full of athletes. Your coach is saying, ‘Look, these guys are not good. They only got into
that school, and their roster is filled with Black people just because they couldn’t get into
a better school.’ Imagine just being the Black guys sitting there and listening to how these
people are talking about us.”
References to gangs or drugs
Many current and former Black student-athletes shared examples of themselves or their Black
peers being described as connected to gangs and drugs by non-Black players, staff and coaches.
Here are several examples:
There were many references to Black student-athletes being greeted with comments like,
“Hey Jane and Finch.”7
In reference to a Black student-athlete dancing in the weight room, a coach said, “One of
the -- coaches was, like, ‘keep that in Jane and Finch.’ … finding myself being upset about
it, when I was trying to just stay calm.”
“I’ll never forget, I was introduced as the Jane and Finch kid [to the crowd at a home
game]. And they just really made me this charity case. Implying that I’m involved in gangs
and such. A random white parent came up to me afterward and apologized to me for it
being mentioned.”
Athletes report comments being made by staff like, “’Oh yeah, you guys just always like
listening to gangster music,’ and all that kind of stuff. It’s like... I don’t know, just little...
And just, I don’t know, like jabs at our race.”
One of the coaches said to a student-athlete, “How did you afford that chain, were you
selling dope?”
A specific incident where a coach asserted a Black student-athlete was selling drugs
An incident occurred where a -- coach said to a Black student-athlete in front of several other
athletes, “I tell you, they had so much dope, I could have gotten you to get rid of it for me.” The
athlete replied, “I don’t smoke weed, Coach.” And the coach said, “Sure you don’t. How else do
you afford to come here, then?”
The student’s reflections on this experience:
“For me, this was a low point. I went home. I was just angry. I was pissed off. I felt so
disrespected. It hit so close to home because when I left the neighborhood I grew up in,
some of my friends started to do crime, started selling drugs. Some of them actually died
because they became drug dealers. Me as a Black man, I was trying to be different. I was
7Jane and Finch is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario associated in popular discourse with racialized (esp. Black)
poverty and gang violence.
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being different. I went to school. I left all my friends back home. Some of them made bad
decisions.
Me, at an institution, getting a proper education, pursuing a professional career playing

football, and for my coach to label me and just say, ‘Oh yeah, you sell weed just like the
other Black guys?’ It hurt because, like I said, I know what that lifestyle is like. I have
people that live in that lifestyle, you know? To hear that I’m still being labeled as that,
especially when I’m in the same position as my other white teammates, it just showed me
how different Black people are being treated at this place.
Some people died because of this stuff, and for my coach to imply that I was a gangster,
that hurt. I’m not a product of my environment. I went away to university to become a
better man, get an education, and play --. Instead I was disrespected and dehumanized
every day for being a Black man. They also knew where I grew up, so knowing all of this
and for them to make comments about this and laughing was extremely rude and
disrespectful. I grew up in Jane and Finch. I grew up in Rexdale.”
An incident at an -- alumni event
Reports of an incident at an -- alumni event where two Black student-athletes were

volunteering…when a non-Black alumnus said to them, “Hey, brother. How you doing, brother?
Hey, you know where we can get some weed?” The student-athletes reported it to a non-Black
coach who replied, “They were probably drunk,” and “Well, I have had good interactions with
them.” No effort appears to have been made by the coach to look into the situation or help the
student-athletes process it.
-- coaches handling a racist incident in a varsity game
A Black student-athlete recounted an incident that occurred during a varsity -- game where a
non-Black McMaster -- player used a racial slur against a Black player from another university.
The opposing player had a large reaction and immediately informed the referee that the Mac
player had used the N-word. The McMaster player claimed to have not used that word but rather
another word which he viewed as less offensive. Prior to the next practice, the non-Black player
was instructed by the coaches to apologize to the entire team. The coaches then said to the
players, “If you are all okay with this, he is going to start the next game.” The Black players
reported finding this incident “silencing”. The coach did not attempt to interact with the Black
players individually or as a group. The next year, the non-Black player was selected as captain,
which the Black players felt “sent a clear message about the team’s stance on anti-Black racism.”
A pick-up basketball game broken up by staff and campus police
A Black student-athlete recalled one night when a pick-up basketball game was organized and
NBA star -- was invited to attend, which he did, along with his father. As the event was unfolding,
the team wanted to extend their time on the court for an extra 20 minutes because -- had arrived
late and the Athletics Centre did not close until 11:00 p.m. One of the student-athletes…[called]
to request that the gym remain open until 10:20 pm. The request was forcefully denied. Then, a
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staff member showed up to the gym with three campus security staff (special constables) and
forced the players to leave the building immediately.
Reflecting on the experience, a Black coach said, “Here’s your star athlete asking that they
extend the time from 10 o’clock to 10:20, when the gym doesn’t even close till 11. Not
only did you say no, but you show up with campus police to kick them out. That doesn’t
seem right.”
Another Black coach observed, “This to me is a classic example where young Black men
are not protected…. They’re considered a threat because they’re big and they’re strong
and they’re Black…. It’s a classic example of over-policing of our young Black men. Like I
said, I pointed out that -- is an exemplary, quality student who I know asked in the most
polite way possible, and he was met with, like at other times in his life, not only met with
hostility, but also police intervention.”
Athletics administration facilitating Hamilton police access to a Black student-athlete
There was an incident in which a staff/administration member in Athletics facilitated access by

the Hamilton Police to a student-athlete in relation to an investigation into a crime to which the
student-athlete had no connection.
Two Black coaches commented on the incident this way:
“The player was on the fringe. He barely got in. He’s working hard to get by, and guess
what happens when the police show up to campus unannounced. Guess where he’s not
going to show up anymore. He misses a few classes here and there. All of a sudden, he’s
on his way out of school. Then he’s back in that community, and it’s just reinforcing this
system.”
“You can only imagine what that does, especially with a player on the fringe when you
have nothing to do with the situation, and you’re being exploited because of your past….
Mentally that would just crush you.”
Responses to student-athletes sharing concerns about anti-Black racism with other

players, coaches or administrators
A common theme that emerged in the interviews with Black student-athletes was that when
issues of anti-Black racism were brought forward, they felt there was insufficient concern or
follow up from players, coaches and administrators. Here are a few examples of current and
former Black student-athletes’ perspective on this issue:
“When we bring something to you, you don’t follow through. We’re not sure you’re going
to follow through.”
“How can a person be in this department and not recognize that there is a problem?”
“Like those sorts of things that cause you to just feel less valued and of less worth.”
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“One time, I went to speak with white student-athletes about an issue of racism and they
were like, ‘What are you talking about? You’re barely Black. You don’t have a say.’
Because I identified as biracial, they dismissed my ability to speak to this topic. When I
brought this up with my coach, they didn’t know what to do.”
“Concerns of racism brought to Coach -- were downplayed. Every time I complained, they
made it seem as if I was making a big deal. I even tried to talk to -- about a lot of the issues
we faced. [They] always discounted everything that we said and made it seem as if we
were complaining about nothing and that we should only be focusing on --. Nothing else
mattered to [them].”
Athletics administrators not showing up for meetings and not following up
Several of the current and former Black student-athletes who participated in the review, along
with current and former staff and coaches—both Black and non-Black—had stories of situations
in which Athletics administrators did not show up for meetings or did not follow up on issues of
anti-Black racism. Here are several comments that illustrate the incidents.
During a process of deciding whether to hire a coach full-time, -- student-athletes approached an

Athletics administrator with concerns about anti-Black racism related to the coach. One of the
former Black student-athletes involved, whose comments were supported by other former Black
student-athletes during the review, described the situation this way:
“I brought these incidents to -- at a pre-season -- game, November or December of --. At

the time, the school was deciding whether or not they were going to hire -- as -- coach
full time. -- asked about my experience. I told -- they were not good. I told -- everything
that went on that year in --, with --. -- acted like -- cared. -- said that -- was going to meet
with us, me, myself, and other Black student-athletes, and address our complaints and
concerns. So I told -- everything that happened…. -- acted like -- cared. -- said, ‘I know this
is serious. -- can’t say these things. They can’t get away with this stuff. We’re going to sit
down, and we’re going to have a full discussion about how you guys are being treated.'
Not only did -- not address these issues, -- never showed up to the meeting and never
followed up with me. -- walked by me for the rest of the school year. When -- saw me
walking down the hallway, -- avoided me. -- would sometimes walk the other way.”
The student-athletes stated they felt ignored for the rest of the school year and that this
experience affected their mental health:
[It] really affected my mental health. I felt like I was at my last straw with my treatment
at McMaster. I spoke up, and I was rejected. My concerns were neglected. It put me in a
dark place mentally. I was hurt, and I was angry about it for years. I really needed the
support, and I was never heard.”
Around the time those issues were brought forward, a member of the staff/coaching group also
tried to arrange a meeting with the Athletics administrator to express concerns about the same
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coach. Referring to that incident, the member of the staff/coaching group involved shared this
perspective:
“[They] failed to attend the meeting and now admits that [they] ‘thought this was just
two people who didn’t see eye to eye’.”
“We arranged a meeting with [this individual] to address an issue of racism. [They] did
not show up. And there was no follow up.”
Black student-athletes boycotting the banquet
In --, all of the Black -- student-athletes boycotted their athletic banquet, which is attended by
players, coaches, administrators and parents.
In advance of the event and afterward, Black student-athletes believed that there was no effort
made by coaches or Athletics administrators to reach out to them about their decision and
actions. The lack of outreach from the coaches and administrators, who were most likely aware
of what was happening, was taken by Black student-athletes as a reflection of the coaches’ and
Athletics administrators’ attitudes toward Black student-athletes and the culture that had been
created around this team. Additionally, the team’s culture surrounding anti-Black racism was
evident when a white member referred to the Black players as “a** sniveling ni**lets” in a group
chat.
Here is how one of the former Black student-athletes involved described the experience:
“We skipped out on our year-end dinner because the year was awful, we didn’t feel like
we were welcome, so we weren’t going to go anyway. All of the white athletes were in
the group chat and referencing n**nogs, basically talking about one of our guys not
coming. All something about a n**nog not coming, or something like that, to the year-
end dinner. And that made its way to the coaches, and the student wasn’t really
reprimanded, you know what I mean? So, what kind of a culture are you creating where
stuff like that can slide, you know what I mean?
I told the other Black players I’m not going. I expressed to them that it’s important that
we don’t go, because we’re getting disrespected, and we’re going to show up to a night
of celebration? What are we celebrating? All we do is get disrespected, so there’s nothing
for us to go there and celebrate for.”
2. Experiences of Black football players

Almost all of the current and former Black football student-athletes reported feeling that their
white counterparts were treated differently. Black student-athletes felt that when a white player
made a mistake in practice or a game, that error was ignored, accepted and supported whereas
when a Black student-athlete made a mistake, they were removed from a game or drill because
they could not perform. The Black student-athletes’ perceptions were that white players got
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more learning time, were allowed to make more mistakes and got more feedback. They believe
that as a Black athlete, “If you make a mistake, you’re out.”
Many current and former Black football student-athletes reported they were told by coaches that
the reason they were not playing ahead of white counterparts, despite often demonstrating
superior ability, was that they “did not know the playbook.” The Black student-athletes
interpreted this as being told “you are too stupid to play.”
Additionally, in several cases, Black football student-athletes who felt they were held back from
playing time in various ways went on to be drafted into the CFL. There were also several reports
of Black student-athletes setting records for training as rookies and white rookies who did not
score as well getting playing time ahead of them.
Here are comments from several current and former Black football student-athletes:
“If we’re watching film, anytime there’s something good, it’s typically a white guy.
Anytime there’s something bad, it’s typically a Black guy.”
“There’s a general feeling that the Black athletes are not as smart and capable as the
white athletes.”
“I felt as if there was a bit of, I guess a hierarchy as to how they treated certain players. I
felt as if they were short with certain players, and gave other players second chances and
more opportunities to rise through the rankings, whereas if you’re a Black athlete, you
had very little room for error. As soon as that error would arise, they would basically just
replace you. You’d still obviously be on the team, but that same opportunity that you
fought for equally amongst your peers seemed to disappear quicker than I felt as if some
other players on the team.”
“If you made a mistake, that was pretty much it. Then if white guys would make a mistake,
then they would give them other chances and opportunities to play as well, whereas the
Black guys on the team did not. It was almost as if they gave us a shot just to say that they
did, and then as soon as we made a minor error, anything at all, that was pretty much it.”
“We would be doing some drills on the field during practice, and nobody would step up
first in the drill. So, I would step up, and I would make a mistake, and my coach’s response
would be to get out of the drill. But if someone else did it, someone who was white, the
coach would always say, ‘Okay, let’s reload.’”
“Five athletes while we were there on my own time…we were all told the same thing:
‘Hey, you don’t know your playbook, that’s why.’ As I got older, I obviously moved up the
depth chart, but you were told, ‘You don’t know your playbook, that’s why you’re not
getting the starting reps, or you’re not getting this amount of time.’ All of those athletes
that I just named to you all got drafted to the CFL, with minimal playing time. And out of
the 15 players that got drafted over the years, we were the majority. So, it’s like, ‘Okay,
that excuse of us not knowing our playbook and stuff like that, just clearly, has been there
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before us.’ And, after talking to the younger players that are currently still there, this is
still a recurring trend that is still there now.”
“Many Black student-athletes that attended McMaster rarely started, but they were the
ones to go professional. Students like --, --, --, --, --, --, and myself all have professional
careers despite hardly playing at McMaster. There’s also a handful of Black student-
athletes that could have gone professional, but did not because McMaster held them
back.”
“They always did anything in their power to get the white guys on the field, but while the
Black guys have all the records in the weight room, while the Black guys are very dominant
on the football field, they still tried to say, ‘Yeah, you can’t play.’ It’s messed up too,
because all the Black guys that went to McMaster are the ones playing professional, but
we never started. I never started at McMaster until halfway through my last year. And I
have gone on to a four-year professional career.”
“It’s so bad that some guys started to believe that they’re not smart enough. I had to
remind people, ‘Look, you didn’t get into McMaster because you’re stupid. This is not a
school where you can just get into with an average GPA. You’re smart for being here.
Don’t listen. Block the noise. Focus on yourself, keep grinding, but don’t listen to garbage.
You know how good you are. You know how smart you are. Don’t listen to it.’”
“Sometimes, the coaches would not even tell Black athletes when a professional team
had shown interest in them. For example, when the list of student-athletes that got
invited to the combine came out, which is an opportunity to get drafted by the CFL, I went
to -- and asked if I was invited. He said he was not sure. I had found out from other white
athletes that he received the confirmation and that I was invited to the combine. They
also didn’t notify -- when the CFL asked about him, as well as --. They also didn’t tell –
when -- and -- inquired about him, in --.”
These patterns of experiences reinforced questions among Black football players about why
some coaches were seemingly withholding information and opportunities for them to develop
and advance in the sport. The following perspectives provide a window into the sense of the
disempowerment and distrust felt by Black football players as a consequence of these specific
coaches’ actions, and they are reinforced by beliefs around a broader narrative of concerning
recruitment practices within the sport:
“Black student-athletes have to jump additional hurdles to obtain the same information
that white student-athletes got. ... White student-athletes didn’t have to go over those
hurdles. We were pretty much hungry, and they had the food and decided whether or
not we were getting fed or not. Pretty much they would try to hold opportunities from us
because they wanted us to rely on them, you know what I mean? Let’s say they just had
opportunities dangling over us, and they would just pull it back when we would get too
close to achieving what we came there to do.”
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“It is my belief that McMaster recruited Black athletes to keep them away from other
institutions purposefully. It is unfortunately a common practice in football to recruit
student-athletes from going to other schools, to prevent them from excelling somewhere
else. It is a good way to make sure that your opponents don’t have the best players. They
hinder our development because they hide us on the bench.”
3. Overall experiences and perspectives of Black student-athletes and

coaches
Here is a range of comments and feedback from current and former Black student-athletes that
offers a window into how they characterize their experiences during and after their time at
McMaster.
Overall impressions
Black coaches and student-athletes have the impression that issues of anti-Black racism are not
important to many of the non-Black coaches. Many reported the feeling of a lack of appreciation,
sensitivity to and understanding of the Black student-athlete experience.
“Imagine being oppressed and feeling like you can’t speak up to the people who are
making disrespectful comments to you. I didn’t want to say anything because it was
already hard enough to get on the -- because they viewed Black athletes as inferior to the
white student-athletes. I felt as if speaking up would lead to me playing even less, and my
objective was to get drafted and play pro.”
“Like I said, to add insult to injury, when I was drafted -- by the --, -- --, saying
congratulations. To me, it was such a slap in the face because [they] ignored me while I
was at McMaster, for coming forward about my experiences of racism. I felt that -- was
just using my name to make McMaster look good but ignored my experience and yet
celebrated my success in public. I really felt like a slave.”
“Being in a situation like that makes you insecure and makes you question your self-
worth. Some Black student-athletes had such a bad experience that they had to transfer
across Canada, to find a new school to play for.”
“As Black men, we’re expected to be strong. We’re expected to go through trauma and
keep our heads up. Just because I survived McMaster Athletics doesn’t mean a younger
Black student-athlete should face the same trauma as I did. Not everyone should have to
be this strong. All we want is respect. We should not have to work ten times as hard. We
shouldn’t have to work ten times harder because of the colour of our skin.”
“Some former players sought therapy because of all the trauma they experienced from
their time at McMaster, myself included. Some guys still cannot speak about their
experiences without crying or feeling sad and depressed. Bringing back a lot of these
memories to the forefront of our consciousness brought back a lot of negative feelings.”
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The experience of being a Black student-athlete at McMaster
Though the details of their particular experiences varied, all of the current and former Black
student-athletes who participated in the review characterized their experiences related to race
and inclusivity at McMaster in negative terms. Here are a few examples of the comments and
sentiments they shared.
“We don’t belong here. We’re not good enough. We don’t have a safe place here.”
“Student-athletes say that they don’t feel comfortable and safe.”
“The university does not do things to showcase their Black student-athletes.”
“Athletics Department administrators do very little to interact with students. When they
do interact with students, it’s only the students that look like them. Men’s volleyball,
women’s basketball.”
“Black people don’t get the recognition and praise they deserve.”
“As a racialized student-athlete, you’re always the odd one out. You’re usually
underrepresented, there’s always micro-aggression. You get tired of always having to be
the ambassador.”
“There’s a feeling that Black athletes don’t meet the academic standards and they’re not
good enough. We hate feeling like that.”
“I always feel like I’m representing my people.”
“I remember being very relaxed on campus and then, ‘All right, time to go to athletics.
Time to go to the gym. Time to go to practice,’ and then realizing, ‘Now, I’m up for
inspection. People are staring at me now.’”
“My experience was awful. A lot of the Black athletes that I went to McMaster with really
didn’t like their time. To be honest, we just felt a lot of disrespect. We were never valued.
We were always looked down upon. They treated us much differently than anyone else.
Whenever you would call out the garbage that we had to go through, it was always like ...
‘Yeah, you’re just acting a fool. It’s okay.’ Kind of like getting a pat on the shoulder and
acting like your problems didn’t matter. They kind of shielded it. They covered it and acted
like, ‘Oh, just a Black guy.’ It’s how they view Black people, just think, ‘Oh, it’s just a Black
guy getting mad again.’ But who wouldn’t get mad when they’re being called a n***er?
Who wouldn’t get mad if they’re saying, ‘Oh yeah, when are you going back to Africa?’
Stuff like that, talk about your financial situation, making snide remarks.”
“Sadly, my four years at McMaster University were appalling. As soon as I stepped foot
on campus, I realized I was being treated differently than my white student-athlete
counterparts. From the racial slurs by white student-athletes and coaches, to them
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sabotaging other Black student-athletes’ performances on the -- and taking away

opportunities from us, and also the fact that my complaints were never heard.”
“While I was there, even a few white teammates said the N word, and they thought they
could say it because we’re teammates. I’m like, ‘No, you can’t say that.’ You know what I
mean? Don’t disrespect me. I’m not somebody to take stuff lightly, so whenever those
situations occurred, I always stood up for myself, stood up for Black people. Then each
and every situation, they always played the victim. There was a lot of victim playing going
on at the school.”
“I remember really wanting to quit. I was very fully planning on quitting the team or I was
actively looking for alternatives.”
“That shouldn’t continue to happen to other Black people after me, just because of the
colour of their skin. Not everyone is going to be as strong as I am. Not everyone is going
to be able to take all the b*****t that they throw at them and continue to function
properly. That’s why it’s so important that it has to stop. There have to be consequences
for everything. Honestly, if there’s not, I know that I tried my best. That’s all I get to tell
myself, I tried my best. That’s where I’m at with it.”
Alumni reflections on their experience after leaving McMaster
Many of the Black – alumni who participated conveyed that they have a negative view of
McMaster. Here are comments from a few alumni that illustrate their sentiments:
“It still makes me angry. There’s probably not a month that goes by when I don’t think
about when the coach pulled me and didn’t play me and called me names and told me I
was letting the team down.”
“I don’t wear the gear. I don’t want to be associated with McMaster. That wasn’t a place
where I felt like I belonged, or I could be proud,”
“All these experiences were really starting to affect me mentally. They were gaslighting
me with the other Black student-athletes. I felt a lot of anger and rage from these
traumatic experiences. I recently came to better terms with them because I started going
to therapy. I shared my experiences with my therapist about McMaster University and
unpacked how my experiences left me traumatized. “
“For the time being, I still don’t like the school, but I can live with it now. For a long time,
I just felt a lot of anger. I felt a lot of hurt. I just never handled it the best way because I
would just keep going forward. As a Black man in this society, they always just say, people
always preach, ‘Keep going.’ You just carry this hurt over and over and over again, but
society keeps telling you, ‘Oh, it’s okay. Just keep going forward.’ You never ever really
get to sit down and unpack all that stuff.”
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“When I finished university and got older, I really realized that I needed to talk about this
stuff because it didn’t make me feel good. It would usually just leave me angry, when the
thought came to my mind.”
Interactions with coaches
Many of the current and former Black student-athletes participating in the review conveyed
examples of anti-Black racism in their interactions with coaches:
“Microaggressions from coaches. No coach is calling me the N-word, but every coach is
looking past me and thinking I’m not good enough or smart enough, and how did I get
here.”
Black student-athletes feared that if they went to a coach about an incident, it would
leave them in “worse standing” with their coach and “negatively affect me more than the
non-Black player who decided to use the racial epithet.” “There was no point in bringing
things up.”
Black student-athletes reported that when they brought an issue forward, it was “flipped
on you” by a coach saying, “Do you want this player not to play? Do you want us to win?”
The message that Black student-athletes received was, “You’re being selfish for bringing
this up. You’re the one who’s insensitive, you’re the one who’s actually causing the
problem.”
Black -- student-athletes reported that they were made to feel that if they had a problem
with anti-Black racism, it was only their problem and not an issue for the majority or the
coaches. “It was an issue for you to get over.”
“When teams go on bus trips, as many teams do, they play movies to pass the time.
Sometimes, the players select the movies. Sometimes, the coaches select the movies.
Oftentimes, the movies selected were racially insensitive and did not take into account
the diversity of the people who are on the team or the racial stereotypes that were being
portrayed on camera. One such movie that was selected made me feel heartbroken.”
“I tried to correct one of my coaches on how to pronounce my name and there was like
an outright refusal to do that.”
“Microaggressions were always nuanced and subtle and delivered by coaches as well as
students in a way that caused me to wonder at the time if they were really racist.”
“I never felt like I would be able to go to one of the coaches and tell them, ‘Hey, this is
something that’s going on,’ because I don’t know, I just felt like the coaches have a little
bit of power in the sense that they write our reference letters. They give access to a lot of
our future professional opportunities…. I would never have complained about any of the
comments or the microaggressions that I was facing because I did not want to jeopardize
any of the letters that I was getting or any of the stuff like that. I felt like I had to already
work so hard to get their respect, to get them to treat me seriously that bringing up, ‘Hey,
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I’ve experienced these racist microaggressions or whatnot, and now, I would also like you
to give me a reference for something that you had a lot of power for.’”
Coaches “act as if, ‘Oh yeah, this is not a problem.’ They act like this never occurred, that
they’re just oblivious to something because they don’t experience it.”
“But time and time again, McMaster -- proved that they didn’t care about Black student-
athlete experiences. They just kind of sweep us under the rug and keep going. Whenever
things don’t work out, they always make it seem like it was our fault.”
“I also felt like I couldn’t always speak up because in -- culture, whenever you speak up,
they kind of shun you. They kind of just act like your matters didn’t matter, you know?”
Mental health supports and resources
Several of the current and former Black student-athletes who participated in the review pointed
to the absence of mental health supports aimed at Black student-athletes and the issues they
were grappling with. Their comments indicate two things: the need for more Black support
services staff; and the need for better awareness-raising of and referrals to the few existing Black
support practitioners in different Offices across the university.
One Black student-athlete said:
“Mental health supports were for the white players only. There’s an intersectionality of
race and mental health that we need to think about. Let’s bring the same approach to
racism that we bring to mental health.”
Coaches and student-athletes reported that the lack of Black staff and coaches creates a void
where they feel they don’t have anyone to connect to or go to for support.
“Sometimes all you need is just a five-minute talk with someone, just to lift up your spirits,
and literally reinstate that comfort in you. As an athlete you know, you could be the best
player but, if you’re not focused and literally, if you don’t have confidence in yourself,
you’re done. You can kiss your career goodbye, and move on to something else. And
personally, I felt I needed that. I needed someone just to talk with. And give me
confidence, and reinstate that confidence in myself, and I could’ve performed better. But,
it wasn’t available and it is what it is. So, that’s it, that’s my take at it.”
“We always have these like Bell Let’s Talk panels … very annual big thing …disappointing
and quite frankly exhausting to see … I can’t recall even a non-Black person of colour that
was ever on the panels or that was ever involved with the public face of it.”
Experiences with teammates
Most of the current and former Black student-athletes who participated in the review had
experiences with teammates related to anti-Black racism. Here are three examples.
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A non-football Black student-athlete reported feelings of discomfort and experiences of

discrimination coming mainly from interactions with teammates, many of whom were
white and from small towns. The Black student-athlete attributed the behaviour to a lack
of education and support as these white student-athletes simply did not know what to
think or how to interact with a Black person.
A Black student-athlete reported that because there were so few Black student-athletes,
it was not a comfortable space to express concern about any anti-Black racism because it
felt like an individual or small group were “against the whole team.”
A Black student-athlete reported a “paralyzing feeling” when a white teammate used the
N-word in a text message that made it to several teammates because there was no system
in place to support them in addressing it or processing the experience.
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IV. Culture, Climate and Systemic Racism

Objective 2: To examine the extent a culture contributing to anti -Black bias
and/or systemic racism exists within Marauder Athletics.
This section offers observations and insights about the culture and climate within the McMaster
Athletics Department and the impact this culture had—and continues to have—on Black student-
athletes. The observations in this section are then extended in the next two sections, which
outline particular gaps and make recommendations for how to address them.
A culture of systemic anti-Black racism

Cultures are built. An organization, department, group or team becomes whatever it sets out to
be. The beliefs, values, priorities and principles guiding the McMaster Athletics Department and
each individual team were and are a direct and indirect outcome of what the leadership and
coaches put in place.
Based on the evidence collected during this review, it is clear that the cumulative result of
individual and group actions and inaction has been the enablement of a culture of systemic
anti-Black racism.
This culture is evident in explicit and implicit examples of anti-Black racism. It is also evident in a
widespread lack of awareness, education, understanding, empathy and of an all-important
systemic view of issues related to race and inclusivity that impact the experience of Black
student-athletes.
And, while systemic anti-Black racism is an endemic problem in McMaster’s Athletics

Department, there seems to have been very little done to change the culture, and many missed
opportunities and refusals to address it as this culture still exists today.
We are left to ask, “Why isn’t there a proactive culture of inclusivity for Black student-athletes in
place?”
Impact on current and former Black student-athletes

The message from Black student-athletes is clear. They have conveyed their experience. And they
have spoken passionately about the feeling of being left to cope with incidents of anti-Black
racism on their own. They have also conveyed what effect it has on them when they bring issues
to the attention of a coach or to the management but are not able to see follow-up. They believe
that “nothing was done” or it was “swept under the rug” to “avoid drawing attention to it.”
As is evident from the stories and insights in this report, Black student-athletes have been
harmed and traumatized by the prevailing culture in McMaster Athletics. It was clear in the
interview process that the emotion of the trauma and harm remains raw and present for many
current and former Black student-athletes.
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They reported a pervasive sense that they weren’t included in and weren’t a part of the
McMaster culture. They felt let down by the system and by the very people who made promises
to care for them. And, in several cases, they felt used when McMaster claimed ownership of their
accomplishments without any acknowledgment of what they had experienced while in the
program.
These experiences were particularly troubling, because most student-athletes were very
intentional about choosing to attend McMaster for an education and to play sports. They wanted
to come to this school because of its reputation for excellence and longstanding traditions.
Like most McMaster students, the Black student-athletes who choose to attend McMaster are
high-achievers. And despite the fact that they have varying degrees of access to financial
resources and come from different regions, neighbourhoods, socio-economic backgrounds, and
family traditions related to higher education, most reported feeling they were viewed as part of
a single, undifferentiated, marginalized group. They heard, “You don’t have means. You don’t
have higher education in your family. You’re from a repressed group.”
The Black student-athletes who participated in the review are saying, “Where are the coaches
who look like me? Where are the administrators who look like me? Where’s the support and the
mentorship? Stop looking at me and using me for only my athletic talent. Stop referring to me as
a beast. Stop treating me differently than other athletes.”
Seeing experiences through the eyes of a Black student-athlete

Issues of race and equitable treatment are, in many ways, magnified in an athletic context where
performance is measured so closely and where, no matter how objective decisions may seem,
coaches are the ultimate arbiters of the opportunities a player receives.
In many interactions with non-Black current and former coaches during this review, there were
references similar to what one non-Black coach wrote in an email: “When a player is
unsuccessful, it is natural for them to look for reasons outside their own performance to justify
their lack of success to themselves and their families.” The implication is that a Black student-
athlete should not interpret feedback or choices that have been made through a racial lens
because the coach “treats every athlete equally.”
Setting aside the possibility of unconscious bias on the part of a coach, adopting the perspective
of the student-athlete is instructive here.
Racialized student-athletes have no alternative but to see their experiences through a racial
lens. They have grown up in a culture and a system where their race is a relevant factor in
everything they experience. They are not afforded the privilege of ignoring it. That is reserved for
the white majority.
To illustrate this point, I’ll let a Black former student-athlete who participated in this review
explain. This is how he described what it was like when a coach was being particularly hard on
him:
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“That’s just something that is always in the back of my head: if someone doesn’t like you,
it could be because of your skin colour. It’s a legitimate thing to think about because
everything that’s happened in my life has taught me that is definitely a reason some
people may not like you. So it was a question I wrestled with for, gosh, most of the season.
For a couple of weeks, I wrestled with this question in my head. I thought, ‘Well, maybe
he’s pushing me because he doesn’t like me, he doesn’t want me to play, and he’s picking
on me.’”
These comments point to a key takeaway from this review: race is always a factor in the
experience of a Black student-athlete.
Input from staff and coaches about the McMaster culture related to anti-
Black racism
Here are some comments from coaches and staff who participated in the review about the
overall culture in the Athletics Department:
“McMaster is at the same time such a great place, but it’s clearly still a broken system.”
“The culture at McMaster promotes systemic racism.”
“My broad take is really great people who genuinely want to do the right thing, and that
includes caring for people. But a lack of leadership and understanding about how to
navigate these issues. I would name that as a generalized thing, as well as there are and
have been leadership shortcomings in general, not just related to taking up issues of
equity and inclusion, but around communicating vision for our Department, taking up
conflict, conflict avoidance, these kind of basic concepts of leadership. There’s been
challenges there across my time, despite it being what I call great people who generally
want to do the right thing. Those things have been barriers to doing, sometimes, the right
thing.”
“I think they’re good people but just incapable or unprepared to do this type of work the
way it needs to be done, given this day and age. Institutions are working on this and they
expect better, and people expect better.”
During the review, several of McMaster’s current and former Black staff members and coaches
shared observations about the athletics culture:
“Again, I would like to reiterate that McMaster is important to me…. I don’t have many
instances I’d speak of personally of overt racism, especially in my -- years on the coaching
staff and being part of the administration of athletics. I’ve seen several examples of what
I would consider systemic racism and lack of awareness and education. I think it’s
important to me to be a part of the process of re-education and change.”
“I don’t think there’s anything being done at this point right now. There’s absolutely
nothing.”
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“In my -- years of being involved with McMaster, nothing has been done to increase
diversity.”
There was also significant input from white coaches and staff offering their perspective on issues
of systemic anti-Black racism in the Department:
“Systemically, there’s some things that need to be addressed in order for issues to be
resolved in manners that serve everybody’s purpose moving forward. I would say that I
was aware of things firsthand, and at the time, thought I was doing the right thing. Looking
back, I’m not sure. I’ll have to grapple with that even more as we have these discussions.”
“We’ve dropped the ball there, in certain areas, and want to know how we can create a
better infrastructure, so it’s less likely to happen, and have better loops so that the
communication is more continuous. This process, this is a great thing.”
“With the microaggressions that people are talking about, my white privilege doesn’t
allow me to see it all the time, until after it’s brought to my attention….My guess is, I
probably witnessed it a lot more than I’m admitting to today. But nothing jumped up and
slapped me in the face, where somebody said, ‘I’m going to make a racist comment and
nobody’s going to do anything about it.’ That never occurred, but I don’t know what was
said in our locker room. I don’t know if offense was taken until somebody goes to Twitter
and says, ‘This is unacceptable.’”
“From those microaggressions, I would like to say that I didn’t see a lot of it, but the truth
of the matter is, there was probably more than I could see of it. I guess that’s why self-
reflection right now is, I need to open my eyes more, listen more, and I think your
comment at the beginning of this call was, ‘Dignity and respect.’ Well, respect is one of
the words on our team room wall. It has nothing to do with my sport. It has nothing to do
with skin colour, eye colour, hair colour. Nothing of that has anything to do with... It’s
about dignity and respect.”
“It’s hard. It’s hard to hear some of these, frankly, if there’s comments about our program.
Respect and dignity are things we talk about on a daily basis.”
“I suspect I saw glimpses of it fairly regularly, and being naïve and not digging deep
enough is definitely something that I, in my self-reflection, feel like I needed to do better.”
“Reading some of the experiences and comments, it’s in our building, but it’s also at
McMaster. It’s a lot to deal with as a Black student-athlete, and it’s tough to make those
around you understand how you’re feeling without proper pathways of communication.
Observations on the perspectives and actions of non-Black coaches, staff

and Athletics administrators
Throughout the review, in interviews and written submissions, including from Black student-
athletes and Black and non-Black coaches and staff, there were many examples of incidents and
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comments that illustrate everything from a lack of understanding and perspective on the part of
non-Black coaches and staff to the presence of biased beliefs and actions that foster a culture of
systemic anti-Black racism.
To illustrate, here are ten observations based on the feedback, input and incidents described
during the review:
1. Several McMaster football coaches explained that they are committed to “treat each player
like he is my own son.” That sentiment is well intended, but here’s what I would say to a non-
Black football coach about it. If your son were Black, you would have been talking to him
about systemic racism from day one, as it’s an unavoidable factor in his life. If you are going
to treat a Black student-athlete as your own son, you are going to have to talk about race
early and often. Also, since you are not Black, you are going to have to do more in your
interactions with Black student-athletes, because you are seeking to understand something
that is foreign to you.
2. Several coaches commented that their approach “has nothing to do with the colour of your
skin.” It is an honourable sentiment to treat everyone equally, but leaning into ‘colour
blindness’ is a privileged position. White coaches have the privilege of not having to adopt
a racial lens. Black student-athletes do not. Emphasizing colour blindness creates a culture
where race is not part of the conversation, which undermines and ignores a primary aspect
of a racialized student-athlete’s identity and experience.
3. Several white coaches pointed to factors beyond their control that have perpetuated this
exclusive culture, which is a common way to pardon deeply embedded cultural or
institutional practices that cause racial disparities. Examples given included the nature of
existing recruiting networks and a lack of Black student-athletes in a particular sport pipeline.
Coaches at Canadian universities need to be proactive about recruiting and developing
networks where under-represented student-athletes are present.
4. When white coaches talked about their own practices and choices related to anti-Black
racism, they tended to focus on their own efforts and frame the issues as minor, such as
“miscommunication,” “treating incidents as one offs” or “being naïve,” thereby minimizing
the pain and psychological injury experienced by Black student-athletes. There is a need for
anti-racism training for all coaches and staff in the Athletics Department.
5. Throughout the interview process, there was evidence of class-based stereotyping of Black
student-athletes. Due to the racialization of poverty, coaches, staff and administrators made
assumptions about Black student-athletes’ financial status and academic outcomes based
on their race, aesthetic preferences (e.g., chains, du-rags), and neighbourhood. The
assumption that all Black student-athletes come from poverty is itself a barrier to diversity
within McMaster Athletics.
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6. A climate of bias within McMaster Athletics contributed to the criminalization of black

student athletes.
7. Number five above and several other incidents reported by participants point to the role that
stereotype threat—the fear of conforming to racial stereotypes—can play in affecting
performance on and off the field or court. During the review, many Black student-athletes
stated that they internalized their coaches' and peers' low opinion/doubts about their
capacity and lost confidence. In addition, it is well-documented that Black student-athletes
can feel pressure to lean into respectability politics (maintaining appearance and conforming
to behaviour that will be accepted by the majority culture) to disprove stereotyped opinions
at the expense of their self-expression and self-esteem.8
8. The evidence of stereotyping is also concerning because it lends itself to labelling, which
impacts opportunity and achievement and is known to widen the achievement gap between
marginalized groups and majority groups.
9. There is evidence that the review may not have been particularly well received by several
white coaches. One participant described it this way:
“There’s been a pretty similar sentiment across the board….[among] many white coaches
about this process, I could not help but come away feeling angry. I felt the coaches were
frustrated, dismissive and unengaged and could not see why this was important for
them to address.”
10. Despite efforts to get broad representation in participation in the review, only student-
athletes who identify as Black and racialized came forward to participate in the review.
The burden of responsibility for conversations about race

It is the responsibility of coaches, Athletics administrators and leaders to figure out how to
make conversations about race possible. It cannot always be on the Black student-athlete to
discern and filter what they are experiencing. They are young. They are engaged in the
complexities of an athletic experience. The burden of dialogue shouldn’t rest on them. They need
the adults and the systems to help them carry the load.
Equally, it is important that there not be an undue burden of responsibility on Black staff or
coaches in the system—now or in the future—to care for, support and attend to the emotional
and mental wellbeing of Black student-athletes.
Expecting that sort of service to be handled entirely by Black adults in the community is unjust.
This approach perpetuates a lack of involvement from non-Black coaches, Department leaders
and even the system itself. It is an approach guided by an implicit rationalization that the
8see Claude Steele's "Whistling Vivaldi" as an example:

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125859207
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struggles of Black student-athletes are a “Black issue” that should be addressed exclusively by
the Black community.
When interacting with Black student-athletes, non-Black coaches need to go above and beyond
to make meaningful connections and relationships with players. They need to critically engage
with their own biases. And they need to carefully and deliberately ensure that student-athletes
see the “why” of decisions.
It is a given that Black student-athletes wonder, “When a coach does not look like me, talk like
me, or act like me, how do I know they care about me?” Coaches have to actively and
intentionally participate in helping them see past any discrimination they might be interpreting
in a coach’s interactions with them and decisions related to them.
During the review, one white coach put it this way:
“If it’s a white coach playing a white athlete in front of a Black athlete who believes he
should be starting or playing a different position, then I think we, the coaches, need to be
very sure and deliberate in our assessment and delivery of that message, and if that
means sitting down and watching extra film to say, ‘This is why so-and-so is playing on
second and long,’ and you don’t leave the room until it’s understood. ‘This is why the
decisions been made. This is what you can do to better position yourself.’ And I’m not
sure that was appreciated.”
Leaders have to lead: coaches and Black student-athletes cannot go it

alone
In closing, let me say this about my impressions of McMaster’s culture and climate past, present
and future.
In addition to not placing an undue burden on Black coaches, staff and student-athletes, it is
essential that the Department and the university realize and accept that issues of anti-Black
racism cannot be left to coaches and Black student-athletes to navigate entirely on their own.
Student-athletes often lack the life experience to understand and articulate what they are
experiencing. And the power of a coach makes it hard for a student-athlete to come forward and
be willing to say what’s needed. As a result, a coach’s attitude, openness and capacity for
discussing issues of race will determine whether a student-athlete is able to speak meaningfully
and openly about their experiences.
Additionally, coaches, no matter how well intentioned or inclusively minded, are faced with too
many pressures and interests to realistically be responsible for creating a culture of inclusivity
entirely on their own. This does not excuse them from being accountable, but it points to a need
to have supports and systemic processes in place. There need to be systems and scaffolds and
checks and balances. There have to be other people empowered with the authority and
responsibility to look out for the needs of Black student-athletes.
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All of which points back to the need for systemic change, which is the focus of the next two
sections of this report.
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V. Gaps
Objective 3: To assess whether gaps exist in programs , processes, supports and
organizational structures which influence the culture an d the student experience
for Black student-athletes.
Based on input from the interviewees and from the Task Force, and on my own knowledge of
best practices in inclusive leadership in athletics and student affairs, here is an assessment of the
gaps that exist between McMaster’s current climate and culture and an inclusive version of the
department. Once again, as much as possible, I have let participants share their insights directly.
1. Lack of leadership focused on creating an inclusive culture

The theme throughout the review related to McMaster’s Athletics leadership and university
administration was one of mistrust. Participants were left with many questions about the Athletic
Department’s leadership approach, including:
Why did the leadership not follow up on these issues?

Why aren’t there formal processes in place to protect student-athletes and reassure them
that issues are handled in a non-biased way?
Why hasn’t there been inclusivity education and training?
Why were issues left to the coaches to sort out on their own in addition to the other
demands on their time and attention?
Time and time again during the review, I heard experiences that suggests the administration
of the Athletics Department has been negligent in its responsibilities to address issues and
incidents of anti-Black racism, which has enabled a culture of systemic anti-Black racism.
As I spoke with current and former Athletics Department leaders in an effort to understand their
experiences, there were expressions of remorse and regret, but there was also quite a lot of
pointing to external forces or to what other people had or had not done.
Although this was not information that came through interviews, I came to learn through my
interactions with the AVP/Dean of Students, that he had hired an Intercultural Affairs Advisor in
May of 2018 with the express purpose of advising him and supporting Student Affairs unit
directors, including the Athletics Director at the time, to address issues of inclusion. I am told that
the Intercultural Affairs Advisor – a Black woman who is a social worker with many years of
experience working with a diversity of students in university settings – had met with the Athletics
Director to discuss plans to enhance recruitment, support and success of racialized and Black
student-athletes, prior to a transition in Athletics leadership. It is noteworthy that the individuals
who provided interviews did not comment on these efforts, though they were not asked
specifically about them.
As a way of describing the approach adopted by the Athletics leadership, one participant mapped
out a continuum of inclusive leadership.
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At the highest level, call it level four, the leadership is progressive and proactive, creating
opportunities to increase awareness and cultural competency, including offering training among
student-athletes and coaches in an ongoing effort to build a culture of inclusivity.
At level three, the leadership is reactive. If an issue is brought to them, it’s dealt with and followed
up with workshops, training or other kind of response. When someone raises an issue, they know
they have been heard and it will be handled. The deficiency for this level of inclusive leadership
is an absence of an optimally proactive and systemic approach.
At level two, if someone brings an issue forward, they can’t be sure it will be handled or there
will be any follow up. They are not sure if they were heard. At this level, it’s not uncommon to
hear comments from leaders like, “Are you sure you weren’t seeing that wrong? Are you sure
that he just wasn’t having a bad day?”
At level one, the leadership displays blatantly anti-Black racist behaviour. That manifests as Black
student-athletes and employees being actively blocked from experiences and opportunities.
Based on the feedback from participants, it is evident that the Athletics Department may be in
the second level as an organization, with some instances of individuals at first level and some
individuals at the third level.
For the Athletics Department to move toward an inclusive culture, the leadership team as a
collective will have to become more intentional, deliberate, and proactive in their commitments
to anti-Black racism.
Here are some comments about the leadership culture that came out of the review process from
student-athletes, staff and coaches:
“Reactive denial is the dominant sentiment from a subset of that staff.”
“I’d say leadership like -- does not understand these issues and isn’t a good leader to do
so.”
“Having a diverse team roster has never been addressed, brought up, mentioned or
encouraged by our department from what I am aware of. I do not feel like it is part of the
leadership’s ‘lens’ to diversify our student-athlete profile. On the surface, you can defend
that by saying that’s not their job, but rather it is to raise funds for our programs. There
appears to be little substance when it comes to what the Department represents, but
rather the day-to-day operations and smooth sailing is paramount.”
“[Athletics] leadership likes to avoid the messy topics. They’re like ostriches. They put
their heads in the sand.”
“There was a sense of issues happening, but nothing was ever done. -- believed that if
[they] spoke about it, then [they were] acting with it. But, [they] never put any action in
it. [They]never did anything to really make sure that what was needed to happen was
happening.”
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“When incidents of anti-Black racism were brought to the attention of the [Athletics]
administration, they were sort of spun back to the Black athlete.”
[Regarding missed meetings] “I couldn’t imagine them not showing up to something like
that, not rescheduling, not following up. I wish I had known then because I would like to
think that I would’ve…said, ‘You guys need to... You can’t sweep this under the rug. This
is important.’ It doesn’t make sense to me, but it certainly brought light into how those
athletes would feel like they’re not supported. I can’t even imagine how that would have
felt for them to just be completely brushed off.”
“There was no leadership from the top in my time there.”
“There’s a dead end to solving problems. When you bring things to the -- you never know
where it goes. You can never trust him that it’s going to get there.”
Several student-athletes, staff and coaches described some leadership approaches as conflict
averse and contributing to a toxic culture.
2. Lack of representation
The lack of Black representation among coaches, operational staff and support staff is a major
issue, including the fact that there are no Black women in the department at all. Representation
is widely viewed as one of the foundational elements of creating an inclusive culture. As long as
McMaster’s Athletics Department remains mainly white, and with almost entirely male
coaches, an inclusive culture will remain an elusive goal.
Some insights from the review process from Black and non-Black current and former staff and
coaches reflect this:
“Our hiring processes do not actively challenge and address systems of oppression that exist
in the way we do things as human professionals. So, hiring processes skew towards previous
personal relationships. And if you’re white people, you tend to have white friends. Or if you
worked at another institution that wasn’t thoughtful about hiring, it may also have skewed
towards all white people.”
“We do a lot of internal or internal network hiring that precludes getting sometimes the best
people and certainly a more diverse group.”
“There is no systemic HR process in place, and so in order for new people to get up and
running, we just hired people that we knew or people who did something similar. We weren’t
willing to take on somebody who was under prepared or differently prepared because we
didn’t feel comfortable, or we didn’t have the time to invest in getting them up to speed.”
“It always confounded me why McMaster’s hiring pools were not open.”
“In the entire department, there’s not one woman of colour.”
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“Of a staff of 30 in the Athletics Department, only three or four staff are Black. That is not
representative of the athletes, nor of the student body population at McMaster.”
“Hire more people that look like us.”
“How do you support Black culture while everybody on the McMaster Athletics Department
is white, white, white?”
“There should be some ability for our student workers to be representative.”
“There’s a huge disconnect between athletics and the population of McMaster.”
“We need administration, coaches and staff who look like our students.”
“McMaster’s really diverse, but that really changes when you cross over to the gym. It’s a
different experience.”
“There are very few Black people in the department in positions of power.”
“What they continue to do is hire the people that are like them. You’ll hear this time and time
again, they have this connection…it’s not in the front of their minds to have representation.
It doesn’t matter to them.”
“To talk about specifics, if you look at, for example, our -- team, again, a sport as --, that is we
have the coaches in the room from sports that are traditionally played by Black athletes. Our
-- team, the percentage of Black athletes that they’ve had in this program over the last
decades is minuscule.”
“Where are the women? Where are the women Black coaches?”
“That’s the entire Department too. That’s not just coaching staff. That’s going through the
entire athletic administration. There’s not a single woman of colour.”
3. Lack of engagement around issues of racial equity

From non-Black student-athletes to coaches, staff and leadership, there seems to have been a
widespread lack of sustained effort to engage with issues of racial inclusivity. And judging from
reports of defensiveness and resistance to this review, along with my own experience interacting
with several coaches, it seems likely there is a portion of the coaching staff who sustain the
view that these issues don’t pertain to them, even now.
Comments from current and former staff and coaches include:
“We had a training session several years ago related to inclusivity. It was mainly around
LGBTQ. I remember there was one slide that said something along the lines of ‘Our
racialized athletes do not feel that they belong.’ There was zero engagement with it and
no discussion. And the topic has never come up since.”
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“There were powerful personalities particularly in the coaching ranks who could deny and
dismiss any bit of good work you might do or any concern you might have on these issues.
Despite being people who could be thoughtful at times and engage in these issues. It was
a really conflicting, confusing dynamic at times. But there was a sense of don’t waste my
time with this.”
“As an organization, there has been a lack of effort to build a culture that is inclusive for
Black athletes and other racialized groups.”
4. Lack of understanding and awareness

On post-secondary campuses across Canada in the last decade, there has been a rapid expansion
and dissemination of knowledge, concepts and processes associated with Equity, Diversity and
Inclusion. During this review, it was evident that these concepts and their implications are not an
embedded part of the McMaster Athletics culture.
Even at the level of “What is racism?” there is a lack of clarity and systemic perspective. For
example, it was clear that when some coaches say, “I have not seen any overt or covert acts of
racism,” they view racism with an oversimplified lens rather than from a systemic and
historically-situated perspective. Throughout the review, there were limited instances of
coaches who offered evidence that they see these issues through lenses such as privilege,
unconscious bias, and microaggressions.
One participant in the review put it this way:
“I think there is a relative blind spot out of the privilege of that largely white leadership
approach. I think that at McMaster, there has been a denial that those issues play out. I
think that as the university and the department evolved, they lagged behind how the rest
of the world was talking about these issues.”
5. Lack of supports for Black student-athletes

Throughout the review, there was widespread agreement that there is a lack of support for
Black student-athletes. Black student-athletes pointed to how important the current group of
Black coaches has been in guiding them through the events and experiences related to the global
anti-Black racism protest movement. Some other non-Black staff and coaches were also
identified as being actively supportive of Black student-athletes. Otherwise, there seems to be
very little in place. And more than one respondent suggested that the institution does not have
robust supports in place to address class-based inequities, such as sufficient tutoring and needs-
based bursaries.
Here are some observations from current and former student-athletes, staff and coaches:
“I still think in our athletic community, there are people that don’t have that person to go
to. Specifically, our Black, female student-athletes. Just based on some of the stuff that
we’ve heard from our -- and some of our female student athletes, based on conversations
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after all this stuff came out, we reached out to all of our student-athletes on the field
sports, going to do that on the court sports, just to see how we’re doing, get feedback.
Based on those conversations, I think we need a Black female coach at some point, or a
female staff member at some point. That’s the other thing that I forgot to mention, that’s
been pretty consistent.”
From a Black male coach: “I’ve got people coming to me at 9, 10, 11 o’clock at night
seeking support because they don’t know what’s going on. [During the George Floyd
protests.] Now, I’ve got Black women coming to me and I’m not prepared to handle a
woman’s conversation. In fact, I don’t feel comfortable with a woman calling me at 10
o’clock at night or 11 o’clock at night, but they need somebody. I’ve heard them crying
on the phone. And you know who I’m giving them? I’m giving them to my wife because
I’m not equipped.”
“There needs to be a Black advisor.”
6. Lack of recruitment of Black student-athletes

Similar to organizations that make the case that there “aren’t enough qualified Black applicants
for the positions we need to fill,” there is a sentiment among the McMaster coaches that there
isn’t much to be done about a significant lack of recruitment of Black student-athletes, which
is evident across the department, particularly on teams such as women’s basketball, which has
not had a Black student-athlete in a decade.
Some of the reasons coaches offered for this deficiency are sound and some are illusory. For
example, some white coaches defended the predominantly white make-up of their teams on the
grounds that Black student-athletes or recruits could not keep up academically. In itself, this
sentiment signals a need to address the effects coaches’ bias. There are, of course, many well-
prepared Black student athletes who may be choosing other schools. I came across many during
my ten-year period as Director of Athletics at Ryerson.
If I were talking about this issue with coaches, I would suggest that when they recruit based on
“fit,” they are going to inevitably reinforce the homogenous culture that exists on their team.
As noted in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion literature related to representation, “fit” is often a
synonym for “who we think belongs here.” Diverse recruits are inherently different. In order to
attract them to varsity teams, there is a need to adopt a different lens and a different approach.
In the meantime, here are some of the insights from McMaster coaches to serve as a prompt for
reflection about how the way a coach thinks about and approaches recruitment shapes the sorts
of student-athletes recruited.
“There’s absolutely no thought ever in determining who we recruit, based on skin colour or
otherwise. We’re looking for the best … players we can find, who fit … When we go to recruit
players … we’re looking at are you the right position, and the right mindset, and the right
character for our team, and do you have a 92% average, or a 94% average, and you can get
in. That’s all we’re looking for. If there’s things we can do better, then we want to do them
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better, obviously. But to... It’s hard. We want our team to reflect the values that we believe
in.”
“One of our…coaches…had someone come up to him…and ask, ‘Why don’t you guys recruit
Black athletes?’ He was taken aback, and he was offended, because that seemed to be a value
statement about him or us as people. We really feel that’s not the case but certainly there’s
that feeling out there, and that was hard to hear that it’s out there.”
“From my perspective, it’s about fit. I have to get the right student-athletes who fit in the way
we want to deliver our program. The way education is offered at McMaster, there’s more
than the component of what position I need. There’s a character component, there’s a
capacity component, there’s an academic component. All those things have to fit and I can
assure you, on this call, that skin colour is not one of those issues. However, it may be in the
community, and that’s the reality. So, I don’t know how we combat that other than slowly
turning that over.”
“I will say this, our scarcest resource, if we’re a full-time coach, is time. We don’t have a lot
of time. Your recruiting process is to make best use of your time, and you leverage former
contacts. I don’t think, cognitively, anybody is avoiding recruiting a Black athlete. I just think
in our scarce resource of time and you go with where you’ve had traction before.”
“I think all of us in -- are 100% aware that there is a stigma about McMaster that we’ve seen
in recruiting people, and trying to recruit Black student-athletes, and we’ve lost players that
are potential recruits, every single year that I’ve been here. Then you hear through the
grapevine or from people that you know, who they trust, that one of the reasons they didn’t
come to McMaster is because there wasn’t a lot of Black people in the -- program or on
campus. That’s real, that that is out there.”
“I don’t recall being sat down and told, ‘In order to recruit diverse athletes, this is available
to you,’ from a leadership point of view. In terms of dollars and scholarship pieces, we’ve
never thought, ‘I have this, can we get that.’”
“I feel like our recruiting system is somewhat backwards. For the most part, we are contacted
by athletes that are interested in attending McMaster for whatever reason and then we
follow up with them to see if they are a good fit for us both in the classroom and on the court.
Only seldom do we identify athletes that we want to recruit and then see if academically they
fit.”
7. Lack of intentional anti-racism programming, training and education

There is a striking absence of an ongoing, intentional effort to raise awareness of issues related
to racial equity and deepen the collective understanding of the challenges facing Black student-
athletes. There doesn’t seem to have been any race-related inclusivity training for coaches and
student-athletes. This is a clear indication that this has not been a priority for the Department.
Here are comments from current and former staff and coaches:
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“Diversity training within the Department is non-existent. We don’t spend any time on
it.”
“I believe we’ve had meetings, here and there. There’s coaches’ development meetings
in August. We rotate every year but, with one topic each year, it might be three, four, five
years before the same topic is reviewed again. Within those five years, there’s 15 or 20
new coaches, so nothing consistent that I at least am aware of.”
“We’ve had some inclusivity training, I believe. I think it was about five or six years ago. I
believe it was more of a topical discussion than it was training. I don’t think there was any
systemic change brought about by the discussions, it was just a heightening of
awareness.”
“We did have an inclusivity session at one of our coaches’ meetings for all of our sports.
There was a little bit of that in our Department. It was aligned with the inclusivity
movement across campus….I can tell you, that was life-changing for me. What we can do
along those lines, even things like that, just those little visible pieces, I hope our
department can do something along those lines on the racism front as well.”
“No training or PD occurred, which I find odd. If inappropriate behaviour and treatment
of others [occurred] there was not training or follow up with other part time coaches, at
least none that I was aware of.”
8. Lack of proactive policies, procedures and systems

From Departmental policies to university HR and equity policies, there seems to be an absence
of infrastructure in place to support the development of an inclusive culture within Athletics.
Comments from current and former staff and coaches:
“Do I see systems in place at McMaster that bring [inclusivity] to life? Not at all.”
“Is there a policy in place to protect BIPoC when they say somebody doesn’t comply? Is
there a whistleblower policy? Is there a certificate that says people have accomplished
this training? Is there a train the trainer program?”
“There needs to be a link between the Athletics Department and the Equity, Diversity and
Inclusion Office. There needs to be an accountability framework there, that they need to
have their fingers on what’s happening here. You can’t trust the Athletics Department to
really do these sorts of things.”
“In my time at McMaster, I have never had to go through any screening or vetting process
other than the CCES online course (i.e., police check, interview, reference check). I’ve also
never done any true PD or compliance training. I understand that we are volunteers/low
paid part-time employees. However, the Department is ultimately responsible for our
behaviours when working with these students. As a student leader on this campus over
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20 years ago, I experienced several staff trainings that included diversity issues, yet in the
past seven years, I have yet to attend or experience any PD like this.”
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VI. Recommendations
Objective 4: To recommend areas for improvement in programs , processes,
supports, and organizational structures to address anti -Black racism and foster
a culture of equity and inclusion.
Returning to Dr. Robert Livingston’s model for organizational evolution toward racial equity, we
arrive at the Strategy stage. He writes:
“Most actionable strategies for change address three distinct but interconnected
categories: personal attitudes, informal cultural norms, and formal institutional policies.
To most effectively combat discrimination in the workplace, leaders should consider how
they can run interventions on all three of these fronts simultaneously. Focusing only on
one is likely to be ineffective and could even backfire. For example, implementing
institutional diversity policies without any attempt to create buy-in from employees is
likely to produce a backlash. Likewise, focusing just on changing attitudes without also
establishing institutional policies that hold people accountable for their decisions and
actions may generate little behavioral change among those who don’t agree with the
policies. Establishing an anti-racist organizational culture, tied to core values and modeled
by behavior from the CEO and other top leaders at the company, can influence both
individual attitudes and institutional policies.”9
Dr. Livingston’s frame for change leads us to think deeply about cultural transformation. Moving
from where McMaster is today toward a more inclusive culture requires a systemic, collective
and holistic approach.
In the spirit of that approach, the Task Force and I recommend that this report be made publicly
available.
In order to achieve the objectives of this review—including acknowledging the harms

experienced by current and former Black student-athletes, fostering empathy in the community,
and inspiring and initiating cultural transformation—it is essential that the report be made public.
Giving members of the McMaster Athletics community direct access to the content of this
report—especially the voices of the participants—will ensure depth and breadth of
understanding and establish the accountability that is a necessary foundation for the required
change.
The recommendations that follow are the five priority areas identified by the Task Force. They
reflect the suggestions and input of participants in the review, as well as members of the Task
Force. The recommendations were also informed by my own experiences, research and
knowledge prior to and during the review.
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These recommendations are intended as goals McMaster can move toward rather than a
roadmap for how to get there. The path will have to be worked out by the Task Force, all members
of the Department, and the university leadership, with input from and collaboration with
student-athletes of all backgrounds.
As in other sections of this document, wherever possible, I have attempted to bring these
recommendations to life through the voices of current and former coaches, staff and student-
athletes, all of whom had insightful suggestions.
1. Increase representation
The message that came through loud and clear was representation. Time and again, Black
student-athletes said, “Hire more people that look like us.”
Representation is generally considered one of the most essential and powerful ways to build an
inclusive culture. From coaches to support staff, academic advisors, and Department
administrators, McMaster needs a widespread and ongoing commitment to creating a diverse
team.
This could range from an institutional commitment to transparency in hiring processes to opening
and filling new positions at various levels, to elevating Black coaches already in the Department,
all of whom are clearly passionate and impressive leaders.
To fulfil this recommendation, the Task Force suggests the following specific courses of action:
a) Hire more Black and racialized coaches, counsellors and leaders.

b) Hire culturally competent counsellors, administrators and leadership teams to ensure that a
lack of understanding of a Black student-athlete’s background and experience does not create
misalignment related to what they need to thrive and excel.
c) Target the hiring of counsellors and staff who are fluent in EDI with the prioritization of those
with lived experience who reflect the diversity present in the student body.
d) Ensure consistent adherence within the Athletics Department to HR policies intended to
support EDI.
e) Ensure that hiring committees are diverse and attentive to uneven power dynamics, such as
creating genuine opportunities for robust feedback to avoid situations where a Black and
racialized coach or staff member may feel pressure to agree with Departmental leaders.
f) Prioritize Black and racialized applicants, especially those experienced in diversifying teams.
g) Provide education and training for hiring committees around unconscious bias to ensure that
highly skilled Black and racialized coaches have the chance to prove themselves.
Here are some of the comments about representation from current and former Black student-
athletes and both Black and non-Black current and former staff and coaches:
“We want to be part of the hiring committees to make that happen.”
“Significant lack of representation among coaches, administration and leadership.”
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“Hiring more minorities but more Black coaches, making that a priority in the Department.
Not just hiring Black coaches, but full-time Mac employees.”
“I agree there needs to be full-time representation.”
“Someone in the administration [who is Black] that can deal with situations like these.”
“We need more Black and BIPoC coaches in the department.”
“The first way to create a change is by getting Black people in positions of power.”
“At the end of the day, white [people] have never lived the life we lived. They never had
the experiences we’ve experienced as Black people. So, I feel like having a Black person
in that position, they can see things from our perspective and be like, ‘Oh okay, you know
what? I can help him out in this situation.’ Whereas with maybe a white person, if you
come to them with a problem, they will... Sometimes they don’t even know how to react
to it because it’s like, ‘I’ve never experienced it before. I don’t know how to help this
person.’ So sometimes, I feel like it’s just nice having maybe one or two Black people in a
higher position so that there’s like a little bit of leverage.”
“For Black student-athletes to see someone similar to them in a leadership role, I think
that really… speaks volumes.”
“There needs to be more Black people on staff, period. You can’t just have an all-white
coaching staff. You can’t just have --, who was only recently hired, and just say, ‘Oh yeah,
one Black guy is enough.’ It’s not the NFL, where they have the Rooney Rule, where they
are forced to interview a Black person. We need to have more Black people on staff. There
needs to be more Black people in the Athletics Department.”
“I think that this is an issue for our underrepresented Black staff and coaches, but also
female coaches, other minorities.”
“We need more Black and BIPoC coaches in the department. Full-time staff coaching our
athletes. Female and males. There is not one female in there that could help those
[female-athletes], especially on that -- team and -- and I can speak to the [male-athletes],
but those young [women] do not have anybody in that department that they can identify
with.”
“I’ll kind of echo that and just say representation in general. It’s basically just having a
channel for a lot of these players and people that represent themselves, whether it’s
colour, Indigenous, whatever it is, your coaching staff and people on the staff have to
represent the players so they have an avenue to go in and share their experiences and
tell people what they’re doing.”
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2. Create a culture of accountability

In institutions that have made a genuine commitment to creating an inclusive culture, there is
accountability at the individual, unit and organizational level. The approach taken by leaders and
coaches in many of the situations discussed by Black student-athletes in this report illustrates the
risks associated with a lack of accountability. How will McMaster create this accountability?
To fulfil this recommendation, the Task Force suggests the following specific courses of action:
a) Develop an anti-racism policy statement with specific attention to anti-Black racism and its
classist, colourist, and misogynist manifestations (as Code of Conduct and Discrimination,
Harassment, and Sexual Violence Policy are quite broad).
b) Pursue limited timeframe implementation for educating administration, coaches, staff, and
student-athletes about these policies (e.g., what are they, where can you find them, how to
uphold them).
c) Establish a transparent process and oversight mechanism for these policies post-
implementation (e.g., an arms-length Athletics Equity Review Board).
d) Establish an annual EDI report related to Athletics’ progress towards targets/goals, issues that
have come up, and solutions that have been developed/issued to the equity review board.
e) Establish adequate leadership and training protocols for coaches and administrators in
influential positions within McMaster Athletics.
f) Audit departmental leadership priorities, culture and capability to identify gaps between
current capabilities and what is needed to lead this cultural transformation.
g) Review the impact of campus police/surveillance/securitization at McMaster to assess the
extent to which these functions are creating threatening situations for student-athletes
and/or contributing to systemic anti-Black racism on campus and within the Athletics
Department.
These topics were front and centre for many participants in this review:
“[Leaders] need to be held accountable… [Some] never gave the Black student-athletes
the time of day, when they tried to seek help. This is totally unacceptable, and that needs
to change.”
“Have systems in place and leadership that addresses problematic staff who perpetuate
the climate and culture of exclusion.”
“There was a lack of leadership that I believe persists on all issues. A lack of direction,
vision, engagement with coaches and staff. It’s just a fundamental issue. Not just in terms
of student-athletes of colour and racism but it’s just a struggling department in that way.
There are good people genuinely trying to make a difference, they deliver a good baseline,
but on these issues without a shift in leadership either in the form of different personnel
or differently accountable personnel, there will be a limit on their ability to move the
needle on this. And even if you brought in a staff position to lead on these issues, you’d
have a marginal impact from that without the proper engagement of the leadership. So,
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leadership and the culture that comes out of that, and engagement around these issues
would be my primary focus.”
“Assess and explore capability of current leadership to lead this cultural change.”
“You need to have…people in power that will push change in a positive light at the
school.”
I would like all readers and participants of the review to note that any specific personnel issues
relating to allegations of anti-Black racism that are beyond the scope of this climate review have
been brought to the attention of the Associate Vice-President (Students and Learning) and Dean
of Students, and will be followed up using the appropriate university channels and policies.
3. Develop targeted supports and scholarships for Black student-athletes

Almost every participant in the study called for the development of supports and financial
assistance opportunities focused on the unique needs and experiences of Black student-athletes,
including academic, social, financial, emotional, mental health, and career counselling support.
Here are specific courses of action suggested by the Task Force, interspersed with input from
participants in topic areas.
a) Hire more counsellors in the Student Wellness Centre, with particular focus on Black and
racialized counsellors and trauma-informed care.
b) Establish programming and dedicated resources for Black student-athletes with the Varsity
Athletics Council as a possible mechanism through which to achieve these goals.
c) Hire counsellors from Black and racialized demographic groups who also have personal
knowledge and background in the nuances of sport and athletic culture in addition to their
professional expertise in counselling.
Comments from participants on this topic:
“I also do think there needs to be someone people could talk to, like a therapist on campus
or something, because a lot of experiences people aren’t comfy speaking to their coaches
about it. Sometimes the coach just brushes these student athletes off. Yeah.”
“We have a lot of mental health issues at the moment with our young people and you
realize that when a Black kid goes into counseling, who do they see? A white person who
does not understand the culture of the Black person.”
“I feel like a lot of who they are is misunderstood by someone else who maybe isn’t Black,
or who doesn’t understand what or where they’re from, or how they lived.”
“There is not one female in there that could help those young women. They have no one
they can identify with.”
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“I would also put in place some kind of tutoring system for Black athletes, specifically,
perhaps a space where they feel like they can go, to kind of study and get along. The only
reason I’m advocating for Black tutors is because I feel like you need someone who can
understand you, someone who can relate to you. There are many levels of relating, in that
sense: the way you talk, the way you act, the way you speak. That’s just who you are. I
feel like our Black athletes who are Black men shouldn’t have to change who they are.”
“And another thing is, we have tutors and we have people outside of athletics that still
work with our team and it would be nice for them to see people of colour in the academic
world, too. Coming from an athletic standpoint, but seeing that and seeing where these
people have gone and the experiences they’ve had, as well, I think is vital to the
upbringing. Obviously, the athletics, but then shaping these people and shaping these
people as academics and then going on in the world, too. So again, it comes down to
representation, but at more than just the athletic and the coaches level. It’s everyone. It’s
everyone around them.”
d) Fund scholarships and bursaries for Black student-athletes to ensure they are supported and
have access to financial aid to alleviate undue financial burdens.
Here are some examples of how Black student-athletes, staff and coaches characterized this
sentiment:
“I think there needs to be scholarships or money set aside for these individuals who worked
their butts off to get to where they’re at, because they overcame the systemic part of their
life that was holding them back. People of colour have to work twice as hard, I would say, to
get to the university level, or to even make a team.”
“There needs to be dedicated scholarships for Black and BIPoC athletes.”
“What makes athletics really inaccessible to people of colour and Black athletes is that there’s
a huge financial barrier to entry into varsity sports.”
e) Create a safe space for Black student-athletes on campus, somewhere they can go and feel
they belong. This could be within the department’s facilities or elsewhere on campus. There
is currently no place for Black student-athletes to feel connected—to each other, to the
department and to the university.
Participants in the study had observations on this topic such as these:
“Spaces where Black student-athletes can go.”
“One of the things that comes up for us typically is a space for Black athletes, and
somewhere where they can go and share experiences and have this. Because, yes, this
has arisen from an event, and then another event, but this needs to be ongoing and
continuous.”
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“We talk about going through drills, and we go through film, and then we go to class, and
none of that touches on how to exist in a world where we’re the minority, and through a
host of different systemic issues and systems that have been built since before our
parents were born, how often times we’re basically just put in a race where everybody
else is starting halfway, and we’re outside the stadium. So, it’s like, how are you supposed
to overcome that when there’s so many obstacles already in your way?”
“Obviously, people don’t feel comfortable talking to their coaches, because they’re afraid
to lose their spot on the team, and that’s just a reality. So, having someone that you can
go to and have that open communication without feeling that your position on the team
is threatened would definitely be important.”
“They need to feel comfortable coming forward with concerns or minor aggressions,
however you want to define it. They need to have a space and feel comfortable coming
forward with any situation that they feel is not safe or makes them feel uncomfortable.”
f) Establish a network of mentors for Black student-athletes from the body of alumni and the
community, perhaps as an extension of the Black student mentoring program run by the
African-Caribbean Faculty Association of McMaster (ACFAM).
On this topic, participants had observations like this:
“I think Black mentors and tutors can go a long way with that.”
“I think McMaster has somewhere around 60 Black football alumni—many of whom have
great stories to tell, and McMaster’s played a positive role in where they’ve gotten to in
their lives.”
“Organizing our alumni base and to connect those current students with students that
have come before them, I think is something that, certainly football’s motivated to do.
Our alumni have come back that have had some issues in trying to make the program
better, and we appreciate that they have done that. There are some that have had
positive experiences and connecting all of them with our current student-athletes, I think,
across the whole Department, and the role that McMaster’s played for Black athletes’
lives, female or male, I think, if I was putting a game plan together, I would want to
leverage those alumni. I think they’d want to be leveraged and help, so I would add that
to the arsenal.”
g) Connect to the Black and racialized communities on campus to reduce insularity in athletics
and make diverse connections to the larger university community around EDI.
One non-Black coach articulated it this way:
“I think it might be a really good connection for athletics and recreation to attach to the
BIPoC student population in general, whether that’s either representation, or having an
athlete sit on that council. Just some sort of a connection to those underrepresented
populations on campus, whether that’s a women’s group, whether that’s an LGBTQ
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group, whether that’s BIPoC group. We have a leadership council within athletics, but it
just strengthens our bubble. It doesn’t expand it. I think reaching outside of our bubble
might allow us to maybe be aware of some of those microaggressions and change our
lens a little bit. Bringing in some connections to the underrepresented population would
be a really good opportunity for us to grow.”
4. Establish a role and mechanisms to advocate for the interests and

concerns of Black student-athletes
Time and again throughout this review, there was evidence that the Department would benefit
from a) having a neutral, third-party champion for student-athletes with the authority to act on
their behalf, and b) establishing mechanisms for students to be able to bring their concerns
forward and have their voices heard in a confidential manner.
One option to explore is that the existing McMaster Ombudsperson office, which is funded by
both the university and the student union, could be expanded to play a greater role in advocating
for student-athletes.
That said, I think there is merit in exploring the possibility of creating a role within the
Department that charges a non-coaching staff member with advocating for student-athletes
during all important decision-making processes, including team recruiting.
If this role had authority and responsibility to represent the student voice at the highest levels of
decision making, there could be immediate traction on how student concerns, such as those
identified in this report, are addressed within the department.
Here are some responsibilities the Task Force and I would suggest be considered for this role:
- Be on the hiring committee for any staff/coach (head or assistant) position that
directly interacts with student-athletes.
- Work with identified department lead(s) for an Equity and Inclusion Ally group
- Provide background support to any Black student-athlete groups that may be formed.
- Have the ability to tell a coach “no” on a recruit that will, in the eyes of academic
support staff, not be academically successful at McMaster based on their previous
academic record.
- Be the athlete’s voice at the decision-making table with the Department’s senior
management team so decisions can be taken with full consideration of the impact
they will have on student-athletes.
- Have a direct line to the Athletics Director, AVP and Dean of Students and/or Equity
and Inclusion Office in the event situations arise where a student’s concerns are not
being addressed accordingly and in a timely manner.
- Have the authority to independently enact a tribunal/task force in any situation where
a student is not receiving sufficient attention from the athletic leadership. (This would
create a system of checks and balances that would help hold leaders accountable and
empower those who do not have a voice.)
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- Be empowered to advocate for and influence meaningful change in the interests of

student-athlete health, wellness, inclusion and success, particularly if/when there will
be instances that require exercising agency to challenge decisions or inactions, even
by the supervisors or the management
Other courses of action suggested by the Task Force to support this recommendation are as
follows:
a) Put mechanisms in place for student-athletes to raise concerns anonymously/confidentially

without fear of retaliation from coaches who have significant power over their career
prospects in any field.
b) Provide a safe, structured channel for all student-athletes to raise concerns.
c) Follow up on this report by establishing a working group that can hold consultations with the
community, leaders and current student-athletes to ask what changes they would like to see
and to enact those changes, with support from ACFAM and the Associate Vice-President,
Equity and Inclusion.
d) Pursue the use of surveys, self-ID reports, feedback mechanisms and an ongoing pipeline for
hearing about the Black student-athlete experience.
Here are two sample observations from the participants:
“You probably need to listen to student-athletes, do surveys like the one we did. Have
open conversations about these issues amongst teams. “
“So, just an internal, confidential hotline in our investigation from athletes to coaches
could always help.”
e) Review the positioning of Equity and Inclusion in the Athletics Department to strengthen
those ties and assess how departmental approaches align with and adhere to the approach
of the EIO.
Participants expressed it this way:
“I know there’s the Equity and Inclusion Office, and I feel like people have only really just
started to know what that is since everything’s gone on in the world. I think I’d definitely
find a way to integrate that a lot more into our Athletics Department.”
“I feel like if there was an inclusion kind of role within the athletic community, it’d be a
lot easier not just for athletes to feel like they could have their voice, but for someone
there to make sure and have that voice to create that diverse environment.”
“Equity and Inclusion contact in athletics.”
“It is worth reviewing the policy to see if it is still in place. It doesn’t make much sense to
me and just perpetuates a cycle.”
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5. Foster and support ongoing EDI training, education, dialogue, and

resources for Athletics Department personnel
How a person thinks shapes how they feel and behave. At the heart of the changes that McMaster
can make lies a collective effort at achieving a deeper understanding of the issues in play. This
effort needs to range from formal, collective opportunities for training and education to
individual, personal reading, research and reflection.
One Black student-athlete put it this way:
“They need to understand that Black people’s experiences are different than theirs, so
they could really relate and try to relate. You’re never going to relate to us, but you could
at least understand. That makes a big difference.”
Conversations about race are hard to start and hard to have, but they need to happen. Everyone
in the department has to find a way to make this a priority. Everyone can do their part to create
an ongoing dialogue about race at all levels. And they can do so with an ongoing focus on the
ultimate goal: an ability to have these conversations in support of Black student-athletes.
It is also important to note that as McMaster moves to foster this sort of dialogue, the
department and university must play a proactive role in driving the conversation. Often, the
burden of responsibility for initiating and sustaining dialogue about race and inclusivity falls on
Black and racialized individuals and groups. For McMaster and the Athletics Department to move
toward an inclusive culture, they must avoid placing this burden on Black and racialized
community members by making a systemic commitment to initiate and support ongoing
dialogue.
Here are specific courses of action suggested by the Task Force, interspersed with input from
participants in topic areas.
a) Foster a commitment from staff, administration and leadership to pursue and embrace EDI
education and training to support overall understanding of the experience of Black and
racialized student-athletes.
b) Develop and implement equity training programs that are sensitive to and avoid the issues
and limitations of popular diversity education options.10,11,12,13
c) Consider adding EDI as an element of performance evaluation and management with the
Athletics Department to incentivize meaningful action among leaders, coaches and staff.
Several participants in the review had observations like these:
10 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12523764_Perspective-
taking_Decreasing_stereotype_expression_stereotype_accessibility_and_in-group_favoritism
11 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/1099-1379(200009)21:6%3C689::AID-JOB52%3E3.0.CO;2-W
12 http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521284141
13 https://hbr.org/2016/07/why-diversity-programs-fail
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“I think there needs to be a lot, in my opinion, more conversations with all of the coaches
… people just aren’t educated … coaches need to know what’s going on with their Black
athletes.”
“I think it starts with communication…. I think we need to be open to learning and

listening and being educated on the concerns that are very real, that admittedly I was
naïve to.”
“I think that recognition and that understanding will, or should, again make our staff and
our coaches more sensitive, more deliberate in their communications, more
understanding of the inherent feelings that exist in some of our student-athletes.”
d) Provide training and resources related to EDI, hiring and recruitment to shift the current
approach, especially related to how new hires are onboarded and trained. New arrivals to the
departmental team—at all levels—carry with them the potential to enact a new culture. If
they enter the role with a mindset of creating an inclusive culture, they will begin on a
trajectory toward it. This requires resources and a desire to onboard in an intentional way.
Several current coaches and staff who participated in the review put it this way:
“Concrete training and expectations and follow up around hiring and recruitment of staff,
also student-athletes… build clear expectations, train people on them, and then hold
them accountable to that.”
“Over time you train around these issues, continue to engage around them.”
“What is our hiring process for assistant coaches? What is our status of contracts for
assistant coaches? What is our onboarding procedure for staff? I think if I were to
highlight our biggest fault is, when we hire someone, how do we make sure that that
person’s trained and qualified and knows how to speak to student-athletes and provide
that support?”
“Right now, I’ve hired two, three people in the last four years, and I didn’t have the
resources to onboard them properly. I did my best with what I knew.”
e) Ensure adequate resources are available to coaches and staff. From what I heard during the
review, McMaster Athletics is like most departments across the country: spread thin in terms
of resources. If the recommendations for change included in this report are just piled on to
the coaches and administrators without any commitment to additional resources, sustained
change will be difficult to achieve. This report is a call to action for individuals and groups to
do more, and the university and Departmental leadership will need to support that effort
with funds and resources to make it happen.
Coaches and staff who participated in the review put it this way:
“The whole Department, as with all athletics integration departments, I believe struggles,
there is bandwidth issue. They’re doing a lot. Good people trying to do their best, and I
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think these things seem like, sometimes I don’t have the time to shift my work to do that
better, I don’t know. The bandwidth issue matters as well for staff in order to be able to
feel like they have the capacity to change these things, to do better on them. And that
either you change the bandwidth by increasing resources, or decreasing expectations in
other areas, or likely an incremental approach over time that says, let’s roll this by piece
in this year. When we recruit staff for jobs, we’re going to make sure our postings go out
not just in our building. The most silly and basic of things, but they make a difference.”
“It has to be resources. Whether it is budgets specifically for diversity hiring, whether it’s
stipends for more volunteer coaches. I think it has to be more than just programs, but
resources.”
VIII. Closing Comment

In closing, let me say a brief word about the authors and readers of this report.
This review was an emotional challenge for the Task Force. As members of the Black community,
it took fortitude to be immersed in this content, and I want to acknowledge the grace, wisdom
and passion that was on display throughout the process.
I also want to recognize that for some, this report will be difficult to read, and for others, it may
be difficult to believe.
From the outset, the intentions of this review have been to ensure that the truth about the
experience of Black student-athletes was heard, achieve a degree of understanding and insight
about what happened, and inspire cultural transformation in McMaster Athletics.
This report is the first step in a long journey as the entire McMaster community participates in
shaping and pursuing a vision of a more inclusive athletics culture.
Going forward, I hope this report—and the voices of the Black student-athletes it conveys—can
be a beacon as the McMaster community works to ensure that similar harms do not befall future
Black student-athletes, staff, coaches and administrators who join the Athletics Department.
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Systemic Review
VIII. Appendix
McMaster University
A Systemic Review of
the Black Student-Athlete Experience and the Marauder Athletics Climate
Terms of Reference
July 14, 2020
Purpose
McMaster University is committed to ensuring living, learning, and working environments which
foster experiences of respect, dignity, and belonging by all community members. Following
concerning reports of anti-Black racism made by former and current McMaster student-athletes
in June of 2020, the Associate Vice-President (Students and Learning) & Dean of Students and
the Associate Vice-President (Equity and Inclusion) sought to initiate this systemic review with
the goal of better understanding the Black student-athlete experience and examining the climate
of Marauder Athletics with a view to address any systemic anti-Black racism and strengthen a
culture of equity and inclusion.
Objectives
The objectives of the Review are five-fold:
1. To identify and document the experiences of Black student-athletes within Marauder

Athletics, and to gain a holistic understanding of the individual challenges and systemic
barriers Black student-athletes may face academically, socially, and athletically;
2. To examine the extent a culture contributing to anti-Black bias and/or systemic racism
exists within Marauder Athletics;
3. To assess whether gaps exist in programs, processes, supports and organizational

structures which influence the culture and the student experience for Black student-
athletes;
4. To recommend areas for improvement in programs, processes, supports, and

organizational structures to address anti-Black racism and foster a culture of equity and
inclusion; and
5. To identify any additional equity and inclusion climate issues within the Marauder
Athletics community which intersect with the Black student-athlete experience and that
may require particular attention (i.e., intersections of sexism, homophobia, ableism,
classism with anti-Black racism for example).
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Systemic Review
Scope:
Systemic and Holistic Climate Review
This systemic climate review is a university-sponsored process that will holistically look into and
examine the reported experiences and culture within Marauder Athletics with respect to reports
of anti-Black racism.
Student Experience and Organizational Culture
The review will explore the historical context and the extent to which any past experiences and
cultural observations may have persisted or shifted over time. The experiences of current and
former Black student-athletes will be the central focus of this review, which will look back as far
as 2010 – a timeframe which will enable us to capture the experiences of former student-athletes
who have recently spoken to their experiences. To provide a fulsome picture on the culture, in
addition to interviews with current and former Black student-athletes, other student-athletes
and Athletics staff will be invited to share observations as they relate to the climate and culture
within Marauder Athletics.
Different Team Experiences and Cultures
The diversity, size, and culture of each team is different. The review will attempt to articulate if
there are any ‘team-level’ differences in the experiences of Black student-athletes, and if so, what
those are. The Review will organize group interviews to enable the differentiation of experiences
and cultures within and across inter-university sport teams.
Groups affiliated with the Football team will be separated out given the reports from former and
current Football Team members.
All genders will be invited to participate across the groups and space will be made to ensure an
intersectional approach is taken to surface experiences of anti-Black racism which intersect with
other forms or racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, and ableism for example.
Outcomes:
The Review will culminate in a report of observations and recommendations to address any anti-
Black racism and support strengthening a culture of equity and inclusivity within Marauder
Athletics, and particularly to ensure a welcoming and bias-free climate for Black student-athletes.
The observations and recommendations will be shared with the McMaster campus community.
No personal identifying information will be shared in the report.
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Systemic Review
Timeline:
The Review will commence July 27th, group interviews taking place during that week. Some
individual interviews may take place the week of the 20th of July. Group interviews will be
recorded, and interview notes will be transcribed, and a draft report submitted to the Task Force
by August 14th. The Final report with observations and recommendations will be submitted to
the Associate Vice-President (Students and Learning) & Dean of Students by August 21st.
Lead Reviewer: Dr. Ivan Joseph (see Appendix I for full bio)
• Vice-Provost, Student Affairs, Dalhousie University

• former Director of Athletics, Ryerson University
• consultant, speaker and author in the areas of individual and organizational performance
Review Task Force:
A small Review Task Force has been assembled to assist the Reviewer in:
• finalizing the Terms of Reference,

• developing guiding interview questions,
• assessing the information gathered, and
• formulating the thematic observations and recommendations for the report.
The Task Force consists of four McMaster community members who identify as Black/of the
African Diaspora and who have relevant expertise in facilitating processes to uncover and support
experiences anti-Black racism and impacts on Black/African students and community members,
in assessing these experiences and impacts, and in recommending appropriate interventions for
remediation and/or restoration.
Task Force members are:
Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh (faculty) – Task Force Chair

• co-founder and co-lead for the African-Caribbean Faculty Association of McMaster
(ACFAM) and African and African Diaspora Studies (AADS) Minor
• current Professor of History, McMaster Chair in Global Human Rights - Centre for Human
Rights and Restorative Justice
Faith Ogunkoya (staff)

• Vice-Chair (Staff) President’s Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community
(PACBIC)
• former Global Experience Coordinator, Student Success Centre at McMaster
• current Team Lead, Student Services in the Registrar’s Office
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Systemic Review
Aaron Parry (student)

• member of Black Students Association
• majoring in anthropology and indigenous studies, minor in African and African Diaspora
Studies
Marlice Simon (staff):

• Staff Member: African-Caribbean Faculty Association of McMaster
• Administrative Coordinator (Research) Health Information Research Unit
Aisha Wilks (student):

• PhD student, Department of English and Cultural Studies
• Research interests include Race, disability, and the intimacies of violence in
contemporary literature and film with particular focus on the Black Transatlantic
• Education Research Assistant (Dr Eugenia Zuroski)
• Co-Founder of Resist BIPoC Working Group
Advisor/Consultant:
Dr. Arig al Shaibah –Associate Vice-President Equity & Inclusion and Adjunct Associate Professor,
Sociology; co-chair of PACBIC, McMaster University
Methodology:
Approach
Sharing experiences of anti-Black racism can be very difficult. The Reviewer and the Task Force
recognize and validate the strength it takes to discuss these experiences and will support a
process that is compassionate, trauma-informed, and empowering in its approach.
Information Sources
Information will be collected primarily through group interviews with former and current
student-athletes and Marauder Athletics employees. Some individual interviews will be
scheduled as needed. The opportunity to provide written submissions is also available by
emailing review@mcmaster.ca by July 31st, 2020.
Community members with former or current affiliation with Marauder Athletics and who have
information which may benefit the objectives of the Review may also be interviewed.
The Equity and Inclusion Office may offer insight into past and/or present thematic observations
related to the experiences of Black student-athletes or a culture of anti-Black racism within
Marauders Athletics.
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Systemic Review
Format of interviews
Group interviews will be prescheduled to take place during the week of July 27 th.
All interviews will be conducted virtually in 80 minute timeslots. Principles of confidentiality will
be reinforced in group settings. Confidential written submissions will also be accepted and can
be sent to review@mcmaster.ca by July 31st 2020.
Group interview sessions will occur as follows:
Student-athletes (2010-2020)
1. current (c) and former (f) Black student-athletes (all sports, excl. Football) (two group
interview times will be scheduled)
2. c/f Black Football student-athletes (two group interview times will be scheduled)
3. c/f student-athletes who do not identify as Black (all sports, excl Football)
4. c/f Football student-athletes who do not identify as Black
Coaches/Staff (2010-2020)
5. c/f staff who identify as Black
6. c/f coaches who identify as Black (all sports)
7. c/f staff who do not identify as Black
8. c/f coaches who do not identify as Black (all sports)
Any individual interviews will be scheduled between July 20th and 31st, depending on Reviewer
availability. A tentative group interview schedule is in Appendix II.
Recruitment of Interview Participants
The AVP & Dean of Students will:
• post this Terms of Reference document to the Student Affairs website;
• announce the commencement of the Review on the Daily News,
• invite current and former student-athletes and Marauder Athletics coaching and non-
coaching staff to participate
o Current student-athletes and staff will receive an email inviting them to participate at
their McMaster email address
o Former student-athletes and staff and Marauder community members who wish to
participate are invited to email review@mcmaster.ca and they will receive
information about how to participate
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Systemic Review
Appendix I
Dr. Ivan Joseph – VPSA Bio
As Vice-Provost, Student Affairs, Dr. Ivan Joseph leads Dalhousie’s effort to promote
interconnectedness among a diverse student body drawn from across the country and around
the globe. In addition to offering outstanding experiences, he is focused on ensuring students
feel that they matter and belong. In this way, he is continuing Dalhousie’s 200-year tradition of
marrying the best of a major research institution with the benefits of a close-knit community.
Recognizing Dalhousie’s role as a national leader and flag bearer for Atlantic Canada, Ivan
wholeheartedly supports its commitment to developing students who are active citizens. He also
believes in celebrating diverse viewpoints and advancing Dalhousie’s reputation as a model of
inclusivity.
Creating the conditions for individuals and communities to thrive has been an emphasis
throughout Ivan’s life and career.
Having emigrated from Guyana at age five, he grew up in Toronto’s Jane-Finch corridor, which
taught him the importance of intercultural cohesion, role models and resilience. Following high
school, he attended Graceland University in Iowa on an athletic scholarship and was among a
handful of visible minorities on campus – a situation he would later study through his graduate
research.
Ivan stayed on at Graceland, working as a residence life leader, soccer coach and assistant
professor. In these roles, he built a leadership development program from the ground up and led
Graceland’s men’s soccer team to the first national championship in school history. He also
completed an MS in higher education administration from Drake University and a PhD in sports
psychology from Capella University.
Over the past decade, Ivan was Director of Athletics at Ryerson University, one of Canada’s most
culturally diverse post-secondary institutions. While there, he led a transformation of athletics
and recreation, oversaw the $100 million revitalization of the former Maple Leaf Gardens,
elevated the program to national prominence, and created a spirit of belonging and pride on
campus.
Ivan is also an in-demand consultant, speaker and author in the areas of individual and
organizational performance. He has worked with corporations and groups all over the world and
is the author of the 2017 book, You Got This: Mastering the Skill of Self-Confidence. His 2012 TEDx
talk, “The skill of self-confidence,” has been viewed almost 14 million times on YouTube.
Dalhousie’s Student Affairs division fosters outstanding student experiences through its various
units, which include student life, student wellness services, student academic success services
and the Registrar’s Office.
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Systemic Review
Appendix II
Tentative Review Interview Schedule
Monday, July 27th

9:00 – Current & former student-athletes who identify as Black (excluding Football)
10:20am (session 1)
10:30 – c/f Football student-athletes who identify as Black (session 1)
11:50am
Tuesday, July 28th

4:00 – 5:20pm c/f student-athletes who identify as Black (excluding Football) (session 2)
5:30 – 7:00pm c/f Football student-athletes who identify as Black (session 2)
Wednesday, July 29th

9:00 – c/f student-athletes who do not identify as Black (excluding Football)
10:20am
10:30 – 11:50 c/f Football student-athletes who do not identify as Black
Thursday, July 30rd

9:00 – Current & former coaches who do not identify as Black
10:20am
10:30 – Current and former non-coaching staff who do not identify as Black
11:50am
Friday, July 31st

9:00 – Current & former coaches who identify as Black
10:20am
10:30 – Current and former non-coaching staff who identify as Black
11:50am
Interview times with individuals will be scheduled during this week and some may be scheduled
as early as the week of July 20th.
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McMaster Black Student Athlete Experience Systemic Review

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McMaster Black Student Athlete Experience Systemic Review

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A Systemic Review of the

Black Student-Athlete Experience

In cooperation with the review Task Force:

• Aaron Parry (student)

October 24, 2020

Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................... i

I. Context and Framing

A focus on the Black student-athlete experience

A road map for racial equity

Livingston offers a model for organizational change with five stages1:

Understanding as a foundation for empathy and action

Accepting and acknowledging what has happened

In this light, let me close with this suggestion of my own.

Dr. Ivan Joseph

II. The Review Process and Report

The interviews were documented through recorded interviews, notetaking, or written

1. To identify and document the experiences of Black student-athletes within Marauder

III. The Black Student-Athlete Experience

1. Incidents and Responses

Black History Month celebration game cancelled

Several Black student-athletes conveyed their interpretation of the experience:

Perceptions of the men’s basketball Black student-athletes and a derogatory comment

“Super fans have dwindled in the men’s basketball.”

Several of them referenced a moment when a non-Black [Marauders alum] attending an

Incidents of racial slurs

Derogatory comments based on race

References to gangs or drugs

The student’s reflections on this experience:

Me, at an institution, getting a proper education, pursuing a professional career playing

An incident at an -- alumni event

Reports of an incident at an -- alumni event where two Black student-athletes were

-- coaches handling a racist incident in a varsity game

A pick-up basketball game broken up by staff and campus police

Athletics administration facilitating Hamilton police access to a Black student-athlete

There was an incident in which a staff/administration member in Athletics facilitated access by

Two Black coaches commented on the incident this way:

Responses to student-athletes sharing concerns about anti-Black racism with other

Athletics administrators not showing up for meetings and not following up

During a process of deciding whether to hire a coach full-time, -- student-athletes approached an

“I brought these incidents to -- at a pre-season -- game, November or December of --. At

Black student-athletes boycotting the banquet

2. Experiences of Black football players

3. Overall experiences and perspectives of Black student-athletes and

The experience of being a Black student-athlete at McMaster

“Student-athletes say that they don’t feel comfortable and safe.”

“The university does not do things to showcase their Black student-athletes.”

“I always feel like I’m representing my people.”

sabotaging other Black student-athletes’ performances on the -- and taking away

Alumni reflections on their experience after leaving McMaster

Interactions with coaches

Mental health supports and resources

One Black student-athlete said:

Experiences with teammates

A non-football Black student-athlete reported feelings of discomfort and experiences of

IV. Culture, Climate and Systemic Racism

A culture of systemic anti-Black racism

And, while systemic anti-Black racism is an endemic problem in McMaster’s Athletics

Impact on current and former Black student-athletes

Seeing experiences through the eyes of a Black student-athlete

“The culture at McMaster promotes systemic racism.”

Observations on the perspectives and actions of non-Black coaches, staff

6. A climate of bias within McMaster Athletics contributed to the criminalization of black

The burden of responsibility for conversations about race

8see Claude Steele's "Whistling Vivaldi" as an example: