American Athletic Conference

The American Athletic Conference is saddened by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and all the victims of racial violence and human rights violations. We send our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.

This is a time for all of us to renew and reinforce our commitment to racial justice and equality, which is central to our core values and mission. In an effort to acknowledge and address these fundamental concerns in a meaningful way, we will make them a primary focus of our Academic Consortium and Symposia, and will devote resources across our conference to their study and to the development of action plans. We will also, through our ongoing Powerful Minds initiative, work to foster education and understanding.

We are committed to doing our part in helping to forge a path toward racial unity and understanding, and to foster a peaceful climate of respect in the battle against racial injustice.

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Atlantic Coast Conference

Dear ACC Community,

The events that have recently taken place across our country are tragic and devastating. The hurt and pain felt by so many, including the league's African-American student-athletes, coaches and administrators, cannot be quantified. What is clear, is the need to come together to create meaningful and impactful change.

The Atlantic Coast Conference remains strongly committed to upholding the values of equality, diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination. Racism and injustice have no place in society.

Although we do not have all the answers, we are dedicated to being part of the solution with compassion and accountability. Together, we will continue to progress toward unity in college athletics and within society. There is no room to tolerate anything less than equality for all.

We stand with our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and colleagues to further unite during this already challenging time to make our world a better place for all.

Stay safe and positive,
John D. Swofford

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Big 12 Conference

As a conference representing thousands of students, faculty, and staff from all walks of life, we are committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect in our campus communities. Acts of racism and violence, no matter their origin or target, contradict this core commitment we share within the Big 12 Conference. Recent incidents of racial violence underscore the need for us and for all Americans to join together in addressing matters of racism and injustice in a united, meaningful way.

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Big Ten Conference

On Monday, May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a proud Black man, was killed by a member of law enforcement in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Emmett Till. The list goes on and on.

Prior to joining the Big Ten Conference as Commissioner and relocating to Chicago, my family had lived full-time in the Minneapolis area for over 15 years as I worked as an executive with the Minnesota Vikings in the National Football League. Our kids were raised in Minnesota and attended school in Minnesota before leaving for college and the people of the great state of Minnesota are part of the fabric of our entire family.

As a Black man, I pray every day for the health and safety of my wife and children, especially during interactions with law enforcement. We continue to see inequality and deep divide regarding how members of the Black community are treated compared to the rest of society and too often, the results have been horrific and senseless. Such racism and inequality are pervasive, not just endemic in law enforcement.

Meaningful change will only occur if, as a nation, we are united, resilient and determined to create difficult, uncomfortable dialogue and take significant tangible action. We all need to strive to make the world a better place. One person, one family, one city, one state, one conference, one country.

George Floyd's death cannot be in vain.

I have made the decision to create the Big Ten Conference Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Coalition and invite student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, chancellors, presidents and others to join me. I have already received powerful notes of support and interest in joining this coalition and look forward to partnering with the existing diversity councils on our various campuses. It is critical that our student-athletes possess their rights to free speech, their rights to peaceful protest and we will work to empower them in creating meaningful change.

We must listen to our young people. Our children and future generations deserve better. We are either part of the problem or part of the solution. The Big Ten Conference will be part of the solution as we actively and constructively combat racism and hate in our country.

In closing, my wife, Greta, and I have decided to personally make an initial gift of $100,000 from the Warren Family Foundation to the National Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights based in Washington, D.C., which focuses on addressing issues regarding racism, hate and voter registration.

I will continue to pray, lead and take action to eliminate racism and hate in our country.

Godspeed,
Kevin Warren

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Conference USA

Conference USA and its member institutions are committed to embracing and cultivating diversity, inclusion and equity. Our thousands of students, faculty and staff represent many different backgrounds and beliefs and we must promote and ensure fair and equitable opportunities, benefits and resources for our community.

This time requires greater introspection from those of us who may never know the full pain and fear that many experience every day. We have to reach out, listen to each other and work together to be part of the solution to address injustice, racism, and discrimination. It is by doing this that we can be stronger together.

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Mountain West Conference

Racial injustice and acts of violence against members of our communities are never acceptable. The member institutions of the Mountain West together reaffirm our commitment to the principles of inclusiveness and equity for all, which are core values for the Conference and our individual institutions. We are compelled to come together as a Conference and society to promote understanding and respectfully address these issues in our nation. By virtue of our diverse communities, higher education and intercollegiate athletics continue to offer a platform by which positive social change can be realized.

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Mid-American Conference

Among the core values of the Mid-American Conference is a commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity and we have embraced and promoted these principles. The member institutions' faculty, staff, students and alumni represent a diverse group from an array of backgrounds, beliefs and perspectives. Current events point to the need for further efforts to confront intolerance and racism. Acts of violence are contrary to the principles of respect and inclusion.

The Mid-American Conference joins with others in higher education to urge the nation to seek ways to foster understanding as we address issues of injustice, racism, and discrimination.

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Pac-12 Conference

Since the horrific and senseless death of George Floyd on May 25, we have all been struggling to come to terms with feelings of anger, frustration and an intense desire to find solutions to this latest, graphic testament to the injustice and racism that continues to exist in our society.

Now, more than ever, we need to find the strength to stand up and become active participants in being a part of the solution to end racism and discrimination of all kinds, and to hold ourselves accountable not only to saying the right things, but more importantly, doing the right things, to get us there.

The injustice before us is not just a problem facing African-Americans, nor a problem just facing minorities. It is an American injustice, one that we all must own and all must address head on if we wish to create a more humane, more caring and more empathetic society – one free of racism for all us here today and for our children and their children.

The Pac-12 prides itself on our diversity, inclusiveness and commitment to social causes in our communities and our society as a whole. Over the past days and in the coming days, weeks and months, we will continue to engage with our student-athletes, coaches and other members of our Pac-12 community to discuss how collectively we can take actions to help end racism and injustice. We will also be hosting a number of forums with our student-athletes, moderated by thought-leaders in combatting racism, to discuss the issues of discrimination and injustice highlighted by this latest tragedy and to develop action plans.

As universities tasked with educating the next generation of leaders, we are in a unique position to be a part of the solution and to hold ourselves accountable. And here is where we have great hope, and are united in our desire and in our resolve.

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Southeastern Conference

Throughout the last few days, we used our social platforms to share voices from across our Conference.

Each voice expressed sorrow, sadness, hurt and anger, and each voice reminded us of the many ways we fall short in our quest for racial equality, respect and justice.

By listening, asking and seeking, we will begin to make a difference. But we much reach beyond our comfortable places and engage the uncomfortable reality.

Today, we build on those voices and take a vital next step in our shared journey by convening our SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Councils in these critical discussions. Today's youth are our leaders and change agents of tomorrow.

Through this dialogue, we expect to gain a greater understanding of their current reality and visions for a more just and equitable society. Their input along with guidance of campus leaders will help us determine what actions we as a Conference will take next to influence real and positive change.

The change we lead must be real and must realize that all are created equal, which in our case must echo across our stadiums, our arenas, our campuses, our communities, our states and our nation.

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Sun Belt Conference

The Sun Belt Conference is heartbroken by the tragic and devastating events taking place throughout our country. Racism and discrimination deprive too many people of their basic guaranteed liberties and destroy their hopes for a better life for themselves and their families. We are committed to working with our communities to create real and transformative change.

The Sun Belt believes one of the most effective ways to make progress is to educate people about the power of civic engagement. In partnership with our student-athletes, coaches and staff, we intend to facilitate conversations that better educate those in our membership about our electoral process, work to help register voters and create meaningful dialogue with law enforcement to build stronger community policing. While the values embodied in these actions are not new to us, today marks the Sun Belt's journey to be more intentional in creating initiatives that will have an impact.

We understand that it will be very difficult to assuage the hurt and pain felt by so many. As an NCAA Division I FBS conference with over 4,000 student-athletes, coaches and administrators from all backgrounds, we intend to lead by example. We are proud to be the first FBS conference to hire an African American Commissioner. We support the efforts underway to help America improve our democracy with equal justice for all. We are hopeful that others will join us to do their part in making "a more perfect Union."

Together, we can build a better future for all of our citizens and communities.

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University of Notre Dame

"Let us ask for justice, for an end to the legacy of racism, for an end to violence in our streets and in our hearts and for the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it." – University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

"We have failed. The path forward must begin with an acknowledgement of our failings and a commitment to change." – University Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick

Notre Dame Athletics is not here to suggest that we can solve the problems that plague our nation. But we do firmly believe that we can both create change locally and be a catalyst for change nationally. We do not have the answer as to how we will have that impact but that is as it must be because our path forward needs to be shaped by all of us as we STAND TOGETHER.

Our commitment then is to enable your efforts and we will begin to do that in each of the following ways:

LISTEN: In order to better empower our student-athletes, we will listen more carefully and thoughtfully to the issues they raise, the insights they offer, the solutions they propose, and the emotions they experience. And in furtherance of that commitment, we will create additional forums for engagement.

AMPLIFY: We will amplify the voices of our student-athletes. We had already redefined the mission of Fighting Irish Media to focus on this mission, but the current crisis provides a compelling opportunity to accelerate our efforts.

FOCUS: Just as our Student-Athlete Advisory Council did such an effective job during the past school year in drawing attention to the mental health challenges of our students, we are asking our student-athletes to help us make issues relating to social justice our focus during the coming academic year.

DIVERSIFY: We will build a more diverse professional staff and better educate our current staff in order to more effectively serve all of our student-athletes.

ENGAGE: We will increase and improve the quality of our engagement with all segments of the communities that surround our university. We recognize the positive impact that many of the efforts in which our student-athletes are already involved have produced, but if we are to maximize our reach and our impact, we need to take a more centralized and sustained approach.

VOTE: In this, a national election year that will play such an important role in defining the future direction of the country, we will make voter education and participation a priority for students and staff.

While each of the foregoing represent a firm commitment, they are also only a starting point for our efforts. The way forward will ultimately depend on the ideas each of us contributes and the commitments we make.

We look forward to working with our student-athletes, coaches, staff, faculty and community to bring this plan to life. STAND TOGETHER.

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