When the Carleton Ravens Varsity Council’s three new committees for Carleton athletes launched in September, few could have predicted the school year being online.
The committees are the Community Outreach Committee, the Gender Equity and LGBTQ+ committee and the Racism, Equity and Diversity committee.
After a holiday toy drive, a town hall addressing inequity, racism, and barriers to access in sport, and plans for Women’s History Month, the committee chairs reflected on a challenging year and what is still to come.
Community Outreach Committee
The Community Outreach Committee is spearheaded by women’s soccer players Jennie Wong and Jolene Wong. The committee aims to foster relationships between athletes, by helping team members stay connected despite physical distancing measures.
The committee also works to inform the broader Carleton community on what it means to be a Carleton athlete. It also aims to uphold a positive reputation for Carleton in the Ottawa community.
“COVID has thrown a wrench in things, but we’re trying to support causes that our athletes have always supported,” said Jennie, co-head of the committee.
The committee hosted a pink shirt week in October to raise awareness for breast cancer, replacing a similar campaign that usually takes place at games. Individual teams ran their own fundraisers in addition to the overall group ones.
Jennie says fostering community among athletes in a time when they can’t run into each other in the gym, on campus or on the field has been a priority.
Athletes have turned to social media to help bring students together by posting how-to cooking videos, and sharing how they’re eating healthy and being creative outside of their sport.
The committee also hosted a holiday toy drive with Pad Pal, an Ottawa-based home maintenance company, to help single mothers in Ottawa provide toys for their families during the holiday season.
“I’m really proud of it,” Jennie said of the work the committee has done so far. “We got a lot of donations from not just student athletes, but [also] coaches and support staff [and] administrators. We all got our teams involved in getting donations … Hopefully in future years, they keep it going and make it even bigger.”
For now, the committee is directing its attention towards planning the end of year banquet, and looking forward to building more community in the fall. They’re also hopeful that next year, the annual dodgeball tournament for mental health, planned on Bell Let’s Talk Day, will make a triumphant return.
“It brings together so many people for such a good cause, and I hope it continues to grow the amazing environment that athletes love, and [remind us] why people are so proud to be Ravens,” Jennie said.
Gender Equity and LGBTQ+ Committee
The Gender Equity and LGBTQ+ Committee is gearing up for a number of initiatives throughout Women’s History Month in March.
The committee—headed by Roberta Drummond, a women’s rugby player—has been working on a series featured on the Carleton Ravens Instagram account, featuring Carleton’s female head coaches and assistant coaches discussing their experience in sport.
The first episode, which debuted in early January, highlighted Ravens women’s basketball head coach Dani Sinclair, who offered advice to other women in sports and shared her experience as a woman in sport.
Drummond said the committee plans to share the words of women athletes every day throughout March, with a full content calendar on the university’s page.
“It’s our time to shine, and @curavens has never done such a good job engaging athletes as they have this year, which is amazing,” Sinclair said in an interview with the Charlatan. “It’s cool that we’ve made enough noise and gained enough traction that they’re doing this.”
The committee is also developing anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination training for all Carleton athletes this fall, according to Drummond.
Currently, all Ravens athletes, coaches, and staff undergo gender-based violence prevention training.
According to Drummond, this will make Carleton the first university to offer anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination training.
The committee is currently working on drafting an equity statement to be displayed in Alumni Hall.
“We’re accepting of anyone, no matter their sexual orientation, gender, religion, [or] race,” Drummond said.
“When you walk through the door, people from the community and our athletes will know, ‘I’m coming to Carleton, these are the expectations, these are the standards, and this is somewhere where I know I’m going to be safe.’”
Drummond said plans for a women in sports panel are underway for the fall term, in addition to a body positive photoshoot and other initiatives.
Racism, Equity and Diversity Committee
The Racism, Equity and Diversity Committee, headed by men’s soccer player Jimi Aribido, aims to make Carleton Athletics inclusive of all athletes, showcase a diversity of voices, and become a more equitable place for all.
The committee held its first event, a town hall on race and sport, Feb. 25. The event addressed issues of equity, racism and barriers to access in sports.
Featured speakers were Nate Behar, Ravens football alumnus and CFL wide receiver, and Janelle Joseph, a University of Toronto professor and equity and anti-racism in sports researcher.
The committee also planned much of the featured content for Black History Month in February on the Carleton Ravens Instagram.
Aribido said the committee is hoping to capitalize on the success of the first town hall by turning the event into a series in the coming months.
Aribido said the committee wants to continue having these conversations on Instagram Live, where players can share their experience in an open and honest way with other students.
“When I was in my first year, I couldn’t have foreseen something like [a diversity and inclusion committee] happening, so I’m extremely happy and proud of how far we’ve come,” Aribido said.
He said he is pleased with the support the committee has received from Carleton Athletics. “There’s a real willingness to do this groundwork, and I’m excited to see where we can take this work next,” he said.
Featured image by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
