Sports Executives and Journalists Join Industry Leaders at Morehouse College This Week

ATLANTA (January 24, 2019) – The Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC) – comprised of four member institutions, which include Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College, the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library – and the Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee’s Legacy 53 will host two events on race, diversity and the business of athletes at Morehouse College this week.

Event One

For Sport: Competitions and the Commodification of Black Bodies

Moderators: Prof. David Wall Rice, Ph.D., Morehouse College

Prof. Cynthia Neal Spence, Ph.D., ‘78, Spelman College

Date: Thursday, January 24, 2019

Time: 4 – 6 p.m.

Location: Sale Hall Chapel, Morehouse College, 830 Westview Drive, SW, Atlanta, GA 30314

Panelists:

• Edwin Moses, Sport Activist and Olympic Champion, ’78, Morehouse College
• Nzinga Shaw, Atlanta Hawks Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, ‘2001, Spelman College

Curated by The Spelman College Social Justice Fellows Program and The Morehouse College Institute for Social Justice Inquiry and Praxis — panelists and the AUC community will explore the intersection of sport, gender and freedom agendas while considering a cultural-historical and the impacts of Black bodies being used as objects of trade.

Event Two

Gender, Race and Inclusion in the Sports Media: Who’s In, Who’s “Out” and Who’s Still Left Out?

Host: Prof. Ron Thomas, Morehouse College

Date: Friday, January 25, 2019

Time: 7 – 9 p.m.

Location: Morehouse College, Bank of America Auditorium, 830 Westview Drive, SW, Atlanta, GA 30314

This panel discussion will explore race, gender and sexual orientation from two angles. As more and more women compete intensely in sports, more gay athletes reveal their sexual orientation, and very few people of color continue to hold positions of power outside of the playing field, how well has the sports media covered these topics? On the other side of the mirror, does the racial, ethnic and sexual composition of the sports media reflect a narrow-minded past or today’s growing diversity in the U.S.?

Panelists

• Tareia Williams, Turner Sports Director of Communications, ’04, Clark Atlanta University
• Rana Cash, Sports Director of the Louisville Courier-Journal
• Mark Anthony Green, GQ’s widely read “Style Guy” columnist, ’10, Morehouse College
• Carron Phillips, Sports, Race & Social Issues columnist for the New York Daily News, ’06, Morehouse College
• Renée Tirado, Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Major League Baseball
• Cyd Zeigler, Co-Founder Outsports online magazine and author of “Fair Play: How LGBT Athletes Are Claiming Their Rightful Place in Sports”

To RSVP for media, contact Ronna Charles at 404-752-1717 or [email protected].

About the Atlanta University Center (AUC)

The Atlanta University Center Consortium is the world’s oldest and largest association of historically Black colleges and universities. Comprised of four member institutions – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Spelman College, the Consortium is a vibrant intellectual community with a long tradition of scholarship, service and community engagement. AUC Consortium, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that operates on behalf of its members to advance each institution’s mission and strategic goals by fostering collaboration, managing center-wide initiatives, offering services that benefit our students and community, and leveraging our shared resources. To learn more, visit AUCenter.edu.