Organization establishes safe spaces for student-athletes
To promote education and inclusivity, URI’s MSAC aims to uplift minority student athletes’ voices. PHOTO CREDIT: instagram.com/msac.uri
The Minority Student Athlete Crew (MSAC) is a newly founded group with the goal of supporting minority student-athletes.
“Just empowering minority voices, that’s our mission statement,” Trinity Smith, co-founder and president of MSAC, said.
Smith, a fifth-year graduate student on the women’s track team, wanted to create a “safe space” for student-athletes of color at the University of Rhode Island.
“We’re here to promote education and awareness,” Smith said. “We’re all about unity and inclusivity.”
Smith’s sentiments were echoed by her teammate and MSAC vice-president Hasna Badji. Badji, like Smith, is a fifth-year graduate student on the women’s track team. Badji explained that MSAC meetings were a good place for minority student-athletes to come together and “vent” in a group setting.
“That’s what we’re based on,” Badji said. “Discussing the issues having everybody come and share experiences, positive, negative, mostly negative, but it was like a safe space also for us.”
Along with the ability for athletes to come together and share experiences, MSAC meetings will focus on education about topics such as Black history and microaggressions, according to Badji and Smith.
“Everything’s not going to happen in one day, especially addressing something like microaggressions and teaching people what that is because I feel like a lot of microaggressions and stuff like that happens on teams,” Smith said. “You know, they can offend people, you’ve got to be conscious and aware of that.”
Badji shared a personal experience facing microaggressions as an athlete, but due to her background and upbringing, she didn’t realize that they were microaggressions.
“I didn’t really know much about Black history in America growing up,” she said. “Whenever I saw something that others perceive as negative, I really didn’t see a big deal in it.”
She explained that she’s witnessed comments about athletes’ hair being touched nonconsensually and described as “exotic.”
Smith reflected on the group’s role in decreasing issues like microaggressions.
“One of our key things is to promote education and awareness,” Smith said. “The whole [athletics] department is being educated on that as a whole right now, which is good. So hopefully that minimizes issues.”
MSAC is currently working to expand membership beyond their current e-board, according to Smith and Badji. The e-board, nicknamed the “Core 10,” consists of athletes from various teams around URI including track and field, tennis, football and softball, according to the group’s Instagram.
“Hopefully we can have you know, baseball one day or somebody from soccer,” Smith said. “You know, being a part of MSAC is like being a part of a family.”
MSAC is open to all student-athletes at the University, and allyship is encouraged by Smith.
“We’re open to allies,” Smith said.“We’re open to people coming to learn. It’s better to go out and be informed about things and not be informed and speak on it.”
MSAC is working to create a more consistent schedule for meetings and events according to Smith.
“We try to meet bi-weekly,” Smith said. “It’s just hard because of our schedules and how our seasons line up.”
Since its inception in Dec. 2021, MSAC has hosted “kickback” events for members to meet and share experiences. The group is looking to host more events in the future, including collaborations with other groups on campus, including the Black Student Union (BSU) and other multicultural organizations, according to Badji.
More information about the MSAC can be found on their Instagram page @msac.uri.