Over the weekend, former FGCU star men's basketball player Zach Johnson questioned the athletic department's seriousness toward the Black Lives Matter cause in a tweet.
That tweet was liked and retweeted with comment by several other current and former Eagles athletes, and at least one fan.
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"Need FGCU to speak up a lot more on BLM ! A lot of black lives poured the heart & soul into the university. Come on @fgcu," tweeted Johnson, who transferred to the University of Miami for his final collegiate season in 2018-19, on Saturday.
The tweet was liked or retweeted by 20 current or former Eagles, including former men's basketball players Brandon Goodwin, now with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Bernard Thompson, Christian Terrell, Marc-Eddy Norelia, Roman Brown, and Julian DeBose, and current point guard Jalen Warren.
Sunday evening, the FGCU athletic department responded with a statement on Twitter, which included: "As a department, we are proud of the diversity that makes up Eagles Athletics. We are working collectively to examine what Eagles can do to move past any bias to make our society more safe, just, and equal for all. ... We will share what we've undertaken over the last few months and the action plan that we will bring forward in the near future. These actions will be both visible and sustainable ... It will take us all being committed for the long term to make the change necessary to realize true equality in this nation we all love dearly."
The Black Lives Matter cause came to the forefront again nationally after George Floyd, a Black man, died in police custody in late May in an incident that was captured by cellphone video. All four Minneapolis police officers were fired, and one who had his knee on the back of Floyd's neck for eight minutes that led to Floyd's death was charged with murder.
Floyd's death sparked protests across the country. The protests increased when Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back just over a week ago by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake was paralyzed.
FGCU's response to ongoing racial injustice had been a topic more internally well before Johnson's tweet, said athletic director Ken Kavanagh.
"We just said, 'OK, if there's stuff going on out there, we just need to address it,'" said Kavanagh, who consulted with other members of the athletic administration as well as the minority leadership group. "If it takes to clear the air, for us to put out a statement, we'll put out a statement.
"We were moving toward a platform of a sustainable action plan than we were just putting out a statement. Some people that weren't as close to the situation weren't aware of that."
Head men's basketball coach Michael Fly, who was a longtime assistant before taking over the top job last year, has kept in contact with Johnson and other former players. So when he saw Johnson's tweet and the aftermath, he reached out to both Johnson and Goodwin.
"I had a really productive conversation with he and Brandon both," Fly said. "I think that's what the most important thing as a coach and for our athletic department, in general, is making sure we are listening to our student-athletes, especially our student-athletes of color.
"They were very supportive of the program and very supportive of the athletic department. They were saying we just want to make sure that current student-athletes at FGCU feel supported like we did when we were there."
Johnson retweeted the athletic department's Sunday evening tweet with heart emojis, and also retweeted with emojis a retweet of the statement by Kavanagh, who stated "Fully appreciative our eventual long term actions will speak much louder than our words, amongst all @FGCUEagles I look forward to working together w/ our terrific student-athletes, staff, alums & supporters to generate sustainable results. Black lives matter to us all!"
"This is coming from a place of love," Fly termed his discussion with Johnson and Goodwin. "It was, 'Are we doing everything we can do?'
"I'm proud of our team and the athletic department. There have been a ton of efforts going on that haven't been extremely public."
A handful of current and former players of women's basketball coach Karl Smesko also weighed in on Johnson's tweet.
"I was really happy to see our athletic department put out the message to be really clear where we stand on the issue," Smesko said. "I'm sure many of our former players appreciated that we did that.
"We've been in touch with many of our former players throughout the summer. At times, we've talked about some of the social justice issues. I support our players and former players having a voice and using the forum. I'm definitely an ally to the movement."
After Johnson's initial tweet, some of those who did weigh in questioned whether the school was concerned about possibly alienating donors if it was more vocal.
"We shouldn't be worried about what donors or fans will think," former walk-on Dolan Mahoney tweeted, which was retweeted by Johnson. "We're talking about people's lives, this shouldn't even be a discussion we're having in 2020. Need to show strength in unity, and stand together with people who made 'Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle' something prideful."
David Grant, who said he was a former board member, also tweeted his support.
"Pivotal moment right now. Use your influence along with alumni like @Marceddy25 @goodysav @kqqlaid and others black and white to help the athletic department do the right thing. As a former board member, I believe you would be heard. I hear you and support you."
On Aug. 7, Kavanagh indicated during a Zoom meeting with media that positive discussions were happening on multiple fronts regarding racial injustice.
Kavanagh was asked about the NCAA's decision allowing social justice messages on jerseys and uniforms and took that opportunity to also discuss the school's diversity discussions with coaches, administrators and student-athletes, that had also included a town hall on Aug. 6, as well as the ongoing athletic diversity inclusion committee that was started in 2010
Monday, Kavanagh reiterated what he had said roughly a month ago.
"Every day we try to do the right thing," he said. "It starts with treating people the way you want to be treated. And not to be divisive, more to the point of inclusive. Whatever we do, we want to make sure it's inclusive and not doing things that are going to divide folks."
Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://ift.tt/39CN4I4
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