St. John's University Athletics
Athletics Council on Community, Culture & Social Justice
Eric Rienecker (Chair) - Senior Associate Athletic Director Student-Athlete Development
Leonard Breton – Associate Director of Student Development - Campus R.I.S.E. Mentoring
Monique Jernigan – Executive Director of Multicultural Affairs
Allie Parise – Asst. Director of Student-Athlete Development, Administrator of St. John’s SAAC
Aliann Pompey – Asst. Track Coach, Four-time Olympian and NCAA Champion runner, President of
Panam Sports Athletes Commission
Paul Pressey – Special Assistant to the Head Coach Men’s Basketball, 11-year NBA veteran & two-time All-NBA Defensive Team
Father Richard Rock – Campus Minister for Athletics
Amanda Belgrave - Women's Track & Field
Stewart MacDonald - Men's Lacrosse
Kayla Mesaros - Women's Soccer
Samantha Morillo - Women's Track & Field
Elyse Morris - Women's Softball
Tani Oluwaseyi - Men's Soccer
Brian Quick - Men's Lacrosse
Solidarity Week
Solidarity Week is a department-wide initiative developed by the Red Storm's Council on Community, Culture and Social Justice (CCCSJ). During the week, St. John's student-athletes, coaches, administrators and members of the University community promote the Red Storm's Accept No Hate movement through social media campaigns, virtual activities and by hosting an Athletics Town Hall for discussion on a variety of related topics. Accept No Hate is a concept developed by St. John's Student Athlete Advisory Committee in an effort to help advance the University's commitment to anti-racism, social justice and equality.
These are the four pillars and focus for the Council and the Department of Athletics in order to take action and progress towards ensuring an anti-racist community.
Assessment
• Engage third-party consultant for analysis and review of the Department of Athletics in hiring practices
& culture.
• Continue to track and analyze staff and student-athlete demographic data to assess all areas, such as
metrics on grade point average, retention rate, graduation rates, international students, student-athlete
demographics. Present report to executive staff, senior staff and head coaches.
• Engage Sport Administration in assessing the methodology and effectiveness of Student-Athlete Exit
Interview process. Include items related to community engagement, respect, feeling valued and
perceptions of equal opportunity.
• Organize town hall meetings and conduct electronic survey(s) to gather feedback from staff regarding
the importance of inclusion.
Education
• Expand SD 101 and 102 modules to include issues on Diversity and Inclusion, Conflict resolution,
Bystander Training, and Title IX Training.
• Ask each leadership team member to engage their respective teams in discussion about
respect/inclusion or related topics within unit.
• Utilize University resources to expand professional development for coaches, administrators and staff
and review diversity and inclusion hiring best practices.
• Encourage student-athletes, administration and coaches to participate in BIG EAST Conversations of
Change program.
• Create calendar of DE&I events/activities.
• Promote SAAC and student-athlete initiatives.
• Voter registration.
Opportunities
• Partner with existing University resources, such as the Liberty Partnership program to have student-athletes
serve as mentors in a youth education through sports initiative.
• Collaborate with Sport Management and the Collins College of Professional Studies to create Diversity
Internship for students interested in pursuing a career in athletics (possible rotations in academics,
sports medicine, facilities, communications, compliance and marketing).
• Use existing graduate assistant positions as pathways programs to increase opportunities for minorities
and underrepresented groups on campus.
• Provide opportunities to grow the pipeline of potential athletics staff members to present to leadership
team (McLendon Initiative).
• Course sponsorship with Professor Tuchscherer on history of St. John’s Basketball.
• Collaborate with the University’s Inclusivity Resources Center and Monique Jernigan on
future programming and additional resources.
• Breakfast with the Director of Athletics - Creation of Mentor groups for minorities, women,
international students and injured athletes.
• Keep conversations moving forward with the Department of Athletics sponsored Book Clubs, Movies,
Podcasts, etc.
Public Resources
-Books
-Essays
-Movies/Documentaries
-Social Media/Videos
-Podcasts
-Organizations