After the University of Florida closed its diversity, equity and inclusion department, eliminating 13 positions and administrative appointments on March 4 (largely due to a law signed in 2023 by Gov. Ron DeSantis that banned state universities from spending money on DEI programs), Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, one of the Gators’ most prominent athletic alums, took to social media to decry the school’s decision.
Saying he was “utterly disgusted” by the move, Smith called on current Black athletes to “please be aware and vocal about this decision by the University who is now closing doors on other minorities without any oversight.”
Smith’s words came days after a statement from Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin.
“Although I’m the biggest Bama fan, I have no problem organizing Black parents and athletes to attend other institutions outside of the state where diversity and inclusion are prioritized,” Woodfin wrote.
Smith and Woodfin’s words are necessary. Hiding behind the false idea that DEI concepts are “divisive,” numerous states have either enacted or proposed ending it in publicly-funded institutions, including colleges and universities. The best way for minority athletes to show their disgust is to not give their talents to public schools in those states, schools that are all too happy to cheer for them on the courts, tracks and fields and profit from their success.
But who is advocating for female athletes? As of right now, 16 states have enacted either total bans on abortion or ban it after six weeks, which has the effect of a complete prohibition given most women don’t even know they’re pregnant by that time.
Yet few prominent voices, particularly men, have spoken up to encourage young women to avoid schools in those states.
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At the risk of framing this as an oppression olympics, not having bodily autonomy to make the decision that is best for you is more impactful – and potentially dangerous – than a school not having a DEI office.
Take the SEC for example. Of the 14 schools in the conference, 13 are located in states that have what is considered a total ban. Only those who compete for the Gators are in a state where the law is slightly more woman-friendly: Florida prohibits abortion after 15 weeks gestation. But once Oklahoma and the University of Texas join the SEC next year, that 14 of 15 will become 15 of 16.
The women at those schools are far from the only ones navigating these horrible laws: of the 69 schools in one of the Power 5 conferences, 26 are in states with total or near-total bans, and 10 of the 12 Southwestern Athletic conference schools are too. And those are just select Division I schools. It doesn’t account for colleges in other divisions, NAIA or junior colleges.
The NCAA has stepped up previously after state laws were passed violating human rights. In 2015, it not only denounced an anti-LGBT law in Indiana, where NCAA headquarters are located, but encouraged the state to pass protections for those residents. In 2016, it pulled championships from North Carolina after its “bathroom bill” barring trans people from using restrooms and changing facilities that matched their gender identities in most public areas. But since then, the NCAA has essentially been silent on this topic – even before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returned the regulation of abortion to the states in 2022.
In 2021, Texas passed an odious law that banned the procedure, allows lawsuits by private citizens against medical professionals who provided abortions. Not only has the perpetually feckless NCAA done nothing, it has continued to award major championships to cities in states where women are stripped of the ability to govern their own health care decisions. The 2023 women’s basketball Final Four and track and field championships were held in Texas, the Women’s College World Series is held in Oklahoma, and the 2024 women’s volleyball championships are in Louisville, Kentucky.
Maybe that’s not surprising given the NCAA’s historical treatment of female athletes. A 2021 external review found myriad systemic issues in the way college athletics’ governing body undervalued and, in many ways, undermined women’s sports and female athletes.
What is disappointing, however, is that NCAA president Charlie Baker, who has been on the job since March 1, 2023, hasn’t spoken up publicly or asserted his influence to this point. As the governor of Massachusetts, Baker, who was on the record as pro-choice, signed an executive order protecting abortion in the state within moments of the Dobbs decision in 2022.
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Given the number of states that have severely restricted the procedure, it’s estimated that currently 1 in 3 women of reproductive age in the country do not have access to abortion. According to the most recent statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35.7% of pregnancies are unintended and when they happen during the college years, they frequently lead to women dropping out of school.
Regardless of whether a female athlete is bound for the pros or Olympic glory, higher education is critical for women and long-term financial security for themselves and their potential families. While men still outearn women at every educational level, data shows that the median earnings for women over 25 with a bachelor’s degree are $25,000 more than women over 25 with a high school diploma.
And since Black women carry more college debt than any demographic group, a Black athlete on scholarship stands to keep far more of those earnings, paving the way for home ownership, investments or travel. Abortion bans are an assault on all people of reproductive age. Forcing someone to stay pregnant has lifelong effects, derailing education, career aspirations, and earning potential, among other things.
Female athletes should avoid states where the government takes the ability to make deeply personal decisions away from them. They need men to stand up and support them too.
