ALOHA!!!
I must say to all my peeps that in my 9 years of motivational/educational speaking, Grinnell College is one of my favorites, if not my favorite. I'm not taking anything away from the other 80-plus schools that I spoken at, but I really enjoyed my time at Grinnell College. From the faculty, to the students, to the beauty of the campus, it was absolutely amazing. The school's culture of equality regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. was what impressed me the most. You don't find that in many schools around the country and Grinnell students should be immensely proud of it. I am happy I got to experience for a day what Grinnell students experience for years.
What really impressed me the most was that the athletic department took the time to meet with me one-on-one to discuss some possible ways to make a difference with their student athletes. In my nine years of speaking only five schools have done that. During that meeting one question stood out: "What can we as coaches and faculty do to eliminate HATE?" My answer was simple: not be afraid to talk about homophobia or be afraid of the word "gay"!!!!!! . They need to make sure that athletes and students know that using words like "gay", "fag", "queer", "dyke", or "homo" in a negative connotation will not be tolerated in the locker room or in any other plac over which coaches/faculty have control. Hate in any form is just wrong!
I must say to all my peeps that in my 9 years of motivational/educational speaking, Grinnell College is one of my favorites, if not my favorite. I'm not taking anything away from the other 80-plus schools that I spoken at, but I really enjoyed my time at Grinnell College. From the faculty, to the students, to the beauty of the campus, it was absolutely amazing. The school's culture of equality regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. was what impressed me the most. You don't find that in many schools around the country and Grinnell students should be immensely proud of it. I am happy I got to experience for a day what Grinnell students experience for years.
What really impressed me the most was that the athletic department took the time to meet with me one-on-one to discuss some possible ways to make a difference with their student athletes. In my nine years of speaking only five schools have done that. During that meeting one question stood out: "What can we as coaches and faculty do to eliminate HATE?" My answer was simple: not be afraid to talk about homophobia or be afraid of the word "gay"!!!!!! . They need to make sure that athletes and students know that using words like "gay", "fag", "queer", "dyke", or "homo" in a negative connotation will not be tolerated in the locker room or in any other plac over which coaches/faculty have control. Hate in any form is just wrong!
Thanks to the people at Grinnell who made it possible for me to come, and thanks to the 300+ amazing students that made my presentation a success.
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