Centennial named LGBTQ Conference of the Year for 2022

Washington College Athletics joins conference peers in trailblazing inclusion effort 

Davis Bland participates in pre-game drills wearing one of the tie-dye shirts the team created to celebrate Pride.  Washington College Athletics, along with the other 10 members of the Centennial Conference, has spent nearly three years carefully planning and implementing efforts to ensure student-athletes experience a welcoming and inclusive environment.  

That work was recognized last month when the Centennial Conference was named the Division III LGBTQ Conference of the Year for 2022 by OneTeam, the NCAA LGBTQ working group. The award recognizes the conference for its commitment to supporting all LGBTQ individuals in the world of college sports and for demonstrating proactive efforts to create and sustain an LGBTQ-inclusive culture.

The most visible and recent aspect of the effort to support LGBTQ+ athletes at the College has been Pride nights, hosted by the Pride in Athletics Club (PAC) at three events so far this year, including the men’s and women’s basketball games on Feb. 7.  

Left to right: Kate Ruppert (she/her), Riley Johnson (she/her), Emily Arnold (she/her), and Emily Markley (she/her) worked the pride in Athletics Club outreach table at the Pride soccer game in the fall. 

“The games are very well-attended, so it spreads across campus. It is an opportunity for athletes to branch out and have a positive impact,” said Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Thad Moore. The PAC students organizing the games “are doing a tremendous job of getting people more and more comfortable through education.”  

In addition to the basketball teams, women’s soccer and swimming have held Pride events, with at least one more expected in the spring season.  

Washington College Athletics and the Centennial Conference began the work that led to the award in 2020, and much of it has occurred behind the scenes, as staff members pulled together a conference Student-Athlete Inclusion Policy that forms the foundation for ensuring that all student-athletes have the opportunity to play in a supportive, welcoming environment.  

“That’s the Division III Way,” Moore said. "At Washington College, that’s the most important thing to me—to make sure we do everything we can to give our student-athletes the best experience.” 

The policy lays out expectations around things like inclusive language and facilities and provides detailed instruction about how to achieve goals, such as inclusive healthcare provided by athletic trainers.

Head Field Hockey Coach Annie Kietzman is Washington College’s Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee, and she was the primary College representative as the policy and related efforts—like staff and student training—came together. The work she and her peers did moved from proposals to  policy quickly, according to Moore, because everyone saw the value in building an inclusive conference. In the end, the policy was unanimously approved by all 11 athletic directors and college presidents.

“I’m so proud of the work our staff has done at Washington College to create a welcoming environment for our LGBTQ+ athletes,” said College President Mike Sosulski. "We have added gender-neutral bathrooms and changing rooms in our athletic facilities, offered ongoing educational OneTeam programs for staff and student-athletes, and provided institutional support of the new student club PAC whose mission is to create a welcoming and safe space for LGBTQ athletes.”

This is an area where the Centennial Conference and its schools are using their influence as a nationally respected conference to lead. Moore said after publication of the policy, other conferences learned from the process Centennial had followed to begin to create and implement their own policies and practices.

Portia Hoeg, executive director of the Centennial Conference agreed with Moore that the award shows the conference is using its position to do the right thing, improve the student-athlete experience, and be in front on LGBTQ+ inclusivity.  

"It's really nice to be recognized overall,” she said. “We obviously did not go into this process to receive an award. It was simply an acknowledgment of an area we wanted to ensure we were leaders in."