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It鈥檚 still hard for Anton Bellot, BComm鈥�15, to open up about it. After all, athletes are supposed to be tough. But even though the former Dinos football linebacker has relied heavily on the lessons he learned on the field, the racism he faces every day as a Black man would take a toll on anyone鈥檚 mind.

鈥淲e assume that athletes are super-tough and that nothing bothers them 鈥� and, in many ways, that鈥檚 true, but there are a lot of challenges off the field, and I鈥檓 excited to shine a light on them,鈥� says Bellot, a 2015 graduate of the Haskayne School of Business who currently works as a senior manager of entrepreneurship at ATB Financial.

Bellot, pictured above, is one of five panellists who will be sharing their personal experiences in a Sept. 15 presentation on anti-Black racism in sport. The session is part of a new program called the Dinos Diversity Series, hosted by the athletic department as part of Alumni Month.

A second panel on Indigenous inclusivity within athletics follows on Sept. 29.

Both sessions will provide opportunities for Dinos athletes, both past and present, to reflect on the ways that they鈥檝e seen the sporting community change, and to suggest avenues for the world of sports to become a more inclusive environment for every athlete, fan and community member. 

But this is only a starting point, says Ben Matchett, BComm鈥�06, BA鈥�06, the assistant athletic director for the Dinos. 鈥淭his is a positive first step to start important conversations, but we don鈥檛 plan to end them with Alumni Month. These are ongoing discussions and we will be looking at ways to continue them.

鈥淭he events of this summer have brought a pretty significant spotlight to the issues of diversity, inclusion and systemic racism across society. A lot of it has been focused on the U.S., but we wanted to localize the conversation to how it relates to the Canadian context, university sports and sports in general.鈥�

Freya Szmidt, a former member of the basketball and track and field teams and a 2020 graduate of the Faculty of Kinesiology, says she is looking forward to sharing how recent social movements brought together communities in ways she had never felt before.

鈥淚 wish for the audience to build awareness so much that they can unpick their potential prejudices and shed light on things they may have never been exposed to,鈥� says Szmidt, who will be moderating the panel. 鈥淚f this increases allyship, that would be a wonderful result.鈥�

For Sienna Prince-McPherson, a co-captain of the women鈥檚 soccer team currently studying education, these conversations are an important way to close the gap on who can participate and be provided with opportunity in the world of sports. 

鈥淎s an Indigenous student-athlete, I believe the opportunity to be a Dino and to have a voice that can be heard comes with the responsibility of speaking up 鈥�  especially during times like these 鈥� to inspire and support people in my community.鈥�

Meanwhile, Bellot hopes to impart two takeaways to the audience.

鈥淣o. 1 is to recognize racism when you see it. No. 2 is don鈥檛 be afraid to speak up about it. We鈥檝e been too quiet for far too long and these things do happen, more so than we realize. In Canada, we may not face the same law-enforcement issues as they do in the States, but that doesn鈥檛 mean the impact of systemic racism isn鈥檛 any less devastating.鈥�

, held over Zoom at 5:30 p.m. Recordings will be available after each event.