As DEI fight hits Texas A&M, athletes should flex muscles against anti-woke wars | Opinion
I grew up with the St. John’s Red Storm more or less in my backyard, which is another way of saying that I didn’t grow up with college football. But before I knew anything about hooking those horned frogs — did I get it right? — I was well aware of The 12th Man.
For my fellow commuter college grads, I’ll summarize: A depleted football team in desperate need of warm bodies yanked a former player, Dallas. E. King Gill, from the stands and suited him up. Inspired by their temporary teammate’s valor, sacrifice and camaraderie, the Aggies pulled out an improbable win. Gill, the 12th man on the team, was the last remaining “player” on the bench.
I’m drawn to the idealized sense of community The 12th Man tale embodies, what the school calls “the unity, loyalty and willingness of Aggies to serve when called to do so” and “generosity and service to their peers, community and the world.” I’m particularly swayed by the idea that everyone who steps on-campus — scholars, staff, students and, of course, student-athletes — should know their whole school community supports them.
Saccharine and sappy stories like The 12th Man sound more like fables than fact. And in Texas, Greg Abbott showed us it might as well be.
On Tuesday, the governor publicly threatened to fire A&M president Mark Welsh III over an allegation that a handful of Aggies planned on attending a conference oriented around developing Black, Latino and Indigenous scholars. Welsh and A&M quickly fell in line. So did the other eight Texas schools — including Texas Tech, UT-Austin, and the University of Houston — who previously sent students to the conference.
I could spend a lot of time explaining why activist Christopher Rufo’s billionaire-funded trolling isn’t worth the governor’s oxygen. I could describe what SB17, a law enacted in 2023 to limit diversity programs, has already done to schools — in Tarrant County, one of our schools already canceled a Hispanic Heritage Month event — and the logical end of our anti-woke fervor.
I could provide all the ways that a conference that limits attendance to around Black, Latino and Indigenous scholars isn’t a racist action against white and Asian students. Or why progress made by Asian Americans is inextricably tied to the African-American-led Civil Rights Movement. Or why an initiative designed to support one group isn’t an attack on everyone else. I could defend the conference on its own merits, and explain why institutional efforts to cultivate Black minds capable of contributing to higher education are worth pursuing.
Instead, though, I want to speak to athletes — especially the hotly recruited future NFL and NBA stars — to take note of what SB-17 and similar anti-DEI legislation does to a school.
And then, I want you to leave.
It’s a big ask, I know. Not every student or worker on campus has this option. (Though at least at A&M, plenty of undergrads do). Some are international students on a visa, and they can’t be choosy between not being able to go to events for enrichment and losing access to the good that remains in an American education.
But, you, the Black student-athlete on the revenue-generating team — you have power.
You put butts in the seats and keep boosters opening their wallets. You are the marketable young stars stirring the NIL drink in college sports — projected to rise to $1.7 billion during the 2024-25 season, and who helped A&M earn $279.2 million in 2024. You are the engine that makes any of it possible.
And while Texas universities can be important pathways to the league or a scholarship-supported degree, they need you as much as you need them.
We’ve long known that the concept of being equal parts student and athlete is often farcical. (If you didn’t, LeBron James produced a movie about how exploitative the relationship between schools and its athletes can be..) You’re probably experiencing the competing incentives of getting a robust education and, let’s be real — your actual job.
But, by functionally banning any institutional effort at improving the lives and participation of minorities on campus and by restricting how educators enrich their research and careers, the anti-DEI fervor formally codifies the reduction of a student-athlete’s value to his or her (never their!) on-field prowess.
There is a three-word phrase representing the study of how American racial history informs American law, but, surprise, surprise, Abbott banned that from public education, too!
In other words, your school is showing what they think of you. Schools here are showing that they don’t want your brilliance. Florida schools, too. They’re about to show that in Indiana and West Virginia. Fortunately, there are other schools, from private universities in-state or public universities elsewhere, that haven’t capitulated to a moral panic.
If you use the transfer portal and the growing financial security of the NIL system to speak your mind, some fans who love your jersey but despise the people who wear them will whine. Rufo might write a tweet, because it’s what he does best. You will get DM’s from people calling you “woke” with a hard W.
Take heart in the fact that when they boo you, it’s only because you’re flexing your full self, the person under the helmet and beyond the locker room. You’re fully seen and going where you want. And you’re no longer deceived by true stories that are mere fables — at least when you’re the one taking one for the team.
What they’re showing is that The 12th Man, that spirit of generosity and service you were told would carry you through your time at A&M, is a myth. Fans may cheer you on, but our schools show that cheers and acceptance aren’t the same. If you were sold on the ideal and still believe it can be redeemed, your collective action is the best path forward. It may be the only way to force the clear hypocrisies in the open. Allow Abbott or any other soldiers in the war on Woke to take a few more L’s. And, maybe, make the Aggie tradition a reality.
Use your power while you got it.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 3:17 PM with the headline "As DEI fight hits Texas A&M, athletes should flex muscles against anti-woke wars | Opinion."
