The Johns Hopkins Department of Athletics recently welcomed Dr. Anna Baeth, the Director of Research at Athlete Ally, to campus to conduct an educational and discussion sessions with student-athletes and department coaches and staff.
 
Dr. Baeth is a critical feminist scholar and a cultural studies practitioner of sport. Her research centers on the gendering of sport spaces, the eternally moving body, and social movements and sport.  The discussions focused on trans inclusion advocacy, the current state of NCAA legislation, and LGBTQIA+ allyship.
 
After her visit, HopkinsSports.com caught up with Grace Van Atta (Women's Fencing) and Matt Sandifer (Men's Cross Country & Track), who are currently serving as co-Presidents of the Johns Hopkins Chapter of Athlete Ally, to discuss their roles and vision for Athlete Ally along with Dr. Baeth's visit.

You are serving as co-President of Athlete Ally?  What motivated you to take on this leadership position?  Were you active in this space prior to arriving at Johns Hopkins?
GVA:  I was not active in this space prior to coming to Hopkins - what drew me to Athlete Ally was the opportunity to be a part of a unique inclusive space in which athletes could share their experiences and create connections across teams and sports. I wanted to take on this leadership position so that I could continue to foster the inclusivity that attracted me to Athlete Ally.
 
MS:   I was eager to find a sense of community within the athletic department. I heard about Athlete Ally and reached out to coach Bixby, and from there, I began to get involved with the group. Though we were small in numbers at the time, I really enjoyed my initial work with Athlete Ally, and thus I chose to take on this leadership position.

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Former Athlete Ally President Matt McGough founded the JHU chapter of the organization and you were able to spend some time under his leadership.  What are one or two key points of emphasis that he had that you have tried to carry into your time and built on in a leadership role.
MS:  One idea that Matt always emphasized was that Athlete Ally is for everyone. Allyship is our main focus, and so we hope to create a space where allies and members of the LGBTQIA+ community can come together as one community, and this notion is one that we continue to strive for as leaders of the group.
 
GVA:  We have been focusing on emphasizing allyship. We want athletes to join Athlete Ally regardless of if they are part of the LGBTQ+ community, so welcoming LGBTQ+ athletes and allies has been a priority.

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What does Allyship mean to you?
GVA:  Allyship means actively supporting others, creating a space free of judgement, and consistently showing up.
 
MS: Allyship means supporting those around you by creating spaces for their voices to be heard and allowing them to feel completely and unabashedly themselves in all settings and contexts.

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What would you identify as areas that are still in need of growth that you'd like to address as a leader of the organization?
MS:  Figuring out what motivates people is something that I have been looking into, and setting specific intentions for events or conversations is something that I would like to address for our future growth.
 
GVA:  I would love to see us collaborate more with chapters from other universities. We are still a rather young group, and so I think working with other chapters could be a great way for us to brainstorm ideas and initiatives while helping us develop our chapter.

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What has been the most challenging part of your involvement with Athlete Ally?
GVA:  Something challenging has been increasing involvement with Athlete Ally. We want people to feel motivated to engage with the community, participate in events, and feel comfortable asking questions. We often feel that it is the people who are not interested in coming to our events or inclined to engage with the LGBTQ+ community who need to learn the most.

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Thinking back to Dr. Baeth's visit to Johns Hopkins, she shared a significant amount of thought-provoking data from her research.  What did you find surprising, positive and/or discouraging from the data she shared?
GVA:  Something I found surprising and discouraging from the data Dr. Baeth shared was the large percentage of LGBTQ+ athletes across the NCAA who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community but are not "out" to their coaches or teammates. Though I do not believe that everyone has to disclose their gender or sexuality to their team or coaching staff, I do think that the statistics are in part due to the continued prevalence of stigma against and around the LGBTQ+ community in sports, especially for the trans community. The data illustrated that there is still a lot of education and awareness needed to develop spaces where all athletes feel seen and respected just as they are, without having to hide parts of themselves that they think others will not accept or understand. 
MS:  While some of the trends in the data shown by Dr. Baeth pointed in a positive direction, other aspects were rather disheartening. Specifically, some of the data surrounding transgender and nonbinary student athletes and their levels of comfort participating in NCAA athletics were quite concerning and certainly push us to advocate more for the inclusion of transgender of nonbinary athletes in all levels of athletics.

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Have you had the opportunity to discuss the content Dr. Baeth shared with other members of Athlete Ally?  If so, what were the key takeaways from her presentation?
MS:   I discussed Dr. Baeth's visit with several other student athletes, and the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. I think one of the biggest takeaways for us was the importance of education. One of our primary goals at Athlete Ally is to educate all members of our athletic department on issues surrounding LGBTQIA+ inclusion in athletics.
 
GVA:  Our main takeaway was that we wanted to see more events like the one with Dr. Baeth to continue these open conversations about gender and sexuality identity and expression, and inclusion in sports.

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If you had to give your "elevator speech" to someone who is either not familiar with Athlete Ally or hesitant to become involved, what are the key points you would share?
GVA:  Athlete Ally is dedicated to advocating for LGBTQ+ equality and representation in sports. We focus on nurturing an inclusive environment and community within and outside of Hopkins Athletics, and we welcome LGBTQ+ allies and members alike!
 
MS:  Athlete Ally is a group for all student athletes. We seek to promote LGBTQIA+ inclusion in athletics by creating spaces for discussion, education, and community building.

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You are a member of a highly-successful team at Johns Hopkins.  How does an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment allow a team to grow and become the best that it can be both in competition and as a contributing group to our campus community.
GVA:  I think an inclusive, diverse, and welcoming environment allows individuals to feel safe and respected. This environment encourages a team to grow to be the best it can be as individuals are comfortable taking on challenges and learning from their mistakes without fear of being judged. If we are seen and respected as we are, and for who we are, we are more likely to take risks and face failure with the support of our team to back us up. This empowers us to become the best version of ourselves and to reach both our athletic and academic goals. 

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As you think about the future of your leadership with Athlete Ally, what is your vision of where you would like the organization to be when you graduate from Johns Hopkins?
MS:  I would love to see our chapter continue to grow in the coming years. One thing I would especially like to see is further collaboration with other Athlete Ally chapters, as well as other student athlete groups at Hopkins. I would also love to see every team represented in Athlete Ally by the time I graduate, as this continues to go along with our goal of creating a space for everyone.

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About Athlete Ally
Sports remains one of the greatest socialization mechanisms in the world — it communicates values without relying on any one language, and its most successful participants are known and respected globally. And yet, an entire community of people remain systematically excluded from sport.
 
Athlete Ally believes that everyone should have equal access, opportunity, and experience in sports — regardless of your sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Our mission is to end the rampant homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality.