Due to efforts by the administration to silence the actions and sentiments of our team as a whole, all words in this statement are from players on the team as individuals and do not serve as an official statement from the Connecticut College Women’s Soccer program.
Individuals on the Connecticut College Women’s Soccer team stand with Dean King and against Katherine Bergeron, and we call for institutional change.
In the days following the announcement of Dean King’s resignation and the release of information regarding Katherine Bergeron’s failure to effectively support DIEI, the Connecticut College Women’s Soccer team got together to have a conversation about how we could use our voices, privileges, and platform to support one another and the Conn community. At the end of our meeting, we all agreed that the most important thing that we could do was stand together and support this movement. We are a team, we are #OneCamel, and if something affects one of us, it affects all of us.
So far, Women’s Soccer has been the athletic team with the strongest numbers at the Occupy CC 2023 protests. As part of our involvement, our team attempted to have a media presence in order to show our support for institutional change and to increase support from other athletic teams. On our instagram we posted two photos on instagram – one of some of our team at a protest and one of us making posters – with the caption: “Today we went out as a team to support Dean King and to demand systemic change at Conn. It is important that we all use our voices to fight for what is right and to create a better Conn. It takes all of us. If anyone would like more information about everything that is going on or would like to get involved, you can visit @sve.conncoll @the_collegevoice #onecamel.” Soon after, we were asked by the administration to refrain from posting anything relating to current movements on campus, and were subsequently locked out of the account. The administration is silencing teams but cannot silence their athletes.
Athletes are leaders on this campus. We chose Conn to be both athletes and students taking advantage of a full liberal arts education. Participating in activism is the liberal arts in action, and as student-athletes, we should be allowed to engage with this part of our identity as Camels. We believe that teams should be able to come together as united groups to use their power to help stimulate the institutional change needed on this campus.
Across the globe, athletic teams and organizations do important work to garner support for various social justice movements and we believe that Camel Athletics should be no different.
In her Feb. 22 “One Camel Message,” Director of Athletics Mo White wrote the following: “I am steadfast in my belief that sport has the power to bring people together across differences creating opportunities for dialogue and understanding. Its values of teamwork, fairness, communication, discipline, and respect are universal and as athletes, you have the ability to help drive positive social change on our campus and beyond. Each and every day we must uphold our community’s values as we continuously move our department and campus forward to make it a more equitable and inclusive place to compete, study, live, and work. This responsibility transcends our teams and athletic goals and extends into all parts of our lives on and off campus.”
We believe that our team has acted in accordance with White’s words – using our power as a team to engage in productive conversations and take meaningful action to work towards a better Conn. We had hoped our statement would be able to inspire other athletic teams on campus, who we know share our priorities and sentiments, to take their own steps towards acting as the catalysts for the change that our campus and community needs.
We have seen individuals, teams, and franchises within the NBA, WNBA, NWSL, and Premier League speak out against many different forms of hate and oppression, showing that athletes can be a strong catalyst for change. So why can’t student-athletes at Conn have the opportunity to do the same? Why aren’t we outwardly able to voice support of our fellow teammates, classmates, faculty, and staff who are feeling the negative effects of the current administration on our designated platforms? Why do we need to hide our team’s opinions and support from those who follow us?
Student-athletes make up over half of the Connecticut College population, so we feel it is imperative that we use our voices to speak out. The first question most athletes are asked when walking onto this campus is “What does #OneCamel mean to you?” This is a question that we do not take lightly. We are not just athletes, we are a part of the Connecticut College community and it is everyone’s responsibility to make Conn a better place than it was when we first came.
Regardless of the administration’s attempts to silence us as a team, we as individuals maintain our support of this movement and will continue to fight for the change this college desperately needs. Athletic teams can serve as highly important catalysts for change and we know that many teams on this campus share our sentiments. We will not be silenced by the administration regardless of their efforts to diminish the power they know we have.
This is a demonstration of #OneCamel. This is what #OneCamel means to us.
The Conn College women’s team must be applauded for taking action in support of all students – all people – at CC. I hope your actions galvanize other teams and individuals to stand up for what is right!!
Quote: “Soon after, we were asked by the administration to refrain from posting anything relating to current movements on campus, and were subsequently locked out of the account. The administration is silencing teams but cannot silence their athletes. ”
This.
This is unbelievable. The administration asking students to refrain from exercising their right to free speech and at the same time we get emails after emails, where BoT, President Bergeron and Adminstration assure us, that they respect the rights of students to protest?
I must admit, I could not imagine this would happen.
Lost for words.
Congrats to the athletes for speaking out regardless!
Go Camels!
The students were NOT asked to stop exercising their rights. They were asked to stop posting on the TEAM instagram account, two very different things. The team account is managed by the athletic department. Learn the difference, before the outrage! Each player was free to post anything on their individual accounts. Not everyone on the TEAM is onboard with calling for the resignation of President Bergeron. The team instagram account represents the whole team, not just a fraction of the team. She canceled the fundraiser BEFORE he resigned. He had a JOB lined up before he resigned. If you want to be outraged, be outraged at the lies he told the students surrounding his resignation!
@CC Observer and CC Parent2:
Quote from the article: “At the end of our meeting, we all agreed that the most important thing that we could do was stand together and support this movement.”
Thank you for clarifying details to me.
I still have a few more questions though:
From the article (see quote above) I deduced that ALL team members were on board with the decision to post on the TEAM Instagram account. I did not read anywhere, that not all team members were involved?
If the athletic department runs those accounts, why did administration (and not the athletic department) ask them to stop posting about the protests?
As far as I have understood now, there are rules (written down I hope, otherwise, how are the studentssupposed to know?) about what to post and by whom. Right?
And from what you two said, first of all, the whole team has to agree on what is posted and then (even if they all agree, what I understood from the article, see above quote) there are rules about what is allowed to be posted, which are then not enforced by the department that RUNS those accounts (the athletic department), but by administration. Right?
And then obviously, if students post against the rules (which they obviously either have never been informed because they were surprised and upset aboutwhat happened next ) they are locked out of their team account, like naughty children.
So.
Are there explicit rules, that students may only post about sport related events? (And is there a definition, what exactly is related to sports?) I have seen one post on the account which talked about mental health or something, that was obviously allowed.
Or is there maybe just one rule in place?
Don`t post anything that administration does not like/does not want to hear/ does not want to have CC sports be associated with? (And even so, why would political engagement of liberal arts students not be a welcome engagement?)
Is there a handbook, with those rules, I mean they seem important enough, to lock an entire athletic team out of their team account?
Last question, are these accounts (social media team accounts) used for marketing and PR purposes? Or just for fun and fan base connection? And does anybody have an official order to post more or less regularly? Or can students do how much and when ever and whatever they want?
Just asking, because I really really don´t understand, why they had to be locked out of the account. What is so terrible about students engaging in protest? (Especially when admin sends parents all these mails, where they say, they respect students right to peaceful protest (they should have added: as long as it does not involve a sports team instagram account))
Is this quote in accurate then??
In the days following the announcement of Dean King’s resignation and the release of information regarding Katherine Bergeron’s failure to effectively support DIEI, the Connecticut College Women’s Soccer team got together to have a conversation about how we could use our voices, privileges, and platform to support one another and the Conn community. At the end of our meeting, we all agreed that the most important thing that we could do was stand together and support this movement.
[…] Source […]
The women’s soccer team tried to post on the Connecticut College Women’s Soccer team instagram, not their individual instagram accounts. The article just said, not every player is involved, therefore it wasn’t a team event, so nor should it appear the team takes one stand. The team instagram is managed by the athletic department and posting protests isn’t what the instagram account is used for. The team account is used for team news, which affects the entire team. The women’s soccer team represents the college beyond the regular responsibility of being a college student. The college didn’t shut down each individuals freedom of speech, they stopped the posts on their account. These players were free to post on their own accounts anything their hearts desire. Context is important in these scenarios, let’s try to do better as a community with context. Context seems to be missing in many areas when it comes to Dean King and his resignation, which sparked this entire situation.
If it was so misunderstood by the student-athletes, then perhaps the Athletic Department should’ve done a better job at disseminating their message to the team.
It’s not being misunderstood by the student athletes. They know they can post whatever they want on their own accounts. The students and SVE are grasping for examples against the administration, this is just another example. We have parents complaining about food and some blaming their students food allergies on Bergeron. When the origin of the complaint turns out not to be as originally explained, the scope needs to be broadened to justify the subsequent actions taken.
There is safety in silence, yet risk and courage in speech. Keep exercising your risk tolerance Lady Camels, it will become stronger and able to withstand greater pressure. I’m proud of my niece!
Keep speaking your truth Women’s Soccer Team!!!