Miami Ohio University Athletics
Bennett Presents at Summit in Texas
1/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
The University of Texas at Austin hosted The Black Student-Athlete: Challenges and Opportunities, a three-day summit from January 7-9, 2015, in Austin, Texas. The summit was a three-day gathering to openly examine and candidly discuss the numerous and complex issues surrounding the black student-athlete. Scholars, coaches, conference commissioners, athletic directors, academic advisors, student affairs professionals, principals, present and former student-athletes and journalists attended.
Craig Bennett, Assistant Athletic Director was selected to present at the conference.
“Miami University Athletics and partners across campus have been and will continue to learn and research on how we can support different populations of students; it is why we are here, Student Success.” Bennett’s presentation was entitled, Black Student Athletes and a Proven Summer Bridge Model.
“Dr. Rodney Coates and I began in earnest meeting four summers ago discussing how to build a strong academic support structure for our student-athletes early enough to make a difference,” said Bennett. “We understood that all the players –advising, athletics, and faculty had to work together to create a synergistic process. We developed BWS 101Strategies for Success – study skills, time management, note taking are some examples. We linked this with ENG. 104 – Writing Studio, course which stressed writing, research, note taking, and citing material. These all fed into a specially formulated BWS 151 – Introduction to Black World Studies, which modeled all of the various skills from both BWS 101 and BWS 104 in a gradually accelerated program of study. The coaches committed to a reduced training schedule, monitoring of scholar athletes study times, and ensuring class attendance. Each week field trips and community service, were arranged, to augment and support learning.”
Also at the conference was former Texas running back and Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams who discussed his experiences in college athletics and life after football and former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarrett who candidly shared his experiences on and off the field, and how his stint in prison helped him realize the value of education.
“The conference was so meaningful; and presenting about our Summer Bridge program was significant to me because the program works and if it can help our student then it can help other student athletes across the country,” said Bennett.
