January 15 marked the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It was also the first-ever Black Shirt Day event in B.C., an unofficial day to raise awareness for the civil rights struggle of Black Canadians.
TWU Spartan atheletes donned black shirts in participation of this event. Women's basketball coach Cheryl Jean-Paul tweeted a photo of student atheletes commemorating the day.
Cheryl Jean-Paul is head coach of women’s basketball at Trinity Western University and president of women’s basketball in the Canada West Conference. When she began first her role at TWU in 2010, Jean-Paul was one of the first Black female head coaches in U SPORTS basketball history.
Earlier this year, she noted how the pause in championship games caused by COVID-19 prompted the athletic department to adapt their focus.
“COVID-19 has enabled university athletics to slow down and pay attention to what’s happening in our world, and what’s been happening in our sport context for a long time,” Jean-Paul said.
Last fall, Jean-Paul spoke at the 2020 Spartan Sports Leadership Superconference as part of the Diversity Panel.
Regarding the importance of diveristy, Jean-Paul said, “We tend to see the world from our perspective, whether that’s in sport or outside of sport."
“We don’t often question why we do things a certain way or why we believe certain things, until someone from a different background or cultural foundation sees life differently and interprets life for us from their context,” she said.
Diversity can challenge teams to grow, as Jean-Paul noted, “Diversity within a team or program allows everyone to gain knowledge and understanding of the world around them, but also of themselves as they are stretched in their thinking.”
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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