Syracuse University appoints diversity director for sports

Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack has added a position to his department, bucking a trend toward athletic cuts during the coronavirus pandemic.

Salatha T. Willis was named associate athletic director for diversity, culture and climate this week. He is charged with developing and implementing new ways to create an equitable culture among the university’s student-athletes, administrators, coaches and staff in the athletic department.

“Our society is going through an incredibly challenging time,” Wildhack said. “Whether it’s Ahmaud Arbery, whether it’s George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, there are blatant acts of racism and people murdered. You combine that with 400 years of systemic oppression of Black people, if we’re going to be a change agent, then we need to recognize that we need to change and we need to do better. The time is right, we have the

right individual. Let’s act.”

Wildhack said creating the position was something he had been mulling for a while. The move comes in the wake of a spate of racism on campus last fall that had local, state and federal law enforcement involved. There were more than a dozen reports in November of racist graffiti and vandalism targeting Blacks, Jews, Asians and Native Americans.

Students angry that the university hadn’t acted quickly and aggressively enough held a peaceful protest demanding change. That included a call for the resignation of Chancellor Kenton Syverud and other officials at the private school in central New York.