As I look at our student-athletes walk across on the campus of Fisk University here in Nashville, I smile.

I know there’s a sense of comfort being at an HBCU.

It’s home.

Each day I try to always remind them to push harder than they did the day before. The sky is the limit for each of them.

They must be fearless.

In everything I’ve done in life, I’ve had to channel that fearless spirit. Not so long ago, I was a student-athlete just like them.

My sport (gymnastics) found me later than most. But once it did, I knew there was no turning back. Six hours of training at my local YWCA, where there wasn’t a permanent area to practice,soon turned into 20 hours.

More and more, I became infatuated by how far I could push myself. And before I knew it, that fearless mentality led me on an incredible journey from athlete to athletics director.

From Trailblazer, to Teammate, to Champion

I wasn’t heavily recruited at first. In fact, not many coaches knew I was even a senior in high school. But as soon as (Georgia Coach) Suzanne Yoculan Leebern found out I was and called me, I knew I was going to Georgia.

Soon I found myself at one of the preeminent programs in the country. On top of that, I was a trailblazer as the program’s first Black athlete. I knew I had to remain focused if I wanted toaccomplish my next goal; winning a national championship.

But it wasn’t always easy.

When I got to Georgia, all I wanted to do was fit in. I hung out with the White teammates, I cut my hair wanting to be like them. Just trying to fit in.

At some point in time during my freshman year, I told myself I had to find my own identity and my own path. And that took a little bit of doing because I didn’t have anyone else to help me navigate it. I didn’t have anyone who could introduce me or bring me into the fold of what the Black community was at Georgia. Along the way I had to learn not only how to become the best teammate and support system for my fellow gymnasts, but also for all fellow student-athletes.

Remember this was during the 1980’s where I was one of only a handful of Black gymnasts at that level. Women like the Dianne Durham, the first Black gymnast to win a US National Championship, had paved the way just a few years prior. Now she was not only my competitor, but also my friend.

That sense of community with my fellow athletes mixed with the fearless spirit I held onto led me to not only national championships but also making Black History as I became the NCAA’sfirst Black all-around national champion in 1989.

And this is what I try to instill in our student-athletes today.

A Unique Community

It’s very rare that you find that in your everyday life. Sometimes athletes at PWI’s(Predominantly White Institutions) may feel like if it wasn’t for your sport, would they give you the time of day? That if you stopped playing today, would they care who I was? Would they be as nice to me?

And those are hard questions to ask yourself.

I think that’s what makes the HBCU experience unique and amazing.

And every day I try and instill the message of community to all our athletes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photo credit: Univeristy of Georgia Athletics, Fisk University, Alamy