STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Diahann Billings-Burford's mission as chief executive officer of the nonprofit group RISE is to educate and empower the sports community to eliminate racial discrimination, champion social justice and improve race relations.

On Wednesday evening, she moderated a panel discussion inside the Goldstein Center that brought Stony Brook's athletics and campus communities together to discuss strategies to help advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
 
Billings-Burford was joined on the panel by Stony Brook students Cameron Avery, Maya Brown and TJ Morrison as well as university official Kimberly Joy Dixon and assistant football coach Diamond Weaver.

Dixon is the university's director of employment engagement and diversity recruitment. Avery is a member of the Seawolves' cross country and track teams and is co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Morrison is a captain of the football team and a steering committee member of the Black Student-Athlete Huddle.

Roughly 100 members of the university and surrounding communities, including Stony Brook student-athletes, attended the spirited discussion.

The group's goals during the discussion included differentiating between diversity and inclusion as well as gaining a better understanding of concepts such as identity, race and gender equity.
 
"Diversity just means people having people who have differences," Billings-Burford said. "It could be racial, sexual orientation, gender, thought, approach. Diversity just means you have different types of people. Inclusion means that you have a community of different types of people invested in the same vision."

RISE, the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality, last year began a partnership with the America East as part of the conference's #SpreadRespect movement.

"The overall message for RISE is pretty consistent, especially when we're on college campuses," Billings-Burford said. "There's this empowerment that comes with educating ourselves and educating one another about diversity and inclusion. We think it means people are empowered to make more holistic communities. Our vision is a nation unified through sport. We think this is a chance for communities to unify and be stronger and be better."

Said Morrison: "One of the most important takeaways is to spread awareness and knowledge among the university as a whole so that we can have tough conversations and address certain issues to make our campus better as a whole and really unify us."
 
America East began prioritizing diversity and inclusion in 2012 when it became the first Division I conference to partner with the You Can Play Project, which works to ensure the safety and inclusion of all in sports.

Since then, the conference has helped further You Can Play's mission by sponsoring a speaker series and locker-room campaigns on its members' campuses and by creating videos to educate the general public.

The conference also has held Spread Respect nights, formerly You Can Play nights, since 2015 as a way to promote awareness and education at America East events to ensure equality, respect and safety for all athletes without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Stony Brook women's basketball team held its Spread Respect Night on Wednesday with its game against Binghamton at Island Federal Arena.

The conference also began a partnership with LGBT SportSafe in 2016, becoming the first conference in the organization's Founders' Club. LGBT SportSafe provides training to educate coaches, athletic administrators and recreational sports staff on best practices and policies in creating an LGBTQ+ inclusive athletic community.

And in October, the conference hosted its first-ever #SpreadRespect forum, which brought together campus leaders, student-athletes and others to engage in dialogue about diversity and inclusion.
 
#SpreadRespect is one of the many America East programs under the conference's #3Pillars "leadership" umbrella aimed at making a difference for conference stakeholders, on league campuses and within their communities.

Other initiatives include SAAC's mental health campaign, #BetterTo9ether, the America East Alumni Network and Health & Safety Summit and the #3PAcademy, which focuses on providing professional development opportunities to America East constituents through its digital series and in-person programming.