DAYTON – Six student-athletes, faculty, and staff represented University of Dayton at the 2023 NCAA Inclusion Forum from April 21-23 and two Flyer student-athletes will represent UD at the 2023 Black Student-Athlete Summit that will be held May 21-24.

Student-athletes Sean Banks (redshirt freshman from Lombard, Ill. /football/media production major), Saija Cleveland (freshman from Houston, Texas/basketball/computer science major), and Alayna Yates (redshirt junior from Cedar Falls, Iowa/volleyball/communications and journalism major), along with Oliver Ferguson (Assistant Director for Inclusive Excellence Initiatives, ODI), Krystal Warren (Associate AD of Student Development and Community Engagement), and Dr. Verb Washington (Assistant Dean, College of Arts and Sciences) attended the NCAA Inclusion Forum in Indianapolis.

They were part of the more than 600 member administrators, coaches and student-athletes from across the country who joined together to learn about the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. Educational programming focused on each of the office of inclusion's five core areas: disability, LGBTQ, race/ethnicity, women, and international inclusion.

Attendees heard from keynote speakers throughout the event, including Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of the bestseller "Just Mercy"; Harry Edwards, professor emeritus at California, civic activist and author; and Emily Ladau, disability rights activist, writer and speaker. The speakers challenged attendees to think about how they can be more inclusive in their roles on campus.

Student-athletes Kaylee Ballard (freshman from Xenia, Ohio/rowing/criminal justice major) and Jayla Pruitt (sophomore from Louisville, Ky./track and field/computer engineering major) will both attend the Black Student-Athlete Summit in Los Angeles from May 21-24 hosted by University of Southern California. The BSA website describes the event as a four-day, power-packed experience for black student-athletes and influencers in the world of college sports.

The site also states that the Black Student-Athlete Summit is the only event of its kind that caters to the holistic development of black student-athletes and the goal of the Summit is to empower black student-athletes to maximize their college experience by "killin'" it in the classroom and to not leave "any meat on the bone" in terms of opportunities.