Brown University, If You Were Actually Serious About Racial Justice You Would Not Be Cutting the Men’s Track Team

Brown’s Track and Field team has more Black Men on its roster than Brown’s Lacrosse, Baseball, Hockey, and Crew Teams Combined!

Recently Brown University, like every other institution or company as of late, released a statement in support of confronting racial injustice in response to the national outcry from the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery — all unarmed Black people killed by the police or by racial vigilantes. In their statement, Brown noted that “structures of power and deep-rooted oppression” were at work and that the university would commit to “advancing knowledge and promoting essential change in policy and practice in the name of equity and justice” moving forward. Just a few days earlier, however, Brown announced that they were cutting a number of sports including Men’s Track and Field. They noted that their decision was a part of an effort to improve competitiveness and to align with their mission to increase diversity on teams. Increasing diversity by cutting Men’s Track, one of the most diverse teams on any college campus? Give me a break.