WASHINGTON – Showcasing Georgetown's global impact and impressive history, University leaders welcomed a master's class from the University of Central Florida's DeVos Sport Business Management program to campus last month.  The class was led by human rights activist and writer Dr. Richard Lapchick whose work has been impactful in his storied career in sports.
 
The group heard from University President John J. DeGioia as well as former Head Men's Basketball Coach John Thompson Jr. on the current landscape of intercollegiate athletics.  Both have spoken out on human rights and racial inequality issues throughout their tenures. 
 
In his time coaching, Thompson transcended the field by being an outspoken opponent of racial inequality.  He is remembered for walking off of the court before a game in 1989 to protest the NCAA's Proposition 42 which denied athletic scholarships to freshmen who failed to qualify academically.   Thompson was also the first African-American head coach to win a major intercollegiate championship, taking home the national title in 1984.
 
Both gave incredible perspective to the class that will soon be joining the professional ranks in the world of sport and will be forced to look to past decisions to make future policies.
 
"Our visit to the Georgetown campus was certainly a highlight of our class trip to Washington, D.C.," said student Brett Estrella.  "We were lucky enough to hear from sports pioneer John Thompson Jr. on his historic achievements in college basketball and learning more about Mr. Thompson's relationship with our program's endowed chair, Richard Lapchick, was a special experience."
 
Following the incredible talk, Georgetown Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lee Reed moderated a panel involving current members of the University's senior staff to discuss current and more specific issues in intercollegiate athletics.  They touched on everything from student-athlete welfare and coach mentoring to donor relations, going over the intricate aspects of a department with 29 sports.
 
"It was truly an honor to host Dr. Lapchick and his students from UCF," said Reed.  "His personal and professional commitment to diversity and inclusion is inspirational and his voice and activism continues to keep this issue at the forefront.  To be able to host him in the Thompson Athletics Center was incredibly humbling and appropriate given Coach Thompson's work as a leader in this area.  It also gave our staff an opportunity to share our perspectives on college athletics with his many talented students.  It was truly a remarkable day in many ways."
 
The students were from the 2019 cohort of the DeVos program which travels to a location each year to see sport in a real-life setting carrying on the mission of a "living classroom".  On this trip, students visited both the Special Olympics in Washington, D.C. as well as Georgetown.  The program was founded by Orlando Magic owners Rich and Helen DeVos.  It is a combined program where students will earn their Master's in Sports Business Management (MSBM) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).
 
Lapchick serves as the Eminent Scholar, Endowed Chair & Director of the DeVos program. He is an internationally recognized expert on sports issues as well as a scholar and author.  Earning notoriety as an anti-apartheid voice in the 1970's, Lapchick is often described as "the racial conscience of sport."  Through the DeVos program, he developed The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.  Lapchick also writes for national publications on the issue of diversity in sport.
 
He was recognized as a Champion of Diversity by the NCAA in 2017 and shared his list for his legacy including this final line.
 
"If we embrace diversity and inclusion, then if our children have learned how to hate, we can teach them how to love. If they are waging war on one another, we can give them the tools to make peace."