Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jesse Cormier, who graduated from the University of Vermont in 1995 and was head coach of the UVM soccer team from 2004-2016. He now lives in Fort Myers, Florida.
Dear University of Vermont Community,
As a coach in the UVM Athletic Department for 13 years and a father of three biracial children, one of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn’t do more in challenging UVM leadership at the highest levels to build a more diverse environment for the student body, faculty and staff.
I have always stated publicly to everyone close to me my gratitude for the opportunity in life provided to me by the University of Vermont, the Athletic Department and, of course, the soccer program there. My experience as a Catamount has been truly special in so many significant ways and I cherished so many aspects of my experience as a student, an athlete and a coach. When people ask, my comment usually has “some of the best years of my life” in there somewhere.
As a student-athlete, I learned so much about life, sport and academia. I built life-long friendships and was evolving into the man I continue to strive to become today. As a coach, my goal was simple: to reestablish the Catamount men’s soccer program as a regional force and rebuild the program’s reputation to compete on a national level. In the process, we were part of a great journey together with program successes along the way.
As a coach and recruiter, it is, and has always been, mission critical for me to build a diverse roster with student-athletes from all walks of life, races, religions and backgrounds, regardless of the circumstances or environment. Championship teams require diversity, period. The differing backgrounds, ethnicities and religions contributed to an open, safe environment, created constant communication, brought a variety of perspectives and resulted in daily discussions that led to deep learning among my players and me. Isn’t this the point of higher education after all?
I truly enjoyed these differences, the loud locker room debate banter, the different music choices, the trips, and of course the honest conversations about wide-ranging topics including politics and race relations at team meals. I always felt you could predict the possibility of the success of a team by the noise, arguments and subsequent laughter coming from a pregame meal. We achieved having a team, building a family, and a brotherhood at UVM.
We also spent time in our community and worked hard to reach out and build relationships with many families who shared our passion for the game, some of whom were new Americans and felt connected to all of us and each other with each kick of the ball and training session we held on campus on weekends at times throughout the year. The credit of many, over a dozen of the New American players went on to fulfill their dream of attending a college and playing soccer.
The summer camps also provided the program opportunities to build neat connections with many younger children in our backyard and I’ll never forget the great energy and life at each summer event for the past 13 years. We wanted to build our passion for the game and use it to build unity and share the passion with kids and families of all backgrounds and descriptions.
So, it is out of love for the university, the athletic program, and the soccer program that I have written this letter. I see a way that this special environment can actually be enhanced and better for current and future Catamount student-athletes. What is the comprehensive ACTION plan to address the lack of diversity at UVM, and in UVM athletics? This missing component is pervasive at all levels, especially at the leadership level in the Athletic Department, and filters down throughout the coaching staffs and to the teams.
Your plan (beyond your website and mission statement) has to address recruitment and retention strategies to culturally enrich the experience and build a more diverse environment on the UVM campus and specifically in Catamount Country.
My biggest regret while coaching at UVM was not demanding more from the leadership at the university to implement systemic change to truly support diversity at the school and specifically in our Athletic Department. To this day, it eats away at me, that beyond a few teams there was very little representation and departmental support of our student-athletes of color, even less at the coaching positions, and none (that I can remember) at the leadership level in UVM Athletics. Who do the student-athletes of color turn to in times like these?
Upon reflection of my time as a student-athlete at UVM as a U.S. history major, there was very little black history offered and many events were shamefully ignored including Juneteenth and the Tulsa race massacre. As a prestigious university, it was, and is, unacceptable to “whitewash” the academic pursuits of the student body. Why do we have to learn about these historic moments on our own?
During my 13 years as a coach, there were also some personal challenges my wife and I faced being in an interracial marriage and having biracial children. I bore witness to my wife (a woman of color) being pulled over by police throughout the greater Burlington community (usually when she wore a skullcap against the cold), on six different occasions (the last time for speeding 27 mph in a 25 mph zone). Oh, by the way, I was never pulled over in our community or neighborhood even though I admit to having a lead foot at times.
Or, having my son, at 14, being followed home and asked “Why are you here?” And, being told “he fit a description” by a Shelburne police officer, after walking home from having a meal at a local restaurant. Then, both of us as parents having to explain to him how he could be targeted because of the color of his skin, and how he would need to handle and diffuse any situation with the police with the lethal force they possess. As parents of kids of color know this conversation is highly unpleasant as you bear witness to your child losing a piece of their childhood when they realize that the people put in place to protect and serve could actually be a threat. My son left Vermont the following year (to attend a prep school with a more diverse environment) and still has yet to return to his Vermont roots.
As I recently perused the UVM Athletics website and social media, it was astonishing that in the year 2020 there were so few athletes, coaches, staff, or administrators of color. And, yes, I have contributed to this by rarely speaking up the way I should have. I accepted and supported this inaction and was part of the problem by not speaking “truth to power” the way I should have on this issue.
I fell short in my responsibility and obligation to my family, our student-athletes, faculty, the UVM community of color, but also to my love for my alma mater by not demanding change. It is important that I support my kids and the children of other families who expect the educational path to be a mission that provides the “whole education” (diversity in the student body) to meet the standards of excellence in all facets because it is inclusive and diverse in its approach and has a student body that is reflective of all of today’s society. It so clearly misses the mark here.
In light of recent events the time has come to ask why the UVM Athletic Department leadership team is still not represented by any people of color? Has there ever been any diversity in the leadership ranks in UVM Athletics? It is important for these questions to be answered. It’s time for comprehensive systemic change across the country and specifically in spaces and environments where there has always been performative window dressing and with (check the proverbial box) discussions concerning issues of race. When the actual reality is, there is very little offered in terms of support, dedicated resources, or implementation of a comprehensive action plan to build the goal of UVM Athletics being a healthy diverse, inclusive culture.
There has to be honest, transparent reflection at the top, and subsequent evaluations of all the processes of recruitment and retention of student-athletes, faculty, coaches, staff, and administrators of color at UVM and comprehensive measures taken in athletics to address this issue.
Again, my message comes from a place of love and gratitude, to UVM and our athletic department, and soccer program. I was granted an opportunity to have a life-changing experience both personally and professionally, but I know it can still be so much better. My hope is the creation of dialogue that actually leads to action, review of hiring processes, building inclusion, and retaining coaches and staff of color are ways to address the one issue that has been ignored for decades.
It is time for all of us to stand up for the oppressed and marginalized, by taking action to help support opportunities, create better access, and support people who are suffering from the systemic racism that continues to be perpetrated against them today by institutions of higher education.
For me, the silence is over. As my dear friend and mentor William Sloane Coffin said it best: “Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.”
