Women's Rights
10 Heartbreaking Reasons People Want the NCAA to Ban Violent Athletes
Over the last two months, Darius Adams and his mom Brenda reignited demands that the NCAA adopt a policy that bans student-athletes who commit violent crimes, like rape and sexual assault.
Tomorrow they will deliver a petition with more than 157,000 signatures from people across the nation who support the adoption of such a policy to NCAA Headquarters during its Board of Governors meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.
For the mother-son pair, seeing the NCAA ban violent athletes is a deeply personal issue. Brenda was raped by four men in 1998, two of whom were Oregon State University football players. Those student-athletes were given 25 hours community service and a one-game suspension.
As Darius watched his mother bravely share her story and advocate for sexual assault survivors, he continued to see universities ignore the violent behavior among their student-athletes. A college athlete himself, he started the petition asking the NCAA to take action.
Since then, Brenda and Darius have done countless media interviews to raise awareness about their campaign. Brenda has also recently shared her story directly with the Baylor University and the University of Nebraska football teams. It is Brenda and Darius hope the BOG will vote tomorrow to convene a task force to further study the issue and make a formal recommendation in their favor.
“…We want to raise awareness about this issue, inspire hope in others, and send the message to other survivors that you matter — what happened to you matters and [157,000] people support you!”
Brenda noted in a July interview with Change.org that in addition to the adoption of a new policy by the NCAA, she hoped that by sharing her story other survivors would feel less alone.
The courageous example she set has inspired many supporters to share their own personal stories and feelings in the petition’s comment section.
Here are 10 moving responses to remind you of just what Brenda, Darius, and 157,000 other people are working for:
If you want to see more of what people are saying about a NCAA ban on violent athletes, check out the petition comments. If you’d like to support this campaign, you can sign the petition or contribute to its fundraiser.
You can watch Darius and Brenda deliver all 157,000 signatures to NCAA officials live on Wednesday, August 3 at 9:00am ET on the Change.org Facebook page.