COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith issued the following statement Sunday regarding athletes’ participation in peaceful demonstrations and other activities in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis: A message from Ohio State’s Gene Smith Racism has been declared a public health crisis; hate has no place in civil society. Over the past decade, Buckeye student-athletes have proactively engaged in issues that have resulted in a shift in our departmental culture; issues that were manifest at the same time in the larger society and reflected in the actions of the student-athletes. In recent years, several young men in the sport of football made the decision to publicly discuss their personal mental health challenges as a way to help demystify the larger societal conversation about mental health. Concurrently, student-athletes in the sport of men’s hockey asked the department to support the NHL’s initiative entitled: If…
Continue Reading: Gene Smith says Ohio State athletic department supports Black Lives Matter movement
