NCAA Diversity And Inclusion Social Media Campaign: Exploring My Identities

The NCAA’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign was first launched in 2018, in partnership with the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the National Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, to use social media to create a dialogue around diversity and inclusion and to communicate the benefits of inclusive environments in college sports. This year, it will run from Oct.18-20 with different points of emphasis each day.

Day 1: Exploring My Identities | Day 2: Allyship is… | Day 3: Strength in Unity

At Maryland, exploring and embracing different identities is an everyday thing. 

In fact, one of the main draws to the university for women’s soccer senior Keyera Wynn was the school’s commitment to diverse perspectives and experiences. 

“I’ve been around a lot of diversity all my life,” Wynn said. “One of the big reasons I came to Maryland was because of how diverse it is. I think it’s important for people of different cultures and different backgrounds to be in the same space and around the same ideas. It’s really important to have that in different work spaces and in the classroom.”

Wynn identifies as mixed-race, as half-Black and half-white, and embraces those two different identities and how they allow her to connect with different groups of people.

“Being mixed-race really helps me bridge the gap between certain things in the spaces that I’m in,” she said. “I can kinda understand aspects of both perspectives in certain spaces.”

For legendary field hockey coach Missy Meharg, it’s her surroundings, now having spent the past 35 years at Maryland, that have made the biggest impact on her character today. 

“I think the biggest identity that has afforded me the opportunity to be very strong in my shell and who I am is living in the right region,” Meharg said. “I’ve just found that the DMV and the University of Maryland, certainly College Park, to be an area of loving all people, of thriving on competition and on expression of self and confidence, particularly for women. My identity has been shaped by that confidence in the region.”

The coaches and student-athletes at Maryland not only feel comfortable embracing their different identities, they also feel empowered to use their voice to show they are more than their sport.

That is especially true for Pavlo Dziuba, a Kyiv, Ukraine native who has been playing basketball at Maryland while his home country and family still in Ukraine are under constant threat from Russia.

When the attacks began in late February of 2022, basketball was the least of Dziuba’s concerns. While his teammates and peers were focused on games and tests, he was worrying for his family’s safety across the world. After a few weeks, basketball became an outlet for Dziuba—as well as a platform to promote some much-needed awareness about the war. 

Dziuba spoke on SportsCenter, detailing what it was like to watch the places of some of his best childhood memories, like his old basketball gym, go up in flames after the attacks. He also shared valuable information about assistance efforts on his social media. Additionally, he would carry the Ukraine flag around him during some pregame activities and would write messages in support of Ukraine on his basketball shoes for everyone watching to see.

“I just wanted to let people know that it’s really important,” Dziuba said. “There is a war going on and Ukraine needs support.”

The first time Dziuba wrapped the flag around him at a game, he was met with roaring applause from the Maryland faithful, something that meant a great deal to him. 

“It was so nice,” Dziuba said. “I felt a lot of support from the fans. That was really cool.” 

For Dziuba, it has been important to use his platform to give a voice to a topic that a great number of Americans struggle to comprehend. 

“I feel like a lot of Americans, even some coaches don’t even understand. Sometimes, there are rockets coming half a mile away from my mother and father. It’s scary and it’s hard to understand for a lot of people.”

And while the majority of Maryland student-athletes are not dealing with an invasion of their home country like Dziuba is, they still find ways to make their voice heard. 

In addition to being a member of the women’s soccer program and a pre-med student, Wynn is on the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Board at the Career Center as one of their student-athlete representatives. 

“In that role, I’m helping there be equal opportunities and resources for Black people and people of color as they search for their career field,” Wynn said. “It’s important that everyone gets the same opportunities.”

Even just within the women’s soccer team, Wynn has made it a goal to make sure that her Black teammates always have a voice, particlarly in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. 

“Just recognizing Black people in certain spaces,” Wynn said of her efforts after Floyd’s murder. “That was a traumatic experience for a lot of the Black girls on my team and for me. Just to still be in a society where there’s structural racism in certain spaces and blatant racism in other spaces, having those conversations and facilitating those conversations is really important. Having people understand each other and kind of emphasize with each other just created a space of more transparency.”

For Wynn, it’s important to not only make her own voice heard, but the voices of others as well, especially those who don't always feel super confident speaking up for themselves. 

“I always want to use my voice to represent athletes, and not even just athletes, really anyone, who might not be comfortable sharing their voice,” she said. “That way they are given similar opportunities and they’re comfortable in confined spaces where there’s people who look like them and know what they’re going through.”

Similarly, Meharg has not just stayed in the field hockey world during her time at Maryland. Instead, she has been heavily involved in the campus community in order to create a difference.

“I’m confident that I’ve been able to use my platform by being involved with a lot of campus initiatives, certainly the Senate, the Senate executive committee and being on the Faculty Athletic Board,” Meharg said. “I’ve been able to bring the voice of a strong female, athlete, coach, professional; into the academic world.”

“I also stay very in touch with the players' goals professionally and emotionally,” she added. “In that regard, I have an impact on their vision and how they can use their voice to be leaders on campus and in their environments as very strong athletes.”

For 35 years, Meharg has been a fearless leader in her own right around campus. However, she’s also empowering others around her to use their own platform, particularly when it comes to diversity and inclusion. 

“I think the way to empower people is for them to see you as a very open, honest., communicative leader,” Meharg said. “I think the reality is that holding leaders accountable is super important. Our captains are held very accountable, our seniors are held accountable, our coaches are held accountable. And, in this regard, I feel like it has filtered throughout the entire team that there’s a certain standard that resonates about equality for people, opportunity for all, and that being inclusive is the world we thrive on.”