LSU Athletics Culture and Engagement Leadership Council

Chart a path of sustainable progress toward a clear vision of results-oriented change in the area of Culture and Engagement; serve as a leadership body; make needed connections in the department, campus and the community.

Goal One: Enhance the understanding of racial equality 

• Step One: Survey department staff/coaches and student-athletes to assess current level of understanding
• Step Two: Implement training program for staff and coaches
• Step Three: Create a Coach and Staff Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council whose goals are directly tied to staff diversity education.
• Step Four: Create a Student-Athlete Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council whose goals are directly tied to student-athlete diversity education.
• Step Five: Survey department staff/coaches and student-athletes to assess level of understanding and incentive after implementing educational programming

Goal Two: Measure and track the results of all efforts toward racial equality 

• Step One: Create a repository to capture all data and progress, including but not limited to student-athlete racial demographics, graduation rates, all hires, community service hours, etc.
• Step Two: Track communication engagement through social media platforms.
• Step Three: Track student-athlete, coaches, and staff participation in internal and external D&I educational programming.
• Step Four: Include measured and tracked data from all three councils’ goals.

Goal Three: Increase the number of underrepresented/marginalized individuals in coaching and staff leadership roles

• Step One: Hire a senior level administrator who has a primary responsibility of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the job description
• Step Two: Create a Coach and Staff Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council whose goals are directed at impacting the recruitment, hiring, training, development and retention of underrepresented/marginalized individuals in the Athletic Department and tracking the results.
• Step Three: Create and support professional development opportunities for underrepresented/marginalized individuals
• Step Four: Provide resources, external to athletics, for marginalized coaches and staff to seek support and serve as advocates

Goal Four: Evaluate Department Strategic Plan / Mission / Values from a D&I perspective

• Step One: Review and revise all internal department strategic plans, mission statements, and values from a D&I perspective
• Step Two: Provide visibility to department’s statements on D&I messaging

Goal Five: Increase the number of Black contractors/vendors utilized by the department, and track the results 

• Step One: Work with campus to grow the list of Black contractors/vendors
• Step Two: Train the athletics staff on the outreach and selection of Black contractors/vendors
• Step Three: Track and evaluate athletics spending with all underrepresented vendors/contractors annually
• Step Four: Increase the spending with Black-owned businesses department-wide
• Step Five: Provide an opportunity to promote Black-owned businesses to the community

Goal Six: Sponsor and host an event designed to show LSU Athletics’ commitment to D&I and the movement for racial equality. 

• Step One: Select a group to create an event that makes a significant impact
• Step Two: Determine the expected outcome and track the results

Goal Seven: Serve as a department leadership council 

• Step One: Create awareness of the council through staff announcements, website presence and communication
• Step Two: Create a communication channel for staff, campus and the community to report, examine, and promote topics and issues related to D&I
• Step Three: Enhance communication with campus on athletics D&I initiatives