Make Meaningful Change With “A Call To Men”

In the Fall of 2020, LSU hired Husch Blackwell, a renowned Kansas City, Missouri based law firm, to review a series of Title IX allegations and to evaluate LSU’s policies surrounding sexual assault. Husch Blackwell issued their final report after a four-month assessment that included interviews of institutional staff members and students and a review of individual cases. In their report, the firm identified 18 recommendations intended to “create a Title IX system that all members of the University can have confidence in” and “to support community members impacted by sex discrimination and hopefully meaningfully reduce the incidence rate of sex discrimination on campus.” Within the proposed recommendations, Husch Blackwell specified the need for a targeted training for LSU Athletics.  

As a result of the Husch Blackwell report, a renewed focus was placed on fostering a healthy and respectful climate, enhance accountability, and increase collaboration with campus and community partners. In doing so, LSU Athletics has identified two commitments: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the prevention of sexual and domestic violence. In an effort to embrace our commitments, we are partnering with A Call to Men to host a week-long initiative designed to train and educate our coaches, staff, and student-athletes on the importance of social justice and healthy relationships within our community and recognize Sexual Assault Awareness Month. During this week, each student-athlete and all departmental staff will attend a community kickoff event and participate in a 55-minute training session with A Call to Men facilitators. This training will emphasize social justice, healthy relationships, and the importance of societal unity. Our goal is to provide a space for students to participate in training and dialogue while also gathering to listen, learn, and collaborate in order to build a strong community.

Facilitators from ACTM will engage in small group discussions with each team, sport administrators, coaches, staff, and our student-athletes of color. The kickoff event will take place on Monday, April 4th in the PMAC and will be open to the public.

It is our hope and that of our Training & Support Team that through training, education, continued collaboration, and an increased emphasis on coaches, staff, and student-athlete development that we can continue taking steps in the right direction to transform our departmental and institutional culture.