Wednesday night marked the start of the St. Thomas women's basketball season as the Tommies hosted Bethel inside Schoenecker Arena. While a late comeback for the Tommies secured a 69-66 win against the Royals, it was the pregame actions student-athletes, staff, and coaches from St. Thomas that drew some attention.
Most of the players took a knee while the national anthem played, those who opted to stand, put a hand on their teammates' shoulders.
In October, St. Thomas announced the Shed a Little Light initiative to promote positive change. The initiative was thought of by Athletics Alliance 4 Change (AA4C) and the SAAC Racial Justice Workgroup, two committees that formed in the wake of George Floyd's death and months of conversations to follow led by student-athletes, coaches, and staff.
"Our women's basketball program has been talking a lot about Social Justice, especially since the pandemic and everything," said Ruth Sinn, the head coach for the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. "After the killing of George Floyd, we got all the girls on Zoom and we really just wanted to listen and fight out where they are, what and how they felt, and how do we educator ourselves and listen to what the issues are."
The topic of national anthem came up prior to the basketball season.
"With the anthem, it was okay, how do we want to pay tribute to our flag and the anthem knowing that the ideals that our country stands for are great, honorable, and fantastic?" Sinn said. "We had a conversation with our team saying, 'Where do you feel comfortable? What do you feel comfortable with?"
Sinn, who's father served in the Korean War, said student-athletes and staff agreed that any action taken during the anthem would not be about disrespecting current and former military members, but about getting better as a nation.
"I told the girls, 'This is not a unity thing. This is a thing where everyone has their own choice. If you want to kneel you can kneel, if you want to stand you can stand. It's completely up to you," she said. "That's the way it should be right now that everyone can be their own person with their own beliefs. It's not right or wrong it's just that we're all doing our best to continue the needle and make sure the American ideals we stand for, everyone gets the opportunity to live those."
The conversations weren't easy, according to Sinn, who says freshman, sophomore, and juniors weren't able to connect in-person about issues as the normally would because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our basketball team isn't just about basketball, it's about growing strong women. These conversations are hard, but necessary. We talk all the time about how it's through being uncomfortable that you really have growth."
Moving forward, the conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion will continue amongst the St. Thomas student-athletes, including the women's basketball team.
"This isn't political and it isn't about not respecting the flag. This is about right now. If you're taking a knee it's recognizing that as a nation we still have work to do," Sinn said. "If you noticed them on their knee, they had their and on their heart and they were very respectful. It wasn't anything that was disrespectful. It's about knowing we have work to do and we're willing to put in the work, listen, and engage in conversations to shed light on these issues. Hopefully we'll move the needles just a little farther to say everyone has the same opportunities in the US."
Prior to the national anthem, the public address announcer read the following statement:
"As the colors are presented, the MIAC and the University of St. Thomas would like to recognize that the American experience has not been the same for everyone under the flag. St. Thomas student-athletes, coaches, and staff have worked together to launch an initiative, "Shed a Little Light," intended to make impactful changes on disparities and inequities in our community. As we continue the fight for equality and justice for all, we now invite you to respectfully express yourself for the playing of our national anthem."
