To augment the work of student government’s Gender Issues Committee and the new Prism ND, the Gender Relations Center (GRC) is initiating new programming this year to drum up conversation about sexuality, identity and relationships at Notre Dame. Dr. Christine Caron-Gebhardt, director of the GRC, said expanded offerings include roundtable discussions, presentations from experts and dorm workshops. The first notable event is a three-part series of speeches from Terry Nelson Johnson, a professional speaker and mentor at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago, on sexuality and Catholicism, men and masculinity and LGBTQ and Catholicism and it will take place Sept. 16 and 17. “We’re continuing our conversations on sexuality and relationships, but really broadening the conversation to include things around men and masculinity, LGBTQ, understanding of gender and identities [and] the intersectionality of identities,” Caron-Gebhardt said. Amanda Downey, assistant director for educational initiatives at the GRC, said Johnson first spoke at Notre Dame last year, at the request of a group of students from Keough Hall. “Terry Nelson Johnson came to us as a result of a student interest. A group of men from Keough came over one day and said they wanted to talk about intimacy,” Downey said. “They wanted to bring him, and they wanted him to talk about intimacy.” To better connect with the needs of the student body, Caron-Gebhardt said the GRC is starting a dorm commissioner program. “We are piloting dorm commissioners as a resource for students within their residence halls as well as a conduit for students to let us know what kinds of conversations, what kinds of questions they want to talk about here on campus about gender, sexuality and relationships,” she said. For those who want to continue these conversations, Caron-Gebhardt said the GRC is sponsoring the Sr. Jean Round Table, where students can discuss gender issues together. Each meeting will have a different theme ranging from “sports and gender,” to “gender and Catholicism,” with the first taking placed Oct. 2. The GRC will also sponsor “Man Talk” and “Women’s Wisdom” sessions, Caron-Gebhardt said. “Those conversation talks are student-generated,” she said. “We provide the venue, we provide the structure, but students provide the things that are important and they want to discuss.” To begin the discussion freshman year, Caron-Gebhardt said the GRC has amended its Contemporary Topics curriculum so one day covers healthy relationships and the other addresses prevention of sexual violence on campus through bystander intervention. “We took up that charge from [the Committee on Sexual Assault Prevention] saying, ‘How can we understand that sexual violence on our campus is not just about two people involved but actually impacts our community?’” Caron-Gebhardt said. In another effort to raise awareness of sexual violence in the spring, Downey said the GRC will sponsor an exhibition of “Unheard Voices,” a show by artist Jason Dilley that tells the stories of individual survivors of sexual assault. “[Dilley] has bronzed face casts – imagine a plaster cast of a face and then it’s dipped into a bronze and on a black background,” she said. “Students can walk around and there are little headphones attached to each face, and you can actually hear this person tell their story, which is a really powerful program.” Caron-Gebhardt said the GRC also plans to supplement Prism ND’s LGBTQ-focused programs, including special events for National Coming Out Day in October and Transgender Awareness Month and Stand Against Hate in November. “We see collaborating on events and co-sponsoring events together [with Prism ND],” Caron-Gebhardt said. “We also see that there are things that they may offer that we would then complement and offer individually. I see us doing things collaboratively and individually.” Caron-Gebhardt said the GRC encourages students to get involved with their programing and express what they want the GRC function. “[We want to] respond to student needs as we continue the dialogue around certain issues,” she said.
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Reebok is rebuilding its running team with a Syracuse pipeline
Published on March 26, 2019 at 11:59 pm Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu Rumors began in the spring. Running boards such as LetsRun.com linked then-Syracuse head coach Chris Fox’s name to the head coaching position at the new Reebok Boston Track Club.“We had heard a few things about it,” former SU All-American Colin Bennie said. “But we were all like ‘there’s no way he’s gonna do that.’”Going through the indoor and outdoor track seasons, those rumors persisted, but still no one believed Fox would leave, until the official notice came in mid-July. Reebok announced the revival of its running program with the addition of Fox as the head coach for the new Reebok Boston Track Club based out of Charlottesville, Virginia, along with former SU assistant Adam Smith. Justyn Knight, Syracuse’s only individual national champion, would become its headline runner.“Everything had to align,” Smith said. “I don’t think Coach Fox would’ve taken the Reebok job without Justyn.”Within weeks, Bennie and fellow All-American Philo Germano followed suit, along with a handful of other top collegiate runners from around the country. Seemingly overnight Reebok executed its blueprint, establishing itself as an up-and-coming power in the running world. Fox, who rebuilt Syracuse from one of the nation’s worst teams into its best, planned to rebuild Reebok with the same people who redefined SU.AdvertisementThis is placeholder text“All-Americans and national championships are outstanding,” Bennie said. “But Olympians and professional championships are also pretty unbelievable.”Knight, who had virtually every major running club in the nation trying to sign him, he said, refused to talk to any team until his SU career ended. Reebok wasn’t initially one of the teams on his radar. When he saw Reebok announce former-NCAA Team National Champion Kemoy Campbell and former SU All-American Martin Hehir as its first two runners, Knight didn’t understand the move.“I remember when (Hehir) signed, I was like ‘Oh, that’s a pretty bold move,’” Knight said. “Because I didn’t know anyone else that ran for Reebok or even that they had a team.”Anna Henderson | Digital Design EditorReebok once was one of the oldest running companies in the United States, Smith said. But recently the company focused its attention on CrossFit and Ultimate Fighting Championship, taking a step back from the running scene.At the same time that Reebok signed Hehir and Campbell, the company communicated with Fox. But Fox made it clear he wasn’t going to make a decision until after the outdoor season, Smith said. Fox and Smith had just captured the program’s first cross country national title in school history. Fox had been with the school since 2005, turning it from one of the worst running programs in the nation into the best, but leaving meant a current group of runners had to uphold what Fox built.“These kids … these are the guys you’ve been with for the last five, six, seven years,” Smith said. “The countless van rides, the workouts, the hugs after races. These are people who you’re going to battle with … We did some really special things at Syracuse … That was the hardest part.”The runners were supportive, Smith said, understanding Fox and Smith’s opportunity. Plus, current head coach Brien Bell had been with Syracuse since Fox’s first year, a staple in the rebuild. Once Bell was officially named head coach in September, Smith said, leaving felt easier. The other piece that eased the transition was the Syracuse connection at Reebok. Once summer hit, Knight, Bennie and Germano had to figure out where they were going to continue their careers, all unaware of the plan that Fox and Smith had in place.‘“When he told me he was considering it, it was like ‘Woah,’” Knight said. “That’s when it all became very real to me.”Courtesy of SU AthleticsKnight and Fox signed on in mid-July, and Bennie and Germano joined by the end of the summer. With their additions, Reebok now boasted four-fifths of Syracuse’s national championship team point-getters.“We were definitely a little bit surprised that he was going to make the move,” Bennie said. “But it also actually makes a lot of sense. It’s the natural step forward. There’s progression on the coaching side of things too … There was no better time to do it than with Justyn graduating and me and Philo moving on too. It gave us all a perfect opportunity to keep doing what we love doing.”Unlike in college, where decisions are constantly made for you, Hehir said, these runners now are on their own and have to make their own life choices. As someone that has been a professional since graduating from SU in 2015, Hehir has helped out his younger teammates in guiding them for how to live as a professional. One of his biggest messages has been to keep a busy lifestyle full of meaningful activity to offset the stresses of being a professional athlete and not letting running consume them.There have also been changes in training. Although the team practices together every day, runners are preparing for entirely different races. In college, everyone was on essentially the same race schedule. Now Knight is currently preparing for the World Championships in September, while Bennie is currently training for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials.Plus, by their senior year, Reebok’s runners were some of the best in the country. Nearly everyone on the team was some form of a champion, Smith said.“It’s like high school where you go from being the best high school runner on your team to college where everybody’s good,” Smith said. “You go from being the best in college and everybody’s good again … You’re training with five of the best guys in the world.”Although a professional team, the move to Reebok is one which closely resembles Fox’s journey to Syracuse. He accepted a job for a relatively unknown program in its field with a blueprint to change its course. With a star and several overlooked runners, he built Syracuse into a champion, and he plans on doing the same in the pros.“To be able to keep living the dream together, with family,” Germano said. “That’s special.” Comments Facebook Twitter Google+