NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale Athletics has announced a monumental partnership with A Long Talk, becoming the organization's first-ever full athletics department partnership.
 
A Long Talk is an anti-racism activation experience that exists to erase racism and dismantle systemic oppression through various programming and activations. As part of one of the most influential institutions in the world, Yale Athletics is committed to supporting A Long Talk's mission to energize, activate, and empower our student-athletes to be allies in the pursuit of a just world for all.
 
"As we enter year three of the university-wide initiative, "Belonging at Yale", I am thrilled to have our department partner with A Long Talk. Kyle, Kamal, and their team have created a truly transformational experience that our student-athletes, coaches, and staff have fully embraced," said Victoria M. "Vicky" Chun, Thomas A. Beckett Director of Athletics. "We are committed to fostering a culture that provides an inclusive space where our student-athletes can be seen, heard, and celebrated."
 
This announcement also coincides with the department's recent transformation to its student-athlete DEIB+ infrastructure. Yale Bulldogs for Change (YBC), formerly an affinity group aimed to enhance the varsity student-athlete experience for people of color, was renamed to the Black Student-Athlete Coalition (BSAC), while YBC became the DEIB+ hub for all of Yale Athletics' student-athlete affinity groups. With the changes to the infrastructure, the department also unveiled YBC's three-pillared commitment to Anti-Hate, Belonging, and Community.
 
"Our partnership with A Long Talk has been the most impactful experience of our program in my three seasons at Yale both on and off the field," said Sarah Martinez, Loring Family Head Coach of Women's Soccer. "I have seen the impact and growth of our program culturally and have witnessed their increased bravery to speak up for each other."
 
The partnership with A Long Talk aims to support the three-pillared mission by taking a first step to provide over a thousand student-athletes, coaches, and staff members with critical anti-hate programming.
 
"Our enthusiasm for this partnership is immeasurable, said Kyle Williams, Chief Empowerment Officer, and Kamal Carter, President of A Long Talk. "We began working together last year and to see Yale emphasize the importance of having all of their student-athletes go through anti-racism experience with us is groundbreaking and unprecedented. The first and only athletics department in the country to do so."
 
About A Long Talk
A Long Talk's mission is to energize, activate, and empower allies in the pursuit of our shared purpose. Through this, they use a process to engage in ongoing conversations focused on truth, understanding, and problem-solving, leading to individual and cooperative activism.
 
Participants who self-identify to engage in this experience agree to the completion of pre-work before entering a larger group discussion. This pre-work is a multimedia collection of content reflecting the truth about the history of racism in the United States and the impact it continues to have on our society today. Completion of the pre-work occurs serves to provide a common foundational understanding of the issue.
 
The experience is orchestrated as a series of reflective and empowering conversations where participants are asked to listen, view, and respond in real-time.