For some, the core principles of the Rambler Alliance for Equity hit home in a highly personal way. 
 
"When Trayvon Martin died, that really hurt me," said Loyola student-athlete Oyinlola Akinlosotu, a member of the track-and-field team. Akinlosotu was referring to the shooting death of young black man Martin by George Zimmerman in 2012. "That really affected me. And everything after that, it was like a piece of my heart breaking off because that could be my cousin, that could be my sister, that could be my brother, my dad, my uncle. That could be me.
 
"It hurts my heart knowing that a lot of the time there won't be any justice. I don't want to live in a world where I can have kids and they can be shot right in their own house and there's not going to be any true justice."
 
Social justice is at the heart of the Rambler Alliance for Equity, created this summer by the Loyola Athletics Department in the wake of the killings by police of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. 
 
A multifaceted effort, the Rambler Alliance seeks to effect positive change within and outside the University using the acronym PACK, for partnerships, action, communication and knowledge. 
 
Much of the activity has been student-athlete-driven, and two of the most visible components have been discussions on racial bias and a voter-registration drive that has netted a 100 percent success rate among eligible student-athletes and Athletics Department staff members. 
 
The goal of the Alliance is to be "united in our effort to provide an environment where individuals feel safe, respected and valued regardless of, but not limited to, their race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender orientation, religious beliefs or age."
 
Enthusiasm for the Alliance has been high, as has enthusiasm to tackle these tough issues. 
 
"One of the main reasons I wanted to come to Loyola is because I saw they had this commitment to social justice," said Will Alcock, a member of the men's basketball team. "People are on a spectrum, what they know about the diversity and the struggles of Black Americans. There are so many people on different levels of how they interpret things like that. We've had plenty of difficult conversations, and a lot of good has come out of that."
 
Alcock, a political science and history major, grabbed the reins on the voter-registration effort and ran with it. 

"We started conversations about, 'What can we do as an athletic department?'" he said. "As we had all these conversations, we talked about how important voting is, not only at the federal level but the local elections and state-level officials are very important as well. So, we've had a lot of conversations off that.
 
"I sent an email out to all the student-athletes saying, 'We can't do a ton this year, but let's try to make sure everyone participates in voting.' There are a lot of engaged student-athletes in that group already. Let's try to get someone from every team to get these conversations going with their teams, to try to get 100 percent voter participation in the whole Athletics Department. As student-athletes, we've done that. Everyone's registered, and we're working on mail-in voting right now."
 
That kind of student-athlete initiative has impressed staff members doing their own work in the Alliance. 
 
"The coaches would say, 'How can we help?'"said Mark Hulse, the head coach of the men's volleyball team. "The response was always, 'No, no, no, we got this. Don't worry about it. We're going to make it happen.' Student-athletes, almost wire to wire, made that happen. And we're at 100 percent student-athletes, and I think coaches and staff as well registered to vote.
 
"The student-athletes have been clear from the get-go that they want to act.'"
 
That may make the effort at Loyola unique. 
 
"I've talked to people at other schools, and the staff have led it; they got the students registered," said Samantha Stewart, assistant athletics director, academic services. "This has been totally student driven. And that was student driven way back when we started this in June. That was one of the first things, and they got on that."
 
A discussion of race
 
Race is rarely a comfortable topic of discussion. 
 
For real progress to be made, though, most of us have to get out of our comfort zones even if it means having tough talks and confronting others and challenging our own beliefs. 
 
The Rambler Alliance for Equity is addressing the issue of race and social justice head on. One way is through online talks with former collegiate volleyball player and coach Jen Fry, who hosts online interactive discussions on race and racism. Athletics Department staff and student-athletes each took part in discussions with Fry. 
 
"Jen is really talking about how we can be impactful in the work we do around diversity, race, policy and helping start with looking at ourselves," Stewart said. "How do we critically analyze both our policy of what's going on, the historical knowledge that we have, the shared ones, and the things that we don't know and why don't we know those things?"
 
Fry said that student-athletes have always wanted to get involved in such discussions, but perhaps did not know how.
 
"I think this is a good time to say, 'Get involved in whatever way possible' because so many times people think there is one way to be involved in activism, and we need so many different people," she said. "It's like a team. You can't just have a team of centers or a team of outside hitters. You need people in different positions. That's kind of the same way with activism. They are starting to figure out there are different ways they can use their voice."
 
During her discussion with Loyola student-athletes, Fry dived right into it. 
 
"I think the first thing is acknowledging the shame and guilt that comes with talking about race," she said. "So many times, people don't acknowledge it. They don't say that you're going to feel super uncomfortable because we've been socialized to just not talk about race at all. And if we do talk about it, it creates a lot of shame.
 
"I think it's trying to acknowledge the range of emotions you might be going through and giving the information to keep their learning going. 'Hey, these are things to start thinking about,' in terms of definitions and systemic racism and giving them a little bit more nuance to think about how to start researching and educate themselves."
 
One of the central parts of Fry's talks has centered on the importance of not just being content not to be a racist but that one must be anti-racist, which means actively trying to halt racist attitudes and behavior.
 
"This summer, especially with all the things going on, it was a big topic to push anti-racism because people of color, marginalized groups, we can't be the only ones raising our voices," said Akinlosotu, a Black woman. "We can't be the only ones sticking up for ourselves and not being in the rooms when racist things are said all the time. I know that some people go home to their families in different parts of the country where there are absolutely no Black people or no people of color, and their families will be talking crazy and nobody's calling that out. I don't get the chance to call that out.
 
"It's our job to be anti-racist in wherever we are and whatever space we take up so that we can make real change. Some people don't really understand that what they're saying could come off as racist. Or sometimes they don't care. But it's also good to have people around you know your stance so that they don't feel comfortable being racist around you, doing or saying racist things."
 
Through it all, student-athletes are learning about themselves as well.

"It took me a little bit to take a step back and say, 'I, as a white male in America, I need to listen more than talk in some of these conversations,'" Alcock said. "I know I'm never going to feel the same things as a Black American. But just listening, it's important for white people to learn through this process.
 
"As far as racial equity from a big-picture standpoint, we want to hold ourselves accountable internally and also promote these ideas."
 
And that, according to Fry, is how change begins. 
 
"I think it's talking about race in very nuanced ways and talking about how they may be complicit in the system because we never want to acknowledge that we're complicit in the system," she said. "We want to say, 'We're a good person, we're not part of it,' versus saying, 'How am I part of this system, so how can I change it?' 
 
"It's kind of like everyone wants to be part of the winning team. No one wants to be part of the losing team and to say what they did to cause the team to lose. So, this is getting people to be able to talk and say, 'Oh, I started to realize these systemic things that I can now start helping to change.'"
 
Akinlosotu says she has seen signs of change in her own relationships.
 
"I think that's really been a growing experience because I've had some white friends and people in my life tell me, 'I'm sorry. I didn't know that,'" she said. "And they're empathetic. They're not just sympathetic. They're empathetic and they want to do better. That makes me want to keep on sharing my story. I do have people who say that to me, and it really does touch my heart when I hear it and they understand where I'm coming from even if they can't completely understand it."
 
The long game
 
Student-athletes are among the busiest people on any college or university campus, as they balance academics with practice schedules and travel to games and meets. 
 
That busy quality also may make them the perfect agents of change. On top of that, sports give them a high-profile platform. 
 
"I think it's a mix of things: the types of student-athletes that we have as well as the generation they're in," Stewart said. "Those who put themselves on the front lines during the protests are super engaged and want to know why the world is what it is instead of just believing it has to be that way. I've seen a lot of students from various backgrounds lend their voice to the cause.
 
"One of the things that they have been most vocal about is that this is not, these issues are not left on the backs of Black and Brown students to hail and to advocate only. It is the allied responsibility. It is anytime you hear something that could be racist or could be micro aggression that you come back at or you ask them, 'Why do you feel that way?' Why do you say that?'
 
"And so, our student-athletes, I think, are the captains of their generation. It's beautiful to see, their willingness to be on the front lines and also do it safely."
 
Of course, change takes time, and progress often is measured in small steps instead of long strides. 
 
"The long-term part is the reality," Hulse said. "A lot of us, especially as coaches, we're used to being able to walk in and say, 'Let's go fix it.' That's a good mentality, but I think change is going to take a long time. That doesn't mean you don't work hard now. You get after it now, and you work hard to improve.
 
"Steve Watson, our athletic director, has led in a really cool way, which is to try to enable the people in the department. He doesn't need to be at the very front and have a lot of congratulations. But a lot of it was enabling people, empowering people to take some action and to get these committees off the ground and to get moving. He's been with us every step of the way on that."
 
As for the student-athletes, they've been more than happy to be the prime movers in this effort. 
 
"It was great," Alcock said. "From my experience, I was super impressed with Coach (Porter) Moser from the start. He was like, 'We need to talk about this; I want to listen to you guys about what's going on.' And we've had plenty of conversations as a team over the summer, but also with Steve. Those first couple meetings with Steve, guys shared their beliefs about what we can be, and he was very upfront about listening.
 
"Coach Moser always says a player-coached team is better than a coach-coached team. In this scenario, as far as making a racially positive and fully inclusive athletics department, it needs to start with the students first."
 
The current student-athletes involved in the Rambler Alliance for Equity want to say they understand the need to keep fighting even though progress may not be evident from the start. They also know they are leaving a legacy for those student-athletes who follow them. 
 
"I do believe that it's student-athlete driven, but I'm very proud of the staff who have also helped to really spearhead this with us and have given us a seat at the table," Akinlosotu said. "A seat at the table is everything. When we feel like we're not being heard and other routes end up being taken, that's just what happens historically.

"Around the school, I know there are a lot of things going on with students, and I'm really proud of the work that they're doing. I just hope that eventually the administration and the school will see that they need to make the change because at the end of the day, it's not fair to just have the students doing the work. It needs to be a whole movement, that people have to see something wrong in the system and they need to want to fix it. If not, you're complicit, which goes back to the anti-racism. You can't be complicit.
 
"My favorite quote is, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' That is so important in our schools, in our houses. We just need to take a stand."
 
 
Bruce Miles is a 1979 graduate of the Loyola University Chicago College of Arts and Sciences. He worked for the Daily Herald in Arlington, Heights, Illinois, from 1988-2019. He served as the Herald's beat writer covering the Chicago Cubs from 1998-2019.