The NCAA and Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) granted the Occidental College athletics department the 2026 Opportunities and Impact Award Feb. 26.
Selected out of 422 Division III institutions, Occidental was honored for its commitment to fostering an “environment of belonging and well-being and [elevating] student-athlete voices,” according to the NCAA and MOAA award announcement. According to the NCAA, the main factor that contributed to Occidental’s accomplishment is the athletics department’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program (JEDI).
Shanda Ness, director of athletics, said via email that the department is honored to receive this award. She said the athletics department looks forward to the formal recognition ceremony this summer in Las Vegas.
“[The award] affirms the intentional culture that our staff and student-athletes have built to create an inclusive and welcoming environment within Oxy Athletics,” Ness said.
Cori Vallembois, director of JEDI and assistant athletic director for operations and facilities, said the award was the result of diligent work from staff and student athletes.
“In 2020, the NCAA mandated that every member school had to appoint a diversity and inclusion designee,” Vallembois said. “Shanda and I wanted to do something intentional at Oxy relating to DEI specific to athletics, and that’s how JEDI was born.”
According to Vallembois, JEDI is a two tiered program. The first is athlete and staff focused conversation starters and a guest speaker series, and the second is the student-run organizing committee.
“JEDI [conversation starters and guest speaker events] relate to the world of athletics, personal identity and beliefs,” Vallembois said. “The main purpose of [JEDI events] is to start conversations that wouldn’t happen naturally, like in a locker room or on the field, or even in the meeting room.”
The JEDI Student Committee organizes JEDI events and facilitates conversation starters, according to Vallembois. Vallembois said the committee includes four subcommittees: Operations and Logistics, Community Building, Events and Communications.
“[The committee has] a membership of 26 […] which is the largest cohort that we’ve ever had,” Vallembois said.
According to Derek Jimenez (junior), hurdler for the men’s track and field team, as well as a JEDI Operations and Logistics subcommittee member, the committee hopes to recruit athletes from every sport at Occidental.
Jimenez said coaches divide their teams into small groups to discuss equity issues in sports during JEDI conversation starters.
“Each team is required to do a total of ten JEDI talks,” Jimenez said. ”[Each group] will pick a news article. Everyone will read [that article] the day before a team meeting, and then talk about it with two to three questions [during the meeting].”
JEDI and women’s soccer team member Logan Morris (senior) said topics have included trans athlete representation, the gender wage gap in sports and the Paralympics.
“As student athletes we put a lot of time and effort into [our sport], but it’s cool to have something […] make an impact or difference within my community,” Morris said. “The JEDI program [gives] meaning behind what [we] do every day.”
Head coach of the men’s baseball team Luke Wetmore said the conversation starters are an opportunity to understand a wide array of perspectives.
“I value any opportunity to engage with people in potentially difficult conversations that move us past the everyday order of business,” Wetmore said.
Diver Violet Schultz (senior) said JEDI conversation starters have helped her better understand her sport.
“[Having] deeper conversations in these JEDI talks [brings] us closer as a team because we are hearing each other out,” Schultz said. “We call it a safe space [where] you can say whatever you want. Having that extend into athletics really makes Oxy such a special, unique [and] comfortable place.”
According to Schultz, the team had a conversation during fall semester this year about the lack of equitable access to swimming pools and swim lessons in marginalized communities.
“As a swim team, this [was an important] conversation because swimming is not only a sport, but a life skill,” Schultz said.
Diver Isaac Bassett (senior) said a conversation starter prompted the dive team to reflect on inequitable access to sports facilities.
“We watched a video about how Michael Phelps was teaching the Ravens football team how to swim […] these are professional athletes and they [didn’t grow] up near pools or get swimming lessons,” Bassett said. “It led to a larger conversation about access to other athletic facilities and access to sports in general.”
Bassett said the JEDI conversation starters have sparked dialogue about racial diversity, especially Black representation, in swim and dive.
“Especially [at] a predominantly white institution, it’s very important to have these talks about diversity and equity,” Bassett said. “JEDI talks help to bridge the gap.”
Contact Sophie Ha at has@oxy.edu
