The HEARD Series is Pulling People Together

Tiger Life was excited to reintroduce the HEARD Series to our student-athletes for the 2022-2023 school year. HEARD stands for “Hearing Everyone And Respecting Differences.” The purpose of this series is to address diversity, equity, and inclusions (DEI) related topics through fostering a brave space for shared stories, learning about others’ personal experiences, and acquiring tools/abilities for making others feel HEARD.

Everyone is at a different place in their DEI journey. Tiger Life wants to celebrate that through offering educational opportunities throughout the year for student-athletes to collectively listen, learn, and act. This Fall HEARD Series was a panel-style discussion that placed an emphasis on the theme, “Open Your World. Be Heard.” This panel was an opportunity for student-athletes to listen and learn from several professionals across LSU’s campus with unique insights into DEI related topics. Dr. Brandon Common, Dr. Andrew Kuo, Quinlan Duhon, and Daniela Chu-Rodriguez provided invaluable advice and addressed how individuals with polarizing views, ideologies, and experiences can be open with each other, productively engage in uncomfortable conversations, and authentically connect despite their differences. Brendan Hausdorf, a member of LSU Men’s Swim team mentioned that this panel was very diverse and felt inspired as the panel, “talked about topics that often people try to avoid.”

Having a safe space where student-athletes can be “more than just athletes” and talk about issues and concerns they have allows them to be actively engaged in their journey towards become a well-rounded person. Women’s Beach Volleyball student-athlete Ellie Shank described the HEARD series as “impactful” saying, “it opened the door to meaningful conversations and encouraged student-athletes to celebrate our differences.” Jolee Liles, a member of the women’s swim team felt like this panel discussion “really spoke to us.” Liles clearly articulated the importance of having these types of difficult conversations and how, “talking about our differences provides an opportunity to understand our peers better."

Student-athletes will receive DEI education through Tiger Life e-mail and social media platforms once a month to continue engaging with DEI related topics, which will prepare them to collectively “act” during our spring HEARD Series in March.