What Diversity Really Means on a College Campus

I’ve spent most of my professional life on college campuses, first as a coach and later as an athletic director. I’ve recruited athletes, sat in faculty meetings, walked into locker rooms after tough losses, and watched students grow into adults. From that vantage point, I can say this plainly: diversity isn’t a theory. It’s a reality that makes colleges stronger—on the field and in the classroom.

In athletics, diversity shows up quickly. You put together a team with athletes from different backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences, and you see learning happen in real time. Players figure out how to communicate, how to trust one another, and how to hold each other accountable. Winning teams don’t come from everyone being the same; they come from learning how to work together despite differences. That’s not political—that’s practical.

The same thing happens academically. I’ve watched student-athletes walk into classrooms and bring perspectives shaped by where they’re from and what they’ve experienced. When classrooms include a wide range of voices, discussions get sharper and learning gets deeper. Students are challenged to think beyond their own assumptions, and that’s exactly what higher education is supposed to do.

Lt. Nathaniel Fick of "Generation Kill" fame,  spoke at Ohio Wesleyan University as a featured speaker in the 2009–2010 Sagan National Colloquium at Ohio Wesleyan. He participated alongside other experts to discuss global policy and security challenges. At that time, Fick was identified with the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C.–based think tank.

I will never forget him asking the audience in attendance how many were from Iraq, Afghanistan or a couple other mideast countries. When student representatives from every country raised their hands he was shocked. He stated that had never happened in previous speeches. It became one of the most amazing discussions of the war and US policy I have ever heard because of the diversity and first hand knowledge in the room. Everyone, including Lt. Nathaniel Fick, learned from that discussion.

What often gets overlooked is how closely athletics and academics are connected. The discipline learned in practice shows up in the classroom. The critical thinking taught in class shapes how students lead and compete. When diversity is present in both spaces, students leave college better prepared for the real world—where teamwork, empathy, and adaptability matter every day.

After decades in college athletics, I don’t see diversity as an abstract ideal. I see it in former players who became teachers, business leaders, coaches, and community members. I see it in teams that learned to win together and in students who learned to listen. I saw it in Lt. Nathaniel Fick.

College athletics and academics don’t succeed in spite of diversity. They succeed because of it.