Sport in Society in The News
Sports hazing incidents: Is this the culture? (12.02.11) by Gene Lavanchy, Fox 25 News
The fallout from the alleged hazing incident involving the Andover High School boys' basketball team is far from over. There have been hints of criminal charges could be on the way. But this can – and does – happen anywhere. Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director at Northeastern's Sport in Society, spoke with Gene Lavanchy of Fox 25 Morning News.
Dave explains that this incident is not inherent to the culture of sports. "We would promote sport as an opportunity for positive social development and an environment that's giving young people an opportunity to grow and build character. The problem we're seeing is a few bad apples ruining the batch. There are a lot of amazing stories about respect and positive cultures of excellence where young athletes are uniting and working in the community and true leaders. But these incidents here are just outshining them at the moment."
He goes on to explain how people can learn and move forward from the incident. “We should try to view this more as a community issue. Communities everywhere are concerned about hazing, they're concerned about bullying. There's a crime and punishment response to incidents, but there's very little training happening to promote the right behaviors, and the right actions that kids should be taking. With education, maybe some of this stuff can start to be prevented."
"I think parents want to see that each school has at least some sort of orientation or training in place that happens, ideally, more than once a year; the beginning of seasons, mid-season, and that coaches have a code of responsibility that they're all aligned around."
Say it ain't so, Joe: US sector's pact with the drop-kick devil (11.24.11) by Jon Marcus, Times Higher Education
Does the Penn State scandal show sport's stranglehold on American academy? Says Dan Lebowitz, director of Sport in Society, "the money from athletics is astronomical. Sometimes that tends to trump ethics."
Lebowitz goes on to stress, "It's not unique to sport. It's not unique to universities. It's the big-business mentality. This happens in the financial sector, the political sector, and an awful lot of other places."
With players' lawsuits filed, hope barely flickers for an NBA season (11.18.11) by Daniel B. Wood, Minnesota Post
Hopes that at least part of the season could be salvaged are dimming by the day, especially now that the NBA players have disbanded their union and filed two antitrust lawsuits against the league.
“The NBA has shut down before and baseball has had its strike seasons, and it took awhile but the fans did forgive,” says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society.
Mirror shows root of problems in college athletics (11.16.11) by Paul Newberry, Associated Press
How did we allow these games being played at institutions of higher learning, where the primary goal is supposed to be educating young people, to become such a damning, out-of-control influence on our lives? To completely skew what we should easily recognize as the difference between right and wrong?
"We have created a monstrous system that allows this type of thing to happen, that allows our cover-up culture," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society. "It allows people to think it's somewhat OK to move past this type of thing without paying it the attention it deserves and without reacting in a way that asks us to take a better look at ourselves. We've created that."
Penn State scandal prompts anger, reflection (11.13.11) by Peter Schworm, Boston Globe
The sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, perhaps the most shameful in the history of college sports, has brought a national outcry, led to the firing of the university’s president and legendary head coach Joe Paterno, and plunged a football-crazed campus into turmoil. It has also sent a shockwave through higher education, renewing the long-running debate over the outsized influence of big-time college athletics, the entitled status sports enjoy on campuses hungry for prestige and payouts, and the hard trade-offs involved in building competitive teams.
“When you get to that level of finances, sometimes people make egregious mistakes in judgment,’’ said Dan Lebowitz, who directs Northeastern University’s Sport in Society. “What happened at Penn State shows how sports trump too many things. In this instance, they trumped basic ethics.’’
Penn State fundraising may feel sting of scandal (11.11.11) by Ros Krasny, Reuters
The future of fundraising at Penn State is coming into question. The university assures donors that no money goes toward legal fees, while a hockey benefactor says he stands by Penn State.
Still, "from now, when you mention Penn State, the first thing people will think about is the scandal. The legacy can not help but be tainted," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society.
Penn State mess casts spotlight on all colleges (11.11.11) by John Zaremba, Boston Herald
Penn State’s alleged pedophilia cover-up could prove to be a powder keg that explodes into a nationwide scandal of Catholic clergy-abuse proportions, rocking colleges and other cloistered institutions where child molestation may have gone unreported for years, experts said yesterday.
Dan Lebowitz, who leads Northeastern University’s Sport in Society center, said Penn State’s gold-standard athletic department has now set an example of a different sort — how not to handle shocking criminal accusations against its own staff. “It sort of equated child sexual abuse with an NCAA infraction. It is not. It’s just an egregious lack of judgment,” Lebowitz said. “When we come to a point in our world where we’re equating child sexual abuse with an NCAA infraction, we’ve lost our way.
Penn State scandal impacts Mass. Law (11.10.11) by Eileen Curran, NECN
A Massachusetts lawmaker announced plans to expand a the law on who must report suspected child abuse. State Rep. Kevin J. Kuros (R-Uxbridge) a Penn State alum, said he wants the law to apply to all state employees in addition to selected professions such as medical personnel, educators, clergy, cops and firefighters.
"We've sort of lost sight of the intersection between our humanity and the things we are passionate about, relative to sports," said Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. He said the Penn State incident shows colleges need to change the "cover-up" culture relating to sports figures. "If this isn't a wake-up call about that, I don't know what would be," he said. Lebowitz said Penn State did the right thing firing Coach Paterno, because even though he wasn't legally obligated to report alleged abuse to police, he did have a moral obligation.
How rage over Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal engulfed Joe Paterno (11.08.11) by Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
The future of a legendary coach, a storied football program, and the course of a university appear to be at stake as the fallout from the sexual-abuse allegations leveled at a former Penn State football coach grows.
"What is important is to take steps to address the problem, says Jarrod Chin, Director of Training and Curriculum at Sport in Society. “It’s too easy to look at this and say, ‘Well, Sandusky is just depraved,’ and it just so happened that this came out. But this is a much more systemic problem happening to young people every day and needs to be addressed.”
Studies have shown that one in four women and one in six men are sexually assaulted by the time they graduate college. In response, Sport in Society has developed a program called MVP (Mentors in Violence Protection), which trains coaches to be able to identify such abuses and communicate to young people what to do about it. “We train our coaches in how to manipulate Xs and Os on a chalkboard, but next to nothing about the issue of sexual predators, and other violent offenders."
Key facts about Penn State coach Joe Paterno (11.07.11) by Lauren Keiper, Reuters
News that a former assistant to celebrated Penn State University head football coach Joe Paterno has been charged with sexually abusing eight boys has rattled students, fans and alumni across the United States. "Paterno is seen as running one of the cleanest programs in the country that has represented over the period of his tenure the intersection of academics, athletics and strong social behavior," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society.
More Families Are Choosing To Pay For Club Sports (10.17.11) by Kate Merrill, WBZ-TV
Kids’ sports can be expensive. And when it comes to money sports clubs are in a league of their own. A sports club differs from your typical town team because its private. Parents pay thousands of dollars a year with the promise of more training and more experience. Unlike town teams, that usually rely on volunteers, club team coaches are paid professionals. Despite skills, not everyone can afford to join a club team.
Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society, worries the playing field is becoming too unlevel. “In a society that already has an enormity of disparities based around wealth it creates s a disparate landscape that is particularly unfair to kids. There will be a number of other great athletes that deserve to be involved that can’t afford to pay.”
Northeastern Bringing The Invisible Athlete to Boston (10.14.11) by Ryan Durling, BostInnovation
In the spirit of continuing their advocacy for equality in sports, Northeastern University’s Center for Sport in Society teams up with Denver-based GForce Sports and Patrick Burke, who is a scout for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, to put on The Invisible Athlete forum on Monday, October 17th.
“Sport in Society and Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies are honored to host such an important event here on campus. Homophobia and Heterosexism in sports are issues that needs to be addressed and this panel is one such way to do it. We are excited to have Patrick, David, Andrew and Lee-J share their stories with our campus community,” said Dan Lebowitz, Sport in Society’s executive director.
Pitching in a pressure cooker (10.04.11) by Greg St. Martin, news@Northeastern
The joys of professional sports often go hand in hand with the enormous pressure for teams and athletes to succeed — and appease their passionate fan bases. News@Northeastern asked Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society, to talk about why the pressure on professional athletes gets so intense, whether it’s happening more frequently in youth sports as well, and what can and should be done to maintain balance.
"It seems to me that the basis of all cultural change is education, particularly leadership education that engages a conversation rather than legislates behavior. We at Sport in Society want to lead this dialogue and create a conversation about sport that includes not only its inherent competition, but also its ability to teach community, cooperation, teamwork and life skills in a logic model framework, where the outcome is about healthy human development."
Gloucester sells stadium’s name (10.01.11) by Akilah Johnson, Boston Globe
Thanks to funding from New Balance, Gloucester High School (MA) will perform much-needed repairs and updates to its athletic facilities and rename it the The New Balance Track and Field at Newell Stadium. Gloucester extended the offer to any entity willing to pay at least $500,000 and keep Newell Stadium in the new name. New Balance was the only corporation to take up the city’s offer, agreeing to pay $50,000 annually for 10 years.
While there is some controversy around the growing trend of such large-scale corporate branding at the high school, Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, said that selling naming rights keeps high school sports programs inclusive by helping to offset costs rather than passing them along to students. “If this is something that they have to do to maintain access, it’s a positive thing.”
What's Holding You Back? 9 Ways to Spark a Breakthrough (October 2011) by Lindsy Van Gelde, O! Magazine
O! Magazine speaks with Justine Siegal, Sport in Society's Director of Sports Partnerships, about pursuing a vision and dealing with critics.
Naysayers come with the territory. Baseball lover Justine Siegal endured a lifetime of put-downs. As a 13-year-old, she was told that her coach didn't want her on his all-boy team. At 16 she heard that no man would listen to a woman on a field. "I'm shy but determined," says Siegal, who in 2008 spoke at the Society for American Baseball Research conference. "I stood in front of hundreds of people, mostly men, and asked them what major league baseball was planning to do beyond selling pink jerseys to get girls involved."
Soon after, Siegal was hired as an assistant coach by minor league team the Brockton Rox. Then Siegal, a longtime pitcher, reached out to major league managers about going where no woman had gone before: to the pitcher's mound during spring training. Everyone turned her down, but she persisted with in-person pleas. This past spring, Siegal pitched batting practice for the Cleveland Indians. She went on to throw for the Oakland A's, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Houston Astros, the New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Sure, it's intimidating. But every time she climbs the mound, she says, "I take all the butterflies and trembling and I just stuff them."
Northeastern’s Center for Sport in Society Quietly Plays a Prominent Role in the Sports World (09.20.11) by Ryan Durling, BostInnovation
Sport in Society's Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, speaks with BostInnovation's Ryan Durling about the role of Sport in Society.
Sports leadership, civic engagement and gender equity paint a pretty abstract picture of the purpose and role of the rapidly-growing non-profit. What was established by Richard Lapchick in 1984 as a degree completion program for professional athletes still serves to educate athletes, but in many different ways.
The Center embraces athletes as role models and Sport – with a capital S – as a universal language, which not only speaks in terms of wins and losses, but also can enhance and affect political and social movements. “We see ourself as the world’s authority to leaders to use Sport to strengthen local, national and global communities,” said Lebowitz. “We try to distinguish ourselves as capacity-builders."
“Our goal is to have a discussion,” says Lebowitz. “We don’t dictate curriculum or try to legislate behavior,” but rather, they hand out playbooks which help to enhance the conversation and give the players choices as to what topic they want to broach. “It’s nice to hear a pro athlete say, ‘This is the first time that someone’s engaged me,’” says Lebowitz. “It’s so much more rewarding to empower people to deliver a message,”
Baseball for All: Justine Siegal’s Mission (09.19.11) by Leigh Henderson, Working to Be A Leader Blog
Leigh Henderson speaks with Sport in Society Director of Sports Partnerships, Justine Siegal, about baseball, Title IX, the inspiration behind Baseball for All, and Justine's long term vision.
Justine explains, "Title IX was a huge significance in my life. I think just my opportunity to play sports in school is proof that Title IX works. It’s funny because I played soccer with the boys until my sophomore year in high school. There just wasn’t girls’ soccer. Now soccer is what all the girls are doing. It’s awesome! It’s that kind of generational growth that I dream of seeing for girls’ baseball. Based on soccer’s growth pattern, it’s realistic to say, that with work done now, the next generation of daughters could play in an all girls baseball league."
Sports helps Muslim athletes cope with fallout from 9/11 (09.11.11) by Paul Newberry, MassLive
Led by pioneers such as Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muslims athletes have helped introduce their faith to mainstream America. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, sports again helped break down some of the barriers and that surfaced in the wake of the deadly hijackings.
"Sports has always been further along," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. "When you really think about the sports language, there's a commonality that's similar to music. I think those are the two world languages that all people listen to. It doesn't matter if you can speak a certain language. It's a social movement. It creates a dynamic that can lead to social change."
The 9/11 legacy of a Little League girl 09.10.11 by Marty Dobrow, ESPN
ESPN's Marty Dobrow explores the connection between Christina-Taylor Green's dreams and the rise of girls in baseball. Read about SIS Director of Sports Partnerships Justine Siegal's Sparks, an all-girls baseball team, as they pursue a dream in the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament. "Baseball is my platform for civil rights,” says Justine.
Paying people to ID violent sports fans: a winning idea (08.24.11) by Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
A California lawmaker wants to set up a fund to pay people who help identify violent sports fans. His legislation comes after brutal attacks this year at Dodger Stadium and Candlestick Park. "This legislation is just what is needed," agrees Jarrod Chin, Director of Training and Curriculum at Sport in Society.
“We always teach how to get bystanders involved because then you’ve increased the monitoring exponentially,” he says. “Many of these people just came to have a good time at the game and are seeing this violence escalate and don’t know what to do.”
“We would echo that this is nothing new and needs to be looked at in the context of masculinity in our culture,” says Mr. Chin. “It has become an issue of hypermasculinity and the question needs to be asked, ‘Why are men wrapping themselves up in their teams so much that they are losing sight of having a good time?' It’s no longer a family environment at some of these arenas.”
NFA stars offered help to graduate (07.03.11) by Justin Rodriguez, Times Herald-Record
In Newburgh, NY, a group of high school athletes failed to graduate after reportedly being permitted to skip 1,187 classes. Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director at Sport in Society, comments on the school district's responsibility to the students and how they must change the system that encourages such behavior. "The Newburgh School District should do anything possible to make it up to those kids," said Czesniuk. "That is their responsibility. I hope it just isn't reactive in nature, just to cover their butts, to answer the public outcry. You see that a lot in sports. Newburgh still has to revamp the experience and change the culture in the basketball program."
Sox cover bases with Spanish social media (06.22.11) by Carla Gualdron, Boston Herald
With 11 Spanish-speaking players, the Red Sox hope to hit a home run by expanding their use of bilingual social media, launching a new Spanish-language Web page, a Spanish Twitter account and a Facebook page called “Los Red Sox.”
“No matter your racial, religious, ethnic background, we can all bond over sports,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sports in Society at Northeastern University. “It’s the great common denominator.”
Four BCS commissioners made $1M (06.20.11) Associated Press, ESPN
Four of college football's six powerhouse conferences paid their top executives $1 million or more, an Associated Press analysis of tax records shows, far eclipsing the compensation of most university presidents. Dave Czesniuk, senior associate director at Sport in Society, argued that the figures reflect the over-commercialization of college sports.
"I can't imagine that the well-being and growth of student-athletes is of paramount importance when there's that level of compensation," he said, when told of the commissioners' pay. As for Slive's bonus, Czesniuk said, "Let's be real about what's being rewarded. You can't say that it's about the student-athlete experience."
LeBron James in spotlight off-court, too. Is he selling caffeine to kids? (06.07.11) by Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
Off the court, LeBron James is being challenged by pediatricians over his caffeine-heavy energy product, Sheets Energy Strips. “I would fault him for not understanding the platform on which he stands,” says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. “And I call on him to be as responsible as he has been in other areas – in which he has been quite well behaved.
Stanley Cup Finals: The hit heard 'round the Hub (6.7.11) by Steve Annear, Boston Metro
When Bruins forward Nathan Horton took a hit Monday night, the fans felt it. “When something bad happens to an athlete that has a positive image for a large number of people, those people are going to feel wounded,” said Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director at Sport in Society.
“We have the belief that sports figures embody a unique power and appeal to the public not everyone else has,” said Czesniuk. “It is their makeup of physical performance and super human skill mixed with high energy and high passion. These are the sorts of things that resonate with human beings.”
Czesniuk said fans develop such a palpable admiration for athletes that if something bad happens, the negative emotional consequences arise. This particular incident seems to have “woken a sleeping bear” in Boston fans and Bruins players, said Czesniuk. “This gives the fans something to cheer more loudly about and the players to play a little bit harder for,”
She’s not the retiring type (6.6.11) by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe
Feature story on Doris Bunte, the first black female State Representative in Massachusetts, public housing advocate, and former Director of Government Relations for Sport in Society. “She didn’t just embrace the mission and collect a paycheck,’’ said Sport in Society Executive Director Dan Lebowitz. “She brought people together . . . I’ve got great love for her.’’
Here, a hangout for trash talking (6.3.11) by Billy Baker, Boston Globe
At Barstool Sports, cheap shots flow along with sexism; Meghan Mahoney, Director of Programs at the Northeastern University Sport and Society Center, comments on the rise of the self-proclaimed sports/smut website and the dangerous sexism inherent in its messages.
Mahoney says what is most troubling about Barstool’s treatment of women is that it is done in such a glib tone. “What Barstool Sports does in being such an extreme website, and trying to frame that extremism in the form of entertainment, is desensitize people to what’s wrong in society,’’ said Mahoney.
“It’s billed as a website ‘for the common man, by the common man,’ but I would argue that most men in their daily lives would not find the sort of things promoted by Barstool Sports to be acceptable."
Ohio State football scandal: Is coach or 'hypocritical' NCAA to blame? (5.31.11) by Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
Ohio State announced Monday that Coach Jim Tressel has resigned as the NCAA investigates the Buckeyes for possible rules violations.
"This is another case of the shark-like, business side of collegiate sports coming to outweigh the value and educational welfare that should be paramount in a university setting," says Sport in Society Senior Associate Director Dave Czesniuk. “It’s evidence of how much deference the football program is given by the university president. It’s ridiculous,” says Mr. Czeniuk.
“It sends the wrong message that sports trumps everything at their university.” That has happened because of the amount of money football brings to the university and how important football is to alumni who make donations, he says. "I don’t think Tressel is the only one to blame. University leadership needs to take serious stock and make sure that they are promoting the right things and values.”
After The Tornado: The Lone Competitor Left At Joplin High (5.29.11) by Tom Bergeron, Yahoo Sports
After a tornado wreaked havoc on Joplin, MO, high school junior pole vaulter Mariah Sanders had to decide whether or not to compete in the state meet. Sport in Society Executive Director Dan Lebowitz says Sanders' trip to the state meet is part of the healing process for more than just her.
"You need some sort of common bond to give you collective strength in times of despair and toughness," he says. "(Sports) is a common landscape, a common language. No matter what your race or your religion or your ethnicity or your socio-economic background, sports speaks to us all. Tragedy doesn't discriminate, either. If there is a horrific event, rich people are hurt and poor people are hurt and so is everyone in between. A tornado can wipe out an entire town. This girl epitomizes this hope against ruin -- it can flow throughout the community and speak to the larger world beyond the athletic field."
Use gay slurs controversy to tackle homophobia in sports (5.27.11) by Lateef Mungin, CNN
Gay slurs hurled by three different athletes in the last month is more than just testosterone-fueled temper tantrums. The behavior is symptomatic of a deeper problem and should be used as an opportunity to tackle homophobia in professional sports.
"Kobe Bryant, Joakim Noah and Roger McDowell are not any different from many people in our society who use offensive language like that on a daily basis," said Jarrod Chin. "These incidents provide a real opportunity for the NBA and MLB to take a strong stance against homophobia." "Male professional sports do have an issue with homophobia, but so does society in general. The NBA and MLB are great vehicles for educating folks about this issue and could really turn these negative events into a positive teachable moment."
Amid more doping allegations and probes, Lance Armstrong battles back (5.24.11) by Ron Scherer, Christian Science Monitor
When he was in the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong was known for his incredible ability to get his bicycle up steep hills before most other riders. Now, Armstrong faces an onslaught of allegations by some past colleagues that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the grueling race. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has been investigating to see if any fraud was committed.
“You don’t want to tear down an icon,” says Dan Lebowitz. “He is someone who has stood for American values of overcoming great odds and obstacles and standing up for a cause that benefits many.” However, if the allegations of illicit drug use are true, “We want to call him out on that issue. Cheating to get to the highest level is not commendable.”
DNA testing for sports genes (5.23.11) Fox 25 News
At least two companies have begun selling tests that claim to help match children with the sports they are genetically programmed to excel at. "What we've done is we've taken something that's humane, the enjoyment and healthy development of youth sports and we somehow attach a professionalized framework to it, which opens us up to ethics and [overbearing parents]. There's probably a million athletes out there who are playing a sport that they didn't start out in, or that they didn't think they were great in, so everything in life is an experiment, in success and failure"
Phoenix Suns President Rick Welts told The New York Times that he is gay, becoming the first man in a prominent position in men’s professional sports to go public with his homosexuality. Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director at Sport in Sociey, commented on the state of gay athletes in professional sports.
"Professional sports are a performance-based structure, but a successful, high-profile gay athlete would face similar burdens to those confronted by players like African-American quarterback Doug Williams…Success changes the game, as well as the conversation about the ignorance of false perception. Nations and notions change when people and leaders forge ahead," said Lebowitz. "Rick Welts has opened the door for those leaders to emerge."
Violating the spirit of Title IX (5-10-11) by Jason Kornowitz, news@Northeastern
Pressured to comply with Title IX, many collegiate athletic programs have resorted to deception by padding women’s rosters with under-qualified athletes, no-show athletes and male practice players counted as women, according to an in-depth investigation by the New York Times. Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director of Sport in Society, weighed in on the impact of technically legal roster management practices on fans, athletes and athletic programs.
"There are people in positions of leadership within higher education who are setting a horrible example for student-athletes with regard to honesty, character, fairness and sportsmanship — the core values that students should be exposed to via participation in college athletics," said Czesniuk. "Roster management is counterintuitive to everything that collegiate athletics and the National Collegiate Athletic Association have purported to cultivate and instill in students across the country, in all divisions of play."
Sports have become too much (5-5-11) by Jennifer Gish, Albany Times Union
Sports are supposed to offer life lessons: teamwork, handling defeat, working hard toward a goal, performing under pressure. They give kids a place to belong, a rung on the social ladder of high school. But there's a new perception in high school athletics that kids have to participate on travel teams to make their school squads. Couple this with other bad plays in youth sports -- irate parents on the sidelines, kids with personal trainers -- and it seems we've forgotten why high schools decided to offer baseball and basketball alongside algebra and art class in the first place. Dan Lebowitz spoke with the Albany Times Union on the state of youth sports.
"Are we at such a point where we can't accept anything less than a 300-pound lineman who can run the 40 in 4.5? We've put unreasonable, superhuman expectations on professional sports, and that's trickled down. We need, as a society, to think about what the joy of sports really is...When a tsunami of negative culture comes at you like that, a lot of times people just embrace the hopelessness of it, and they say it's futile," said Lebowitz. We believe the first step in changing high school sports culture requires talking about its problems.
Traveling an uncertain path (5-5-11) by Pete Iorizzo, Albany Times Union
Travel teams at the high school level are professionalizing youth sports and placing undue pressure on performance and specialization, rather emphasizing love of the game and the values it can provide. "We've lost the beauty of what amateurism is, and there is a beauty to amateurism, a playfulness," said Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz.
High school football scouting combines make more dollars than sense in wake of Lamont Baldwin injury (4-15-11) by Preston Williams, Washington Post
After a high school student athlete spent almost a week in the hospital as a result of an injury suffered at a football combine, Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, spoke with the Washington Post on the significance of football combines at the high school level. "We’ve sort of squeezed the dynamic of fun with youth sports and replaced it with a corporate structure of development, down to nearly the fifth-grade level...Once you do that, you create a cultural mind-set that you have to do this not only to compete, but to be considered a competitor...People start confusing what it’s going to take to get to where they want to go, or confusing the right vehicle to get there, and they sort of get herded into these arenas — combines or AAU programs that are detrimental to their developmental growth."
Kobe Bryant Slur (4-14-11) by Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
Jarrod Chin, Director of Training at Sport in Society, spoke with the Christian Science Monitor about the NBA's Kobe Bryant hurling a homophobic slur at a referee. Chin said, "it is language that a lot of men use in our society without knowing what it really means and how ignorant and hurtful it is.” He went on to explain that “when you use that word ... you are calling out that person to prove that they are really a man, and to do that, they have to assert it through physical violence.”
Sports costs give affluent high schools a big edge (3-16-11) by Patrick Dorsey, Indianapolis Star
Participation in sports today is often associated with significant costs; costs which can limit opportunities for youth depending on their families' financial status. Sport in Society Senior Associate Director, Dave Czesniuk, spoke with the Indianapolis Star on the subject, explaining that "it's prohibitive all around...a very pyramid-like structure. As you (move up) from the every level to middle school to high school to college, the opportunities become less and less."
Miguel Cabrera's issues are bad PR for Tigers (3-11-11) by Lynn Henning
Sport in Society's Dave Czesniuk highlights the important role teams must play in supporting the development of their players off the field, and the influence that a team's development of socially responsible players has on its bottom line.
"[Cabrera's] comments that were captured (on video) kind of reflect a distorted view of his place in society...This is not to let Cabrera off the hook — he's completely and totally responsible for what's happened — but if teams are going to put money out there to promote their brand, there's also got to be some kind of management of those egos.” said Czesniuk.
Fans on Fire: A Consuming Passion (2-4-11)
Dan Lebowitz spoke to South Coast Today about sports fanatics and the unifying power of sports. "There's a beauty just in fanhood alone," he says. "Even if you're a fan of a different team, you're still a fellow fan. It keeps the social continuum moving forward."
Football Concussions (2-1-11) with Callie Crossley, WGBH
With football fans across the country gearing up for the Superbowl this Sunday, Dan Lebowitz joined Chris Nowinski and Dr. Ann McKee on WGBH's The Callie Crossley Show to take a look at the toll that football concussions can take on players from high school to the NFL.
ESPN Announcer's Behavior Is Indicative of Larger Societal Issues (1-4-11)
Sport in Society's Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, spoke with Paul Farhi of the Washington Post about an event that transpired over the weekend between ESPN's Ron Franklin and Jeannine Edwards.
Lebowitz said that the behavior is not unique to ESPN, but in fact reflects a larger social issue of how women are mistreated. He remarked that ESPN "has sent a message" that such conduct won't be tolerated, by firing or suspending employees whose behavior crossed the line.
"It just mimics an inherent ill in our society. It's more a reflection of overall societal behavior where women are mistreated in the workplace. Whether it's the investment industry or the entertainment industry or something else, it's across the board. It just seems more sensational at ESPN because they're a very public entity."
Added Lebowitz, "There's still an awful long way to go in terms of teachable moments for men to understand proper workplace conduct and to treat women as equals."
Rivalry Shouldn't Bring Out The Worst In Fans (11-23-10)
Sport in Society's Jarrod Chin spoke with Sara Israelsen-Hartley about the levels of rivalry in sports - and what happens when fans take rivalry to extremes.
"Sometimes people make analogies to sport as war," Chin said. "When we're looking at sport as war we have a really distorted perspective on it, especially with us being in two wars currently. We know the sacrifices families are making, soldiers are making."
If fans considered the men and women serving in the military and the "true cost of war," Chin said, hopefully they'd drop the 'battle' and 'war' lingo and instead, correctly call them what they are — games.
Hazing Hits Close To Home (11-9-10)
Sport in Society's Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, appeared on WGBH on "Greater Boston” with Emily Rooney to open dialogue about the issue of hazing. With the recent suspension of five women and a coach from the Needham High School soccer team, in response to an incident of hazing, it is more pertinent than ever to challenge thinking and inspire leadership around this issue. Lebowitz explains: “When you talk about team-building, you want it to be positive, instructive, and inclusive. You don’t want it be negative, or destructive, or exclusive. You have to establish a code of conduct and rightful rules of engagement.”
For a list of alternatives to hazing, see this list.
Fan Favorite Seau Goes Over The Edge (10-19-10)
Former Patriots linebacker Junior Seau had a Hall of Fame football career and was a fan favorite in the multiple cities in which he played. So when news of his domestic violence arrest and his driving his car over a California cliff surfaced yesterday, it left some questioning what led the likeable, respected and popular athlete to allegedly commit those acts.
“When you’re no longer in the league, the human support usually isn’t there anymore,” said Dave Czesniuk, the director of operations at Northeastern University’s Sport in Society center. “In this case, we’re talking 20 years without having to worry about your own coping skills ... and then to enter this void, that can be a real hard thing.”
Czesniuk said reports of Seau allegedly abusing his 25-year-old live-in girlfriend were awful and that it’s a pervasive problem that garners a higher level of attention when an athlete is involved. “They’re public figures and the public eye catches them, but the problem itself is societywide,” he said.
Seau told police he wasn’t trying to kill himself and had fallen asleep at the wheel, according to TMZ. He is hardly the first athlete accused of domestic violence; the issue is one of the reasons behind the creation of the center’s Mentors in Violence Prevention program that teaches athletes about coping skills and dealing with issues like domestic abuse, racism and gun violence. Some professional sports leagues, including the National Football League, offer athletes counseling on violent crime issues. Seau spent four years with the Patriots. He recently starred in his own television show, owns a restaurant in San Diego and is founder of the Junior Seau Foundation. He is a divorced father of four.
Foul Language Football Chant Making Some Cringe (9-17-10)
A football chant with foul language is gaining popularity on campuses all over the country, and now it's come to Boston College. The taunt, which typically originates in the student section, comes when the home team gets a first down. It goes "1-2-3 First Down… (bleep)" The omitted word rhymes with witch. The chant has even has a following on Facebook, and has sparked a debate on the social networking site.
At Boston College, WBZ couldn't find any students who approved of the cheer. "There's probably a good happy medium, you don't have to be too safe, but this is probably not the best choice," said one student. Another said, "I would think they could find something else to cheer."
It's nothing new when college kids turn the school fight song into a Richard Pryor monologue. But this cheer is making some fans cringe.
"I think it's a little inappropriate and some people have been talking about it recently," said Andrew Blue, a BC student. At Northeastern University, researchers at Sport In Society say vulgar cheers are becoming almost commonplace. But this one, in particular, is troublesome from a societal standpoint. "It has racist connotations. It has gender connotations that are negative," explained Dan Lebowitz, of Northeastern's Sport In Society.
Boston College officials and the alumni association had no comment about this controversy.
College Football, Minnesota Vikings, and "Real Men Do Cry" (9-8-10)
On September 11th the University of South Dakota will play Minnesota, and on September 25th South Dakota State University is scheduled to play Nebraska. USD and SDSU are subdivision teams about to face-off against powerhouse, Division-1 teams. The question is why would subdivision teams want to compete in “mismatched” games?
On September 8th Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Northeastern University’s Sport in Society, gave his analyses to Paul Guggenheimer on the Dakota Midday Public Broadcast.
“There’s great exposure for the school, and there’s enrichment for both academics and athletics [from these games,]” Dan explained. They are “great for marketing both your academic and athletic programs and for teaching your athletes how to face great adversity and challenge.”
In response to why teams would almost seem to set themselves up for failure Dan commented that “sport is about failure and positive response to that failure. For instance, if you get 3 hits in every 10 at bats that’s great, but that’s still a 70% failure rate”.
Dan listed “pride, memories, sportsmanship, and lessons in life skills,” as among the many upsides of competing in these “mismatched” games. He pointed out that UCONN started off as a subdivision football team and is now a powerful Division-1 team.
Lop-sided games promote leadership and resilience in players. “If you get knocked down you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep on going...And of course, there is always the possibility of winning.
Quinnipiac Case Proves More To Do For Female Athletes (7-27-10) NECN Morning
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that cheerleading is not a sport that would keep Quinnipiac University in compliance with Title IX, the 1972 federal law mandating equal educational and athletic opportunities for men and women.
Dave Czesniuk of Sport in Society at Northeastern University Center said on NECN Morning cheerleading has come a long way in recent years, but that was not enough in the court's eyes.
"It's gotten over a lot of stigma over the last 10, 15 years," Czesniuk said. "You're now seeing coed cheerleading teams in some of the bigger schools. There's year-round training, there are national level competitions."
"It's not yet taken on enough of a foothold that there's enough competition to warrant it being viewed as another Division I, II or II sport, but I think the momentum is certainly there," Czesniuk said. "It has to start somewhere."
Quinnipiac has 60 days to develop a plan to keep the volleyball team through next season and comply with gender rules. But damage from this case may already be done.
"What's troublesome with this case is it's almost pitting one group of female athletes against another group of female athletes," Czesniuk said. "In any case, we're still trying to move that cause forward."
Bigger Stronger Faster: Doping, Training, and Human Evolution, and How Sports Change as Players Get Huge
Floyd Landis's admission that he did indeed take performance-enhancing drugs is one of the least shocking sports headlines in recent memory. In fact, the idea that doping scandals are still making news might be more surprising: illegal drug use exists in all major sports. It's a vicious cycle: players get bigger as the sport evolves, others feel the need to take performance-enhancing drugs to compete, and they get even bigger as a result.
Football has always been a game of brutes, but the players have gotten larger and the hits harder as the years go on. The increase of on-field force is translating into concussions, post-career injuries, early-onset dementia, and painkiller addiction. "Think about the impact of two individuals colliding that are both bigger, faster, stronger," says Dan Lebowitz, director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. "What's a human body designed to take?"
A Basketball Program Rises by Dipping Lower By Daniel Libit
On a recent evening at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Mac Irvin gazed out the glass window of the basketball coach’s lounge to the practice court below.
While Irvin and others have succeeded at what they set out to do, some raise questions about the impact on the young players who are funneled into the basketball system.
“Anytime you take specialization down to that young of an age, you pervert the essence of sports,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Sport in Society center at Northeastern University. “There are just too many urban kids funneled into two major sports, and there are only so many spots.”
Sport Teach Lessons (3-8-10) By Taft Coghill, Jr., Fredericksburg News
High school and middle school athletics are under intense scrutiny. School systems are getting less money as the nation copes with the recession.
Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University's Sport in Society program, said that's a mistake. He said high school athletics are "utterly essential" to society.
"If you lose high school athletics or athletics at any level, the whole important lesson of cooperation gets lost," Lebowitz said. For many students, athletics are more important than academics.
He said sports teach conflict-resolution skills and how to work with others. They also give coaches leadership skills that they often take to administration, and promote diversity.
"Not everyone on a basketball or football team looks alike," Caroline Assistant Superintendent Eric Cunningham said.
Lebowitz said student athletes learn things they don't pick up in the classroom, where they mostly work individually.
IMG starting high school national championships (1-25-10) 
High school sports' creep onto the national stage could become a charge. Sports, entertainment and marketing giant IMG will announce today that it is stepping into the arena, joining a Pennsylvania-based high school coaches' association in launching a series of national championship events — most involving state all-star teams — at its Brandenton Fla., training academy.
The venture comes as the National Federation of State High School Associations, the umbrella organization for state high school governing bodies, gives its first serious consideration to the establishment of sanctioned national championships.
The moves heighten concerns that high school sports are following college athletics' evolution from extracurricular activity to high-stakes, high-pressure commercial enterprise. "How much longer is it," says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, "before we're at the middle school level?"
Many hurdles remain to national titles (1-25-10)
As national rankings proliferated, as elite teams traveled farther and farther from home to test and prove themselves and more of their games found their way onto national television, the Indianapolis-based organization that oversees high school sports held firm on one front: no national championships.
"It ratchets up the microscope that kids operate under. And obviously, it then ratchets up the pressure," says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society.
2020 Vision (1-2-10)
Expanding business here, there and everywhere is the American way. But Peter Roby, the athletic director at Northeastern and a former director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, said that big-time college sports was in for a government-induced smackdown.
“I’ve been speculating that Congress is going to get involved, taking a hard look at the fund-raising, the multimillion-dollar salaries for football and basketball coaches and asking, how is this connected to the mission of higher education and tax exemptions?” said Roby, whose administration recently shut down its football program. “We already have the precedent with baseball.”
Police put on a show to educate HS students (12-16-09)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -In a town where football players are treated like Hollywood stars, police are holding their own workshops with the actors.
Officers in Columbus, home of the lionized Ohio State Buckeyes, are visiting high schools to teach the next generation of gridiron greats that they are not invincible. Re-enacting scenarios gleaned from the streets, they share tips on how athletes should conduct themselves during encounters with the law.
"I can't find fault with a program that tries to create a dialogue between high school athletes and police,'' said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. "But it's about how that dialogue is created - and how open both sides are to hearing it.''
Lebowitz, who has not heard of similar efforts elsewhere, cautioned that police should teach the athletes in a way that's not condescending.
"Conflict can get escalated on both sides of the equation,'' he said.
Aftermath of wild drive has Tiger Woods' image in hazard (12-9-09)
For years, Tiger Woods was the world's best-known athlete, even though his crafted image allowed the public to see virtually none of his private life.
"I can't think of any other athlete who's been placed higher on the pedestal," said Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. "I think that may be the sensation we're getting. Now that we realize he's got some imperfections, it's tougher to swallow than maybe any other athlete ever."
"There are untold dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of professional athletes who have done worse things than what Tiger Woods did," said Satterfield, formerly of The Miami Herald. "But I'm not sure anybody had projected an image as squeaky-clean and wonderful as Tiger's."
Czesniuk: "That's why we've had such a strong, visceral reaction."
The faster Tiger Woods the man can return to being Tiger Woods the golfer, the better. Will it take time to shake personal problems and dominate again?(He is, after all, human.) Or will he roar from Day 1? (Witness how well he performed despite the loss of his father and while playing on a knee that required surgery).
Unfortunately for Woods, this is golf's off-season.
"That's the biggest problem right now," Czesniuk said. "There is too much downtime — idle hands in the devil's playground, or idle eyes, as the case may be. I hope this doesn't turn into the same sort of level like Michael Jackson or the royal family."
Study: Grad rates between blacks, whites widening among bowl-bound college football teams (12-08-09) 
The disparity between graduation rates for white and black college football players at schools headed to bowl games grew slightly this year, according to a study released Monday.
Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Northeastern University's Sport in Society, said analysts will have to monitor those figures next year to see if it's the beginning of a trend.
"It's enough to get this conversation started," Czesniuk said. "But to actually create change, you'll have to dig deeper."
Tiger Woods - Too Good to Be True (12-08-09)
Less than two weeks ago, Tiger Woods was the world's greatest golfer and a sports hero to millions from Singapore to Scotland.
Now he has become the butt of a million jokes, and worse — just another famous husband who cheated on his wife and two children.
“No one has approached this level of perfection on and off the playing surface, maybe ever, without a single blot or tarnish,” said Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Northeastern University's Centre for the Study of Sport in Society in Boston, Massachusetts.
“The real story here is the meeting of expectations with reality,” he said. “The guy's a human being and we forget that.”
Woods' fall from grace rekindles role-model debate (12-3-09) by David Crary
Tiger Woods was different, or so he seemed, with his unmatchable talent and carefully burnished image. Unlike some pro athletes, he had welcomed being a role model. He was, it turns out, too good to be true, and his fall from grace calls into question the very idea of sports hero worship.
"No one has approached this level of perfection on and off the playing surface, maybe ever, without a single blot or tarnish," said Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society.
"The real story here is the meeting of expectations with reality," Czesniuk said. "The guy's a human being and we forget that."
Tonight on NECN News at 5 Sport in Society's Own Dave Czesniuk (12-2-09)
Dave Czesniuk, director of opperations at Sport in Society, comments on Tiger Woods' recent admission of "transgressions" in is personal life.
Women in Sports discussed on WGBH's Greater Boston 
(11-24-09) Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport In Society, joined former Olympian and Boston Breakers Captain Christine Lilly to discussed womens sports on WGBH's Greater Boston.
Manny Pacquiao is hope for battered Filipino community 
(11-12-09) by Zachary R. Dowdy and Robert Cassidy
After typhoons ravaged their homeland, Filipinos look to boxer Manny Pacquiao to lift their spirits. Pacquiao captured Filipinos' imagination and became one with national identity, said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University.
Girls Soccer Violence: How can it be stopped? by Yahoo! Sports (11-12-09)
In a story about Girls in a Rhode Island high school soccer game that were involved in an all-out brawl. The story surfaced after a video of a New Mexico women's soccer player became an Internet sensation for its stunning examples of poor sportsmanship, if not on-field violence.
Some see these incidents as just another example of a sports world out of control. Dan Lebowitz, the executive director for the center of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston, sees it as a potential learning lesson.
"A lot of times people will sweep it under the rug and say it's where we are moving in our culture," he said.
He disagrees.
"This has to do with leadership and the code of ethics that our coaches set," he said. "Maybe we're not doing a good job at modeling behavior or setting ethical standards that need to be followed. That moves up and down the ladder."
Coaches' accountability questioned after Crossland fight (11-11-09)
The rare, wholesale firing of seven Crossland High School football coaches after players were involved in a scuffle has raised a debate in Prince George's County about the behavior of student athletes and the accountability of coaches in controlling athletes' behavior on and off the field.
Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport In Society, a nonprofit research and advocacy center at Northeastern University in Boston that supports social and racial justice through involvement in sports, said accountability for player behavior is an unwritten part of being a coach, and that the accountability goes beyond matters of policy.
"There's a subliminal policy that's already there, whether or not it's written," Lebowitz said. "All coaches are supposed to instill a code of ethics and an undercurrent of what sportsmanship is supposed to be."
He added that written policies in and of themselves will not eliminate unsportsmanlike conduct.
"You try to teach leadership, but you can't dictate behavior or legislate behavior, policy or not," he said.
Dan Lebowitz on WBZ TV news
(11-9-09) Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, comments on the most recent violent incident on a women's sporting event in Rhode Island. Lebowitz discussed the pervasive violence in society and the inevitability that that violence would spill onto the field of play.
Teaching Kids to Respond to Violent Crime (10-30-09) By Johannah Cornblatt, Newsweek 
In a story about the rape of a young girl and the dozens of witnesses that stood by and did nothing the MVP program is cited as a solution to passivity among young people. The MVP (Mentors in Violence Prevention) program, which was developed in 1993 at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sports in Society, tries to teach students how to stop violence when they see it. The MVP program involves a two-day training period for teachers, coaches, and administrators, who then return to their schools equipped to train their students. “Most people think they only have two choices for intervention,” says Jackson Katz, a cofounder of the program and an architect of the bystander approach. “One is to intervene physically right at the point of attack, and the other is to do nothing. And that’s a false set of choices.” As part of the MVP program, students sit in a classroom and talk about the menu of options—from getting a group of friends together to calling 911—available to them. At the heart of the program is a set of scenarios that allow students to imagine what they might do in a variety of situations. Each scenario comes with a list of viable interventions for bystanders.
Crew: Nordecke a boon and a bane, but here to stay (10-24-09) by Shawn Mitchell 
In a story about growing pains in fandom of the MLS team the Crew Sport in Society Director Dan Lebowitz comments. "(The Crew) is in a quandary," said Dan Lebowitz, Northeastern University Sport in Society program director."People want fanaticism, but that doesn't come without baggage."
It has also raised questions as Major League Soccer and the Crew wind down their 14th season: Is an American soccer stadium a venue for antiseptic family entertainment or a house that plays host to the rabid and risqu? Can it be both?
Students learn what a "Real Man" really is
(10-23-09) October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month — a time to “Be a Real Man.”
That was the message of an Oct. 7 program at UMass Dartmouth, sponsored by the Greater New Bedford Domestic Violence and Youth Empowerment Committees in partnership with the UMass Dartmouth Women's Resource Center and Sport in Society, Northeastern University Center.
More than 200 young men — junior and senior high school students from throughout SouthCoast — participated in the event.
The conference opened with a talk by Dan Lebowitz, director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, who spoke about what it takes to “Be A Real Man” in a healthy relationship, not an abuser.
Analysis: Limbaugh's words keep him from a dream (10-22-09)Rush Limbaugh getting axed from a group trying to buy an NFL team was bigger than Rush Limbaugh. The conservative radio provocateur said it himself.
"This is about the future of the United States of America and what kind of country we're going to have," Limbaugh said Wednesday, shortly before his bid to become a limited partner in the St. Louis Rams was terminated.
"This reflects where we're moving in an ethical nature," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for Sports and Society at Northeastern University.
"The league has 78 percent African-American players," Lebowitz said. "Do you bring in someone who has made racist statements to own a team that's largely made up of players the owner has made slurring statements about?"
With Limbaugh out, Faulk to join bid?(10-16-09) Conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh lashed out at NFL union leader DeMaurice Smith, activists Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and the media a day after being dropped from a group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams. "This reflects where we're moving in an ethical nature," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport and Society at Northeastern University.
"The league has 78 percent African-American players," Lebowitz said. "Do you bring in someone who has made racist statements to own a team that's largely made up of players the owner has made slurring statements about?"
Analysis: Limbaugh's words keep him from a dream
By JESSE WASHINGTON AP National Writer
(10-15-09) Rush Limbaugh axed from a group trying to buy an NFL team. The decision to dump Limbaugh says that in today's America, regardless of wealth or fame, divisive racial rhetoric can place some things out of reach. "This reflects where we're moving in an ethical nature," said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for Sports and Society at Northeastern University.
"The league has 78 percent African-American players," Lebowitz said. "Do you bring in someone who has made racist statements to own a team that's largely made up of players the owner has made slurring statements about?"
Perkins and Daniels to Kick Off Celtics Stay in School Program
(10-14-09) The Celtics will visit Boston public middle schools throughout the season to motivate students and emphasize the importance of staying in school. Top students will be honored for academic success and perfect attendance at the end of each year. The Stay in School program, presented by Arbella Insurance, is a collaboration of efforts from the Celtics, New England Sports Museum, Northeastern University Center for the Study of Sport in Society, and Boston Public Schools.
Coach's alleged attack on assistant adds rancor to rocky Raiders season
By Sam Stanton and Paul Gutierrez
(10-17-09) Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society a Center at Northeastern University in Boston, said that under Goodell, the NFL has signaled that it will not sweep aside serious allegations like those facing Cable.
"I think overall the NFL as a league is doing a real good job in providing leadership," Lebowitz said, pointing to its handling of quarterback Michael Vick's legal woes and Goodell's strong statements about the possibility of radio commentator Rush Limbaugh buying into an NFL franchise.
"Goodell will do a real good job looking at this issue," Lebowitz added. "He's value-driven and mission-led, and he leads by example."
Sport in Society Director Dan Lebowitz on WBGH's Greater Boston
(10-13-09) Tuesday night, Sport in Society Director Dan Lebowitz joined a panel of experts on WGBH's Greater Boston to discuss Rush Limbaugh's interest in joining a group looking to purchase the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. Said Lebowitz, "We have a global mission of inclusion, and rush Limbaugh has an ideology of exclusion. His past comments about African American cannot exist in a vacuum, particularly when he trying to buy a team in a league where 78% of the players are African Americans. The league as the right to review every action on an individual basis; this is no different than a player action."
Despite Serena's apology, aftershocks abound (9-16-09)
Dave Czesniuk, of Sports in Society at Northeastern University in Boston, isn't quite as stunned, and points to the context of the sport. "The extreme reaction comes from one, tennis is an individual sport, and two, the perceived demure nature of women's tennis."
Helping Hand (9-14-09)
The sports philanthropy movement is “just gaining momentum,” according to Eli Wolff, manager of research and advocacy for Sport in Society. “There’s sort of a societal recognition around service and community. There’s more of an integration of the sports culture."
Sports and social responsibility: From handout to handshake
Eli Wolff, manager of research and advocacy at Sport in Society at Northeastern University, commented: “While we are seeing a trend of increased social responsibility activities in sport, we still need to develop appropriate and substantive measurement and evaluation tools that take into account both financial and nonfinancial returns. But I am encouraged. The need to treat social responsibility with the same importance as other major elements of sports business — facilities, sponsorships — is being better realized. In the Center’s work with teams, academics, and nonprofits, we are having success bringing attention to the quality and sustainability of such activities.”