Sport in Society in The News
Girls Soccer Violence: How can it be stopped?
(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) Don't miss Dan Lebowitz on WBZ TV! He commented 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.
Bystanders No More: Teaching Kids to Respond to Violent Crime 
By Johannah Cornblatt of Newsweek
(10-30-09) 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.”
Michael Vick tops in jersey sales
(9-11-09) Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society, says citizens have a chance to look at themselves introspectively through Vick.