Brian Rosario
Rosario Joins WBCA Social Justice Task Force
8/12/2020 2:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's basketball assistant coach Brian Rosario was named to the newly formed Women's Basketball Coaches' Association Social Justice Task Force, the organization announced on Wednesday.
The Task Force functions under the auspices of the association's Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is focused on promoting racial equality in three areas: hiring practices, training and education, and advocacy and awareness. The task force held its first meeting on July 14.
The WBCA also announced that it was joining the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Committee on Racial Reconciliation in supporting the West Coast Conference's "Russell Rule." Named for Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, who played collegiately for the University of San Francisco, a West Coast Conference member, the "Russell Rule" is a conference-wide diversity hiring commitment that requires each WCC member institution to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and full-time assistant coaching position in its athletic department. Announced on Aug. 3, the rule was unanimously adopted by the presidents of the league's 10 member institutions. The Task Force recommended the WBCA's support of the initiative as a means of promoting diversity in the candidate pools when colleges fill coaching vacancies.
"To be asked to work with such forward-thinking coaches, administrators, and executives was such an honor," said Rosario. "Our society is experiencing a product from generations of systemic racism and we now find ourselves at a moment where we have an opportunity to bend the arch of our nation's moral compass closer to justice. The Task Force will be focused on Black Justice in the areas of hiring, education and training and advocacy. I'm excited that we are doing the work for the generations that come after."
In addition to Rosario, the task force is composed of the following individuals:
For more information on the "Russell Rule," visit the West Coast Conference website at www.wccsports.com. To stay up-to-date on programming, initiatives, resources and education from the WBCA Diversity & Inclusion Committee and the WBCA Social Justice Task Force, visit the WBCA Diversity & Inclusion page and follow the WBCA on social media (@WBCA1981).
The Task Force functions under the auspices of the association's Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is focused on promoting racial equality in three areas: hiring practices, training and education, and advocacy and awareness. The task force held its first meeting on July 14.
The WBCA also announced that it was joining the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Committee on Racial Reconciliation in supporting the West Coast Conference's "Russell Rule." Named for Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, who played collegiately for the University of San Francisco, a West Coast Conference member, the "Russell Rule" is a conference-wide diversity hiring commitment that requires each WCC member institution to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and full-time assistant coaching position in its athletic department. Announced on Aug. 3, the rule was unanimously adopted by the presidents of the league's 10 member institutions. The Task Force recommended the WBCA's support of the initiative as a means of promoting diversity in the candidate pools when colleges fill coaching vacancies.
"To be asked to work with such forward-thinking coaches, administrators, and executives was such an honor," said Rosario. "Our society is experiencing a product from generations of systemic racism and we now find ourselves at a moment where we have an opportunity to bend the arch of our nation's moral compass closer to justice. The Task Force will be focused on Black Justice in the areas of hiring, education and training and advocacy. I'm excited that we are doing the work for the generations that come after."
In addition to Rosario, the task force is composed of the following individuals:
- Tracy Ellis-Ward, Social Justice Task Force co-chair, Big East associate commissioner and member of the WBCA Diversity & Inclusion Committee
- Charmin Smith, Social Justice Task Force co-chair, University of California-Berkley head coach and WBCA Board of Directors and Diversity & Inclusion Committee member
- Tyler Bates, head coach, Loudonville High School (Ohio)
- Diahann Billings-Burford, CEO, RISE
- Bo Browder, head coach, Xavier University of Louisiana
- Blake DuDonis, head coach, University of Wisconsin-River Falls
- Josh Edwards, assistant coach, College of Southern Idaho
- Shawn Heilbron, athletic director, Stony Brook University.
- Gene Hill, head coach, Georgia State University.
- Takiyah Jackson, director, African American Student Development Office and Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center, University of California, Berkeley.
- Christy Martin, head coach, Saint Martin's University.
- Delise O'Meally, CEO, Institute for Sport and Social Justice, University of Central Florida.
- Coquese Washington, associate head coach, University of Notre Dame.
For more information on the "Russell Rule," visit the West Coast Conference website at www.wccsports.com. To stay up-to-date on programming, initiatives, resources and education from the WBCA Diversity & Inclusion Committee and the WBCA Social Justice Task Force, visit the WBCA Diversity & Inclusion page and follow the WBCA on social media (@WBCA1981).
