Black Domers: Veterans Day

Notre Dame’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Culture, Diversity, and Engagement Angie Torain welcomed alumni Kevin Hawkins ’81, Indi Jackson ’17, and Corey Robinson ’17 to share their experiences as student-athletes of color at Notre Dame and to offer insights on current social justice efforts. Torain kicked off the event by offering all three guests to introduce themselves and briefly share their Notre Dame student-athlete experience.

Hawkins took this opportunity to speak about his experience growing up in an environment where he was a Black student in a crowd of White students. He went on to explain how this caused Hawkins to be accustomed to being the odd man out and how this continued at Notre Dame. Robinson and Jackson both recognized that the Notre Dame community has largely expanded since Hawkins’ time at Notre Dame to include students of color, crediting the Notre Dame network for providing opportunities during and after their time as student athletes. Robinson went on to explain how he was surrounded by those who pushed him and was always able to reach out to alumni for support. Torain also took time to chime in on Notre Dame’s alumni network, mentioning how she is not a Notre Dame graduate but still, in her few years since starting her position, noticed the impressive willingness of alumni to offer their help to students.  

Torain shifted the discussion to being a student-athlete at Notre Dame and asked the guests to share some lessons that they learned during that time. Jackson started off by reminiscing when she tore her ACL, calling it an eye-opening moment. She explained how her injury taught her to commit to whatever she was doing and to strive for greatness. She also explained how she took this lesson to tackle social justice and that it taught her to not be complacent with society and to demand equality. Torain added to this, speaking to her own experience as a former student-athlete and remembering the life lessons she learned from working with her teammates. Hawkins also briefly mentioned how being a student-athlete taught him to examine things in greater depth and expanded his worldview, adding that he believes Notre Dame particularly promotes this lesson. 

Torain then opened the floor for the speakers to offer any advice on how to use their voices for social justice. Hawkins told the audience to find something that breaks their heart and to use that emotion to drive your social efforts. Robinson emphasized the power of understanding, urging others to invite their peers into conversations about social issues. Jackson spoke about her own experience being the Black person whom others looked to for insights about racial injustice and talked about becoming comfortable educating others about social issues they might be ignorant to. She then called on students to be willing to use their voices and share their experiences to reveal the truths of injustice. 

As Torain began to wrap up the discussion, Hawkins shared an emotional moment, expressing awe of how far Notre Dame has come in regard to racial equality. Robinson also ended with a brief statement about how racial injustice is still prevalent in places like universities and acknowledges that there is still much work to be done. 

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