By Valeria Vazquez, The Enterprise (Brockton)
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- When Marybeth Lamb started at Bridgewater State University, she never thought her work would win her department an NCAA award.
In fact, in July 2012, when Lamb became athletic director and created the first transgender-inclusive student-athlete policy in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference, she was just thinking about making future LGBTQ student-athletes comfortable.
Nonetheless, the BSU Department of Athletics and Recreation won the 2020 Division III LGBTQ Athletics Department/Conference of the Year Award at the virtual NCAA convention Jan. 13. The new award recognizes athletic departments that demonstrate efforts to create and sustain an LGBTQ-inclusive environment.
"It's such an honor and it was something that we were nominated for and so we were hopeful, but certainly not expecting that we would be recognized as the athletic department of the year," Lamb said. "So when we got that call from the NCAA that we got chosen, it was just an amazing feeling to be recognized by the NCAA Working Group, which is comprised of your peers on a national level. Bridgewater has always been committed to diversity and inclusion, and we never think of it as doing anything extraordinary, but just rather doing the right thing."
Lamb read the student-athlete handbook front to back when she started working at BSU and noticed a trans-inclusive policy was missing. Around the same time, the NCAA started sharing LGBTQ-inclusive resources for athletic departments to adopt. With these resources and help from the university's Pride Center, Lamb began to fill in the gaps.
"In my mind, it was an easy fix," Lamb said. "We never thought of this as groundbreaking or 'Let's be transformative,' but rather it's just the right thing to do. I look at it as an easy fix. It just wasn't there, so we've put it in."
The fix involved designating a gender-neutral bathroom, educating student-athletes and staff about transgender identities, letting athletes choose the uniform they are most comfortable in, creating a committee to help transitioning student-athletes determine which team they want to compete on, and writing an explicit policy in the student-athlete handbook so athletes know what options are available to them.
"We're committed to making sure that our students of the LGBTQ community really do feel welcome," Lamb said. "Whether it's on a team level or whether it's having student-athletes who feel that they can compete without reprisal or a negative environment, our coaches are committed to providing that environment."
Since the creation of the trans-inclusive policy, two transgender student-athletes have used the resources provided and guaranteed by the policy.
"What's great about that is because we already had it in place, it wasn't something they felt they had to fight for to be included or to be recognized, because it was already in place," Lamb said.
Another key component to BSU's LGBTQ-inclusive environment is the athletes themselves. Lamb said the school's student-athletes have been accepting of transgender student-athletes on their teams and have created an inclusive environment for all LGBTQ teammates.
Thomas Scalese, a sophomore on the men's swimming and diving team, said the award means a lot to him.
"As someone who only came out a few months before I came to college, it was still very obviously new to me and terrifying because I was was going to college, and I really didn't know what to expect," he said. "I didn't want to be known as like the gay kid on the team. But then when I came here, I realized there was nothing to be scared of. My team was supportive, the whole athletic department, my coaches were supportive. ... So hearing that they got this award, to me really isn't surprising, but it means a lot."
BSU was one of eight schools nominated. Lamb said the award is a reflection of the entire university.
"Yes, we got the athletic program of the year award and we're very proud of that and that's wonderful, but it really is a symbol for the entire university because I can only do my part as the Athletic Program of the Year, and I could only put in my policies if it's supported by the entire university," Lamb said. "I can only do my part if my department was part of a larger whole that also supported those initiatives as well."