WESTFIELD, Mass. –   Westfield State athletic teams and the student-athlete advisory committee have taken multiple steps to ensure a diverse and welcoming environment for student athletes, and all students in the Westfield State community.

Owls' teams are now wearing the NCAA's Unity Patch, which was developed in 2020.   The three divisional Student-Athlete Advisory Committees and the Board of Governors Student-Athlete Engagement Committee recently collaborated to create a national Unity Pledge and logo, symbolic gestures to continue generating stronger unity among the NCAA's 1,100-plus schools and nearly 500,000 student-athletes.

The logo includes three different colored hands holding one another's wrists inside a circle with "United As One" at the bottom. The mark was sent to all NCAA schools in the form of a patch to consider placing on uniforms, which Westfield has done since teams returned to play in the spring of 2021.

A Westfield State student-athlete diversity board has been formed with the goal is to educate through guided conversations, sharing experiences, and not just listening but truly hearing each other.  The Diversity Board hopes to continue to harness an environment where people can use and build confidence in their voices to stand up for what they believe in. Associate Athletic Director Nancy Bals, Assistant Athletic Director Marlee Berg-Haryasz, athletic trainer Katie Sylvain and the Student-Athlete Diversity Board began these discussions with teams last spring, and currently hosting small group events for student-athletes to gather and learn together and from each other.

Westfield State student-athletes, coaches and staff also collaborated to release the United as One Video, utilizing the Unity Pledge with to encourage everyone to Champions of Unity on their teams, the campus and the community.

In all, the campaign will provide a platform for Westfield State student-athletes to talk about why they believe diversity, inclusion and social justice are important and how engaging in all three areas can foster inclusive environments in athletics, on their campuses and in their communities.

Leaders from the NCAA SAAC released the following statement regarding the Unity Pledge: "The Unity Pledge has been months in the making. Through the challenges that student-athletes have faced in the COVID-19 pandemic, Division I SAAC, Division II SAAC, Division III SAAC and the Board of Governors Student-Athlete Engagement Committee have come together to lead and advocate for our nearly half-million peers across the country. In light of the social injustice and hate our country has experienced, we wanted a unified statement written by student-athletes, for student-athletes. We encourage student-athletes, coaches and administrators to use this statement in your conference, campus and with your teams as we push forward for change as a collective group, united as one."

Learn more about the Unity Pledge and how it was developed by NCAA Student-Athletes.