- Welcome.
Thank you for joining
us for this teach-out
on free speech in sport.
I'm Dr. Ketra Armstrong, a
professor of sport management
and associate dean in
the School of Kinesiology
here at the University of Michigan.
I'm also the faculty
athletic representative,
and I'm a former division
one student athlete,
coach, and administrator.
And I research the sociology of sport,
notably matters of race and gender.
So sport is what I do.
It has been an important part of my life,
and I'm excited to share with you
the different elements
of free speech in sport.
Now, sport is a powerful
and very pervasive
social institution.
You know, the cultural, social, economic,
the political significance of sport,
I'm sure you believe that it's undeniable.
And most of us involved
in sport, to some extent,
either actively as a current
or former participant,
or vicariously as a
consumer, we watch sports,
we wear sport merchandise,
and most of us have a favorite sport team.
I'm sure you have a favorite sport team,
or you know someone who loves sports.
So sport is a very powerful institution
that touches all of us in some way.
It unites us, it inspires us,
and it really challenges
us to live the ideals
and traditional values of goal setting,
determination, perseverance, hard work
teamwork, and unity.
And it helps us to balance
having victories, but yet
overcoming the agony of defeat.
And so when we talk about
free speech in sport,
sport is fundamentally speech.
It's fundamentally and
inherently expressive.
And it has long been used as a platform
for speech and expression.
So some of you may recall that in 1967,
the San Jose football game was postponed
because many students were protesting
the conditions on campus.
Now, the most notable element
of activism and free speech
in sport is the 1968 protest that occurred
during the Olympics.
And so sport has long
been used as a platform
for freedom of speech and expression.
But this debate regarding
free speech in sport
was recently heightened when professional
and collegiate athletes, they
began to use the platform
of sport to overtly express and display
their sentiment in protest
of the social and racial
injustices in society.
And these expressions
took place at sport events
that were nationally televised.
And, most notably, the
expressions took place
during the playing of the national anthem.
And thus, the debate
about free speech in sport
was reignited.
So during this teach-out,
we're gonna talk about
a couple of big-picture items.
We're gonna talk about what
is free speech in sport?
And you're gonna learn that
speech is performance in sport.
There's speech by
athletes, speech by fans.
Bodily gestures become speech.
But we're gonna spend
the majority of the time
during this session
answering this question,
is sport an appropriate platform
for social and political activism?
And to answer this question,
we're gonna have a UM law professor.
He's gonna talk about the legal
implications of free speech,
and he's gonna situate it in the context
of the First Amendment
of the Constitution.
We're also gonna have a
political science professor.
He's gonna talk about free
speech as a characteristic
of a social movement, and
we're gonna talk about
how this movement that
we're seeing in sport
is a social movement
and just like the social
movements in society.
Now, you may be asking,
since such of the controversy
about free speech in
sport is centered around
the national anthem, why do we even play
the national anthem at sport events?
Well, we're gonna have a scholar
from the University of
Michigan who researches
the national anthem, and
he's gonna tell you why.
And as a part of the tag
team in the same session,
you're gonna also hear from a veteran
who's a lecturer at Michigan,
and he's gonna share with you how he feels
when he sees athletes kneeling
during the national anthem.
Now, we haven't forgotten about the people
from the world of sport.
We're also gonna bring in
a round table of athletes
from the University of Michigan,
and they're gonna share
with you their experiences
and their unique insight
as social activists.
And you'll also hear from
a sport administrator
about how do you manage the
element of free speech in sport.
What are the challenges?
What are the responsibilities?
Now, you may also be asking,
but what about the fans?
Well, we have a scholar from
the University of Michigan
who does research on sport fan behavior,
and he's gonna share with you the impact
of athletes' activism
on sport consumption.
And he's gonna explain to you
how fans respond to athletes
who express in behaviors that
the fans may not agree with.
And since much of the issues
of free speech in sport
were heightened because of
the professional athletes,
we're not going to leave
out that perspective
from the professional sport team owners.
We have a faculty member
in sport management
here at the University of
Michigan who's a consultant
to the sport teams.
He also does research.
And he's gonna share with us
how owners are managing the intersection
of sport, culture, and
commercial entertainment.
And to engage you in this conversation,
there will be some discussion questions
to help you reflect on
the conversations featured
in this teach-out.
I hope you'll find the
information enjoyable.
I hope you'll find it informative,
and perhaps even a bit engaging.
So thank you again, and
welcome to the teach-out
on free speech in sport.
