Hokie ClubAs part of Virginia Tech Athletics' celebration of Black History Month, the department will be sharing compelling stories of its staff and their amazing accomplishments throughout the month. We are reminded in this series that athletics serves as a great equalizer and provides an aspirational narrative and opportunity for all. We continue the series with Swimming & Diving's first director of operations, Jewels Harris.
From swimming at Northridge high school in her hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to joining the team at Auburn and now Virginia Tech, Jewels Harris has brought her experience with the sport to a new level.
After swimming under the direction of Sergio Lopez Miro, who is now the head swim and dive coach at Virginia Tech, as a freshman at Auburn, Harris stayed in touch with her former coach. So, when the department approved a director of operations for the team in 2021, Lopez Miro had Harris in mind.
A 2020 Olympic Trials qualifier, two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and now the first director of operations for swim and dive at Virginia Tech, Harris's determination and work ethic has elevated her throughout her swimming journey.
As a public relations major, Harris learned a great deal about communicating well with others, which would serve her well not only as a future director of ops but in conversations about race and equality.
Harris soaked up as much as she could from her classes and her director of ops at Auburn. From talking with food vendors and hotels to communicating with workers in the compliance and business offices on behalf of the students, she has a new appreciation for the administrative side of swimming.
Whether it was advice from her family or a connection in the form of a family friend, Harris realized that she could find a way to remain in athletics regardless of her status as an athlete.
"They definitely helped me remember that there was life after swimming and I needed to focus on what I was going to do after that," Harris said about her parents. "My dad and my mom both told me that there was no reason I had to get out of the sport if I just wanted to do something that I loved, and if I knew that I wanted to work in athletics, I had to get my foot in the door wherever I could and make connections."
Harris absorbed much from her college years, but her desire to learn and grow spanned more than just swimming.
Harris recognizes that she "grew up in a predominantly white community and swimming is a predominantly white sport. It was one thing that I never really noticed because my parents always taught me… you know, I'm a big personality person, so I gravitate toward good personalities and whoever I'm around, so I was never really paying attention to, 'Oh, I have all white friends, or I don't have as many black friends or people who look like me.' I was never concerned about that until Covid year."
After summer 2020, friends began asking her how she felt being the only black person on her team. The questions were uncomfortable at first since not many people had approached her about race prior to 2020.
"Nothing's changed with me between when we met and now," Harris said. "I've been black. I've always been black."
Initially, Harris felt she couldn't discuss her experiences with friends or teammates but received support once she opened up, and the right friends knew how to ask the right questions in the right way without making her feel like she was standing out.
As the only black person on her team, she thought that if she was the only person who looked like her, then she wanted to be a role model for others and have open conversations with her teammates so that others would be encouraged. And for Harris, when it came to swimming, it was crucial to focus on the sport – on working hard and getting things done that you need to get done.
Harris also utilizes her open approach to conversations about diversity in her current role and desires to make each sport and department an open environment so that there's someone willing to listen if anyone is struggling with anything.
The Virginia Tech swim and dive team and staff is diverse, with athletes and employees from all over the world and from different backgrounds. And with a few black professional swimming role models coming to mind, Harris is hopeful for the future of swimming.
The most important thing is being willing to listen and learn, and in Harris's words, the worst thing you can do is be silent.
It's also crucial to celebrate each other and find common goals that unite us.
"There was a time where all sorts of people couldn't work together and everyone was divided by race," Harris said. "I think it's great that we have a community where we are brought together by our goals and our strengths and what we want for these athletes rather than what we look like individually – just hard-working people."