Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech Athletics and Cox Communications partnered to host the first-ever "Embracing Our Culture: Black History Month" panel in a Breakfast & Learn event on Wednesday morning inside the Student-Athlete Performance Center.
The panel consisted of Tech coaches, current and former players, administrators and community partners. It was moderated by Executive Associate Athletics Director for Inclusive Excellence and Alumni Engagement, Reyna Gilbert-Lowry and was open to both faculty and staff department-wide.
Panelists that participated are listed below:
- J.D. Myers II, Senior Vice President and East Region Manager of Cox Communications
- Dr. Abraham (Billy) Hardee, Virginia Tech football and baseball alumnus
- Marci Byers, Virginia Tech volleyball head coach
- Derek Jones, Virginia Tech football defensive recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach
- Matt Johnson, Virginia Tech football student-athlete
"[This is] special," Myers said. "[The event] talks about Virginia Tech's commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity. To be able to partner with them as Cox Communications ... is a beautiful thing.
"We're great partners, and it really talks about the celebration of Black History Month."
Gallery: (2-1-2024) GEN: Black History Month Breakfast
The six panelists each spent time describing what life was like growing up, their path to success and lessons learned along the way. This varied from learning how to navigate the landscape, treating others the way they want to be treated and being aware of certain surroundings.
"Everybody's journey is different," Byers said. "But sometimes, being a minority, the journey is a little bit different than even other people's are. So having people want to know what that was like, and not that they're going to understand, but just that they can sit and listen, I think is very important.
"That's always been something that has made me feel more accepted."
Other topics included celebrating Black voices, having a sense of belonging, embracing and nurturing our individual differences and using our platform to make a positive impact.
"I always say when you get to do something like this and speak at an event that talks about diversity, inclusion and equity, it's near and dear to my heart," Myers said. "If you reach one person and change one person's viewpoint or perspective or give them a bit of insight that they didn't have before, you've accomplished your goal. I almost couldn't get out of that door with the amount of people who wanted to talk and chat and ask follow-up questions.
"We had a phenomenal [group] of panelists. It was just really, really well done. What a great event."