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Developing holistic identities: critical race theory and Black male student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness

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Developing holistic identities: critical race theory and Black male student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness

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Content Running head: CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 1
Developing Holistic Identities:
Critical Race Theory and Black Male Student-Athletes’ Mental Well-being and Wellness
Susan M. Acito
Educational Counseling
Master of Education
University of Southern California
Degree Conferral Date: December 12, 2018
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 2
Dedication
Thank you, mom, for being the Perfect Fan (Littrell, B., 1999) and always believing in me and
encouraging me. I’m so glad to have had you in my life for 25 amazing years; thank you for
such a wonderful gift, God. Of course, I wish you were here to read my thesis (not only for your
stellar editing skills but also to hear your thoughts). I like to believe that you’ve been reading
and inspiring me all along though. I hope this work makes you proud.

R. working with you was absolutely wonderful! You taught me so much through our working
alliance. Thank you. I couldn’t have gotten over each thesis hurdle without having met you.
Write On!

Thank you to each of the student-athletes I had the pleasure of working with during my time at
the University of Southern California. I’m honored to have witnessed and been part of each of
your college journeys.

CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 3
Acknowledgements and Appreciation
Dr. Alan Green, thank you for hearing out my ideas and guiding me towards CRT. I’m
so fortunate to have met you and been one of your students. You are by FAR one of the most
inspirational people I’ve met during my time at USC. To my committee chair, Dr. Kristan
Venegas thank you for your support and guidance throughout this thesis process. To my
committee, Dr. Sheila Banuelos and Dr. Rebecca Lundeen, I loved being a student in each of
your classes and am honored to work with you and have you on my committee. Thank you for
the insights and perspectives you each brought to my work. Joe Beltran and Joy Oaks, thank
you for welcoming me into the Admission Center family and for allowing me to work in my AC
home and continue my work with student-athletes. To the students and entire team at the USC
Admission Center: I learned and grew so much from meeting and working with each of you.
I’ve appreciated our conversations and jokes and loved seeing each of you grow and blossom as
people. Thank you for letting me be part of your undergraduate careers. Thank you to the team
at USC’s Student-Athlete Academic Services. I loved the opportunity to work with every one
of my student-athletes. Gianna Gallardo and Patrick Conroy, I can’t imagine USC sans you.
Edward Sweeney and Ronald Prezioso, the two best high school AP English and
History teachers! Thanks for believing in that awkward and bold high school junior and for
always encouraging all my thoughts and ideas. I miss our brunches. Dr. Nancy Hewitt, taking
your survey-level history class during my first fall at Rutgers has had a lasting and positive
impact in my life. Thank you for always encouraging me and for being a role model. I love you
like a mom. Phil and Eileen Gentile, thank you for helping me get to California and for
believing in me. My neighbors in the 26th street public housing projects, I hope this research
can benefit the families and kids I grew up with and our future generations.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 4
To my anchors Bukie, Chelsea, Renae, Ruby, Kristy, and Adriana: I love each of you.
Bukie Adekoje, my undergrad BFF and deux pois! Thank you for the laughs, encouragement,
and for keeping me grounded during this process. Thanks for replying to my late-night stress
texts and emails from 3,000 miles away and three hours ahead (yikes!). I’m glad we’re sisters
and are working to improve this world. Chelsea Pereira, my Rutgers sister. Thank you for your
SCENTS of humor and support and for getting me to California! I’m so glad you’re in my life.
Renae Tornatore, my grad school bestie and sister. Thank you for being so present and for your
humor, outlining skills, and continued cheerleading despite my sports’ allegiances. I couldn’t
have asked for a more perfect grad school and professional bestie. I’m so glad we MATT [sic] at
Orientation! Ruby Rodriguez, your encouragement, validation, and jokes helped me to the
MAX. I can’t wait to see how we continue growing as friends and professionals. Los Falcons,
you’re the best sisters and roomies (for life??) I could’ve ever asked for!
Luc Rolin, I’ve written so many words for this thesis, yet I am at a loss for words as I
write to you. I’m eternally grateful for our Therapeutic Alliance and to be able to sit with you.
You’ve provided a relationship through which I am learning and boldly growing and becoming
myself. I’m so glad to have you with me on this JOURney. Your consistent authenticity,
warmth, empathy, unconditional positive regard, and sense of humor inspire me so much. Thank
you for being. To the entire team at SoHo Yoga DTLA, especially Natasha Snow Needles,
Melanie Keller, Yazamin Adibi, Claudia Rebora, Krista Rotondo, and Tracy Stanbury,
thank you for keeping me grounded during graduate school and in my thesis process. You’ve
each taught me so much about life, connection, and myself and have welcomed me into a
nurturing community in Los Angeles outside of my graduate student identity. I am so incredibly
grateful for my entire SUEpport system and to everyone who made this work PASAble.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 5
Table of Contents
Dedication ........................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgements and Appreciation ................................................................................ 3
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 8
Developing Holistic Identities: Critical Race Theory and Black Male Student-Athletes’
Mental Well-being and Wellness ......................................................................................... 9
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 10
Key Definitions ............................................................................................................. 11
Brief Description of the Theoretical Framework and Relevant Theories ..................... 13
Statement of the Problem .............................................................................................. 17
Main Research Question ............................................................................................... 19
Purpose and Significance of the Study ......................................................................... 19
Brief Description of Methodology ................................................................................ 21
Overall Organization of the Thesis ............................................................................... 21
Chapter 2: Research and Design Approach ................................................................. 22
Design and Technical Standpoint .................................................................................. 22
Researcher’s Relationship to the Topic ......................................................................... 24
Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................ 26
Chapter 3: Review of Relevant Literature ................................................................... 28
Critical Race Theory ..................................................................................................... 28
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 6
History. ...................................................................................................................... 28
CRT and Student-Athletes ............................................................................................ 31
Research Overview ....................................................................................................... 38
Identity. ..................................................................................................................... 38
Mental Well-being and Wellness. .............................................................................. 45
Chapter 4: Conclusions .................................................................................................. 58
Existing Programs and Strategies at the State and University Levels .......................... 59
New York State’s Mental Health Education Act, 2018. ............................................ 59
Surveying Student-Athletes at The University of Pennsylvania. .............................. 60
Saint Michael’s College - Hope Happens Here. ....................................................... 60
The University of California, Los Angeles’ Mindful Awareness Research Center. .. 61
The University of Southern California’s Support Programs. .................................... 61
The NCAA and Columbia University’s Mental Health Forum. ............................... 62
Recommendations on How Higher Education Counselors Can Holistically Support
Student-Athletes’ Mental Well-being and Wellness .................................................................. 63
Improve Athletic Culture on College Campuses. ..................................................... 63
Counseling Student-Athletes. ................................................................................... 66
Future Research ............................................................................................................ 71
References ......................................................................................................................... 73
Table .................................................................................................................................. 81
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 7
Figures............................................................................................................................... 82

CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 8
Abstract
In recent years, mental health and wellness are coming to the forefront of conversations
surrounding professional and collegiate athletics. This literature review thesis focuses on Black
male student-athletes, their identity and mental well-being and holistic health through the lens of
Critical Race Theory. This thesis purposely switches around mental health and well-being into
mental well-being and holistic health or wellness to engage the reader to begin to think
differently about these concepts and chip away at the longtime social stigma surrounding mental
well-being since Critical Race Theory calls for transformative action. It concludes with
examples from existing programs, resources, and events, offers practical suggestions on how
higher education counselors and practitioners can improve their practice, and offers ideas for
future research.

Keywords: African-American, Black, college, Critical Race Theory, higher education,
identity, mental health, student-athletes, well-being, wellness
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 9
Developing Holistic Identities:
Critical Race Theory and Black Male Student-Athletes’ Mental Well-being and Wellness
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 10
Chapter 1: Introduction
A 2016 NCAA study found that nearly 6,300 (or 30% of the nearly 21,000 Division I, II, and III)
student-athletes reported “feeling overwhelmed” in the last month (Schellong, 2017, para. 17).
In addition to the typical college stressors, student-athletes reported experiencing “extensive time
demands, pressures to achieve, injuries, burn out, and conflict with teammates or coaches”
(Sudano, Collins, & Miles, 2017, p. 82). According to Harper, Williams and Blackman (2013),
African-American males are over represented in Division I revenue-generating sports of football
and basketball. They found that “between 2007 and 2010, Black men were 2.8% of full-time,
degree-seeking undergraduate students, but 57.1% of football teams and 64.3% of basketball
teams” (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013, p. 1). A few years later during the 2014-15
academic year, there was little change. Harper, Williams, and Blackman (2016) found, “Black
men were 2.5% of undergraduate students, but 56.3% of football teams and 60.8% of men’s
basketball teams” (p. 1). Summer 2018 has seen a rise in discussion about professional athletes’
mental health (Gleeson & Brady, 2018; MacMullan, 2018). One mental health practitioner
remarked that for a professional athlete “there’s no formal training for the whole country turning
against you [e.g., booing you, not living up to rookie or professional expectations, etc.]”
(MacMullan, 2018, para. 19). This lack of care and support is compounded by the historical
minoritization of Black males in the United States (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Edwards, 1984;
Jackson, 2010).
Coping with daily oppression embedded in a society which only values someone for their
body makes it challenging for Black male student- and professional athletes (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001; Edwards, 1984; Jackson, 2010). In addition to facing the dumb jock stereotype,
Black student-athletes “are burdened with the insidiously racist implications of the myth of
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 11
‘innate Black athletic superiority,’ and the more blatantly racist stereotype of the ‘dumb Negro’
condemned by racial heritage to intellectual inferiority” (Edwards, 1984, p. 8). This burden is
heavier than others because athletics is used to earn respect as a person in a society which was
built around degrading African-American’s humanity (Jackson, 2010). For some African-
American student-athletes, “sports have been a component of freedom. It’s been the voice we’ve
found through our arms and legs when our mouths have been silenced” (Jackson, 2010, para. 6).
Jackson’s quote demonstrates how African-Americans have a voice which is limited to their
body and athletic performance, rather than spoken words. Even 200 years post-slavery, “sports
and sports icons [such as Paul Robeson] have played major roles on often-uneven playing fields
in shaping the way [W]hite America has come to ‘accept’ us as something more than three-fifths
human” (Jackson, 2010, para. 7). Given that statement, it makes sense why Colin Kaepernick, a
Black, bi-racial male professional football player, used his body to “protest against social
injustice, especially the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of police” (Branch, 2017, para.
6) by taking a knee during the national anthem in August 2016.
By reviewing key terms, offering a brief description of the theoretical framework and
relevant student development and counseling theories, reviewing the problem, stating the main
research question, describing the purpose and significance of this study, briefly describing the
methodology used, and concluding with this thesis’ overall organization, this section will provide
an overview of the research.
Key Definitions
Before going further, there are a few key terms with which the reader must be familiar.
The first is Critical Race Theory (CRT), this paper’s main theoretical lens. Delgado and
Stefancic (2001) state that CRT questions society’s implicit culture and takes the stance that
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 12
there is nothing that is politically neutral or free of underlying racial or gendered inequalities.
Critical Race Theory examines race, gender, and socioeconomic status as social constructs which
were created and reproduced to maintain social norms and social structures to benefit those in
power (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001).
The definition of mental well-being and wellness is adapted from the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) (2018) constitution, which defines health as:
a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of
the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion,
political belief, economic or social condition. (para. 1)
Mental well-being and wellness can include general wellness and achieving balance,
coping with depression, anxiety, loss, injury, or anything that impacts someone’s ability to
function as they would like. This definition is used because it recognizes the interconnectedness
of people’s whole selves as described or alluded to in some of the research (Gavrilova, Donohue,
& Galante, 2017; Gross, Moore, Gardner, Wolanin, Pess, & Marks, 2016; Hattie, Myers, &
Sweeney, 2004; Neely, Schallert, Mohammed, Roberts, & Chen, 2009; Watson, 2016; Watson &
Kissinger, 2007). The term mental health is included in this thesis because some of the
researchers (Ashwin, Asif, Drezner, Toresdahl, & Harmon, 2015; Putukian, 2015; Sudano,
Collins, & Miles, 2017; Yorgason, Linville, & Zitzman, 2008) use it. The term mental health
when used in this thesis falls under the scope of WHO’s definition. This thesis will focus on
Black male student-athletes and their identity development as it relates to their mental well-being
and holistic health. Except for quotations, summaries, or paraphrases, I use the terms mental
well-being and holistic health or wellness to encourage the reader to begin to think differently
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 13
about these concepts and the longtime stigma surrounding mental well-being because Critical
Race Theory calls for transformative action.
Identity in this paper is defined as one’s intersectional and self-defined traits, skills, and
innate traits within a societal system of oppression (Crenshaw, 1995; Hancock, 2011). Crenshaw
(1995) and Hancock (2011) situate this definition within Critical Race Theory’s recognition of
embedded societal oppression (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). Identity is understood to include
race, gender, status as a college student, and one’s mental and holistic well-being as they relate to
power and privilege within the greater social structures (Bimper, 2017; Cooper, 2016; Crenshaw,
1995; Despres, Brady, & McGowan, 2008; Edwards, 1984; Hancock, 2011; Hattie, Myers, &
Sweeney, 2004; Killeya-Jones, 2005; Parham, 1993; Singer, 2008; Watson, 2016).
Microaggressions are defined as “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral and
environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile,
derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group” (Sue, Capodilupo,
Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, & Esquilin, 2007, p. 273). Microaggressions are placed under
the topic of identity. Finally, an accomplice, rather than ally, is used in this thesis as it denotes a
more active position whereas an ally is a more passive role. An accomplice is a White person
who follows the lead and needs of minoritized people and “directly challenges institutionalized
racism, colonization, and White supremacy by blocking or impeding racist people, policies, and
structures” (Osler, 2018, p. 1).
Brief Description of the Theoretical Framework and Relevant Theories
This thesis considers Black male student-athletes’ holistic identity and mental wellness
and well-being using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as its main lens. This work concludes by
proposing additional student development and counseling theories to support higher education
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 14
practitioners’ work. Critical Race theorists seek not only to recognize social ills but also seek
ways in which these ills can be corrected (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). One of the main reasons
CRT is essential to my topic is for this activist, transformative stance it takes. Critical Race
Theory “sets out not only to ascertain how society organizes itself along racial lines and
hierarchies, but to transform it for the better” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 3). Applying what
Delgado and Stefancic wrote to the context of education, specifically higher education, it is
essential that practitioners are not only cognizant of the social issues at large and recognize the
challenges faced by their students, but also actively work to support their students’ development.
One cannot be a practitioner in higher education without either perpetuating racism or seeking to
dismantle it, they would argue. CRT asks if we can take away racism’s “sting by changing the
system of images, words, attitudes, unconscious feelings, scripts, and social teachings by which
we convey to one another that certain people are less intelligent, reliable, hardworking, virtuous,
and American than others” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 3). An application of that systemic
dismantling within higher education could begin with individual counselors and student affairs
practitioners having more intentional conversations with students and administration for possible
institutional change. When committing to a career as a higher education professional, it is
expected that a person will be able to negotiate and balance supporting students’ needs with
those of the university.
In addition to Critical Race Theory, there are relevant student development and
counseling theories which can aid student affairs practitioners when counseling and working
with Black male student-athletes. These theories include James Marcia’s (1966) identity
quadrants, specifically Identity Foreclosure, and some humanistic therapies including Carl
Roger’s person-centered psychology and Irvin Yalom’s existential therapy.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 15
Marcia’s Identity Foreclosure is especially relevant when examining Black male student-
athlete identities, since they often solely identify with their athletic identity (Edwards, 1984;
Jackson, 2010). Though not looking specifically at Black male student-athletes, Marcia looked
at four different quadrants of identity development (Table 1) for college students through the lens
of commitment or “the degree of personal investment the individual exhibits” (Marcia, 1966, p.
551) and crisis a “period of engagement in choosing among meaningful alternatives” (Marcia,
1966, p. 551) Identity Achievement occurs when a student “has seriously considered [gone
through a crisis] several occupational choices and has made a decision [a commitment] on his
own terms, even though his ultimate choice may be a variation of parental wishes” (Marcia,
1966, p. 551). That is, a student has explored different career choices and knows what they do
and do not want to do, based on themselves rather than based on the influence of others,
including parents. With Identity Diffusion a student typically has not gone through a crisis and
does not care either way about their commitment; they are content with any decision. In
Moratorium, a student is in crisis mode and understands they must make a choice, but struggle to
make commitments (Marcia, 1966). Identity Foreclosure, occurs when a student has not
“experienced a crisis, yet expresses commitment. It is difficult to tell where his parents’ goals for
him leave off and where his begin. He is becoming what others have prepared or intended him
to become” (Marcia, 1966, p. 552). That is to say, Identity Foreclosure can occur when college
students make a commitment to a career or college major without considering other options, e.g.,
a student selecting pre-med because their parents are surgeons or doctors or a student-athlete
who thinks they will play professionally and does not seek alternate career options. Marcia
quotes a typical Identity Foreclosure statement as being “Not very willing [to seek other
options]. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. [My parents] are happy with it and so am I” (1966,
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 16
p. 553) when asked “how willing do you think you’d be to give up going into [career choice] if
something better came along?” (Maria, 1966, p. 553). These identity experiences do not occur in
a particular order and students need not progress through them as if they were steps; Marcia
identifies the different types of identity development students, more generally adolescents, can
experience (Marcia, 1966).
A humanistic approach would be of value for practitioners working with Black male
student-athletes (Halbur & Halbur, 2011) and Rogers’ person-centered therapy is well-suited as a
guideline for practice (Rogers, 1961). The person-centered Rogerian approach focuses on
building a relationship with the client, in this case working with a student-athlete and engaging in
exploration and growth occur within and through that stable relationship. Additionally, with the
practitioner’s commitment to being genuine, having unconditional positive regard for their
student as a person of value and worth, and being empathetic and seeing the student’s world
through the student’s eyes and experience, rather than coming from the counselor’s own
experiences (Rogers, 1961) would be of value to CRT. Yalom’s existential therapy provides
four frameworks for conversations about scenarios student-athletes might face (Halbur & Halbur,
2011). Living and Dying is the first framework. It is useful when framing identities, such as
with an injured athlete who is facing the death of their athletic career. Freedom, Responsibility,
and Choice is useful to help student-athletes begin to realize they are active players in their own
lives. Having lived a life where most of their time has been dictated to them, if counselors can
help these students see where they do have Freedom (e.g., they are free to choose their values
and what is important to them, like, family, friends, community involvement), Responsibility
(e.g., they are in college and are responsible for going to class, doing the readings and
assignments), and Choice (e.g., choosing a major, writing about a certain topic, deciding where
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 17
and when they want to study, how to use their time so that they can pursue their values, etc.).
Isolation and Loving becomes important because student-athletes, due to time restraints and
athletic commitments, are often separate from the general student population. The final
framework, Meaning and Meaninglessness, can be used in situations where meaning has been
lost (e.g., the suicide of a teammate, facing the prospect of not playing professionally, the death
of a family member, not performing as well as the new class of younger student-athletes, etc.) or
in situations where student-athletes are exploring meaning outside of their sport.
Statement of the Problem
Athletes, from a young age, represent sports in their local little league, community, and
school. Their achievements are very public among their family’s and school’s social circles
(James, Gilbert, Marx, (Producers), & James (Director), 1994). Adding on to this representation
is the notion that Black male student-athletes are seen as entertainers in sports and valued for
what their bodies produce or of what they are capable (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Edwards,
1984; Jackson, 2016). Those athletes who excel in their sport by dedicating much time to
improving and maintaining their skills will play in high school and might eventually go on to
play in college for a Division I, II, or III team in college (James, Gilbert, Marx, (Producers), &
James (Director), 1994). For the very best athletes in their local communities, playing at the
collegiate level is a dream and can be a stepping stone to playing professionally nationally or
internationally in the Olympics (James, Gilbert, Marx, (Producers), & James (Director), 1994).
College is not required for the Olympics, while playing in college is often how professional
athletes in the United States are drafted. Continuing to play their sport collegiately can also be
something student-athletes do because it has always been a part of their lives and has become so
ingrained in their identity that they cannot imagine life without it or do not know how else they
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 18
would spend their time. Such a scenario is an example of Marcia’s Identity Foreclosure, since
they have not explored other career or activity options and are committed to playing sports
(Marcia, 1966).
Playing sports collegiately is an incredible and very structured time commitment, which
is not a recent phenomenon (Parham, 1993). Student-athletes are among the most highly
involved students on a college campus, often having their time allocated for them. Furthermore,
Parham (1993) recognizes that college student-athletes face their own challenges with mental
well-being differently than their non-athletic peers. The associate director of clinical and sport
psychology at the University of Southern California Robin Scholefield says this difference in
experience is “because student-athletes are from a culture that’s stoic” (Schellong, 2017, para.
13). It is a culture in which student-athletes repress, rather than address or express, their
feelings. Student-athletes often balance practice, competition, training, team meetings, personal
training, coupled with classes, homework, course readings, group projects, mandatory structured
tutoring, office hours, sleeping, eating, and attending to personal matters, including getting
acclimated to college and developing as a person. This list does not include their psychosocial
development, time to explore interests, or the possibility for internship opportunities and career
exploration outside of their sport. To this point, Parham (1993) writes, “attempting to effectively
and efficiently maximize one’s participation in both [academic and athletic] domains really does
test the mental and physical stamina of even the most well-balanced and committed student-
athlete” (Parham, 1993, p. 413). Given that even the most academically and athletically
balanced student-athlete faces challenges the emphasis on mental well-being on college
campuses has become of greater importance since the 1990s (Armstrong & Jennings, 2018;
Cooper, 2016; Despres, Brady, & McGowan, 2008; McGee & Stovall, 2015; Neely, Schallert,
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 19
Mohammed, Roberts, & Chen, 2009; Sudano, Collins, & Miles, 2017; Yorgason, Linville, &
Zitzman, 2008).
This thesis will argue that not only do Black male student-athletes need holistic support
which includes all aspects of their psychosocial development, with specific attention on mental
wellness and well-being, but also that their voices need to be more present in the literature and
when higher education practitioners create programs intended to support this student population.
Main Research Question
Using the lens of Critical Race Theory, how does the current literature consider mental
well-being and wellness, and identity for Black male student-athletes? A subquestion for this
literature review based on thesis is what are the ways in which student affairs practitioners can
holistically support Black male student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness?
Purpose and Significance of the Study
Mental and emotional awareness and wellness is a critical piece in college students’
identity development which is often overlooked when discussing student-athletes. A 2017 study
found that “collegiate student-athletes are just as likely as the general population to experience
depression and other mental health issues” (Sudano, Collins, & Miles, 2017, p. 82). Student-
athletes’ identity development is defined as their sociocultural, academic, career, social, and
athletic identities (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013; Killeya-Jones, 2005; Lally & Kerr,
2005; Linley, 2017).
Being situated among, and building upon, previous literature on student-athletes with an
emphasis on mental well-being and wellness, this thesis will begin the conversation on how
practitioners can more holistically support Black male student-athletes. Previous research
(Carodine, Almond, & Gratto, 2001; Despres, Brady, & McGowan, 2008) studied the NCAA’s
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 20
CHallenging [sic] Athletic Minds for Personal Success/Life Skills program. The NCAA had a
Life Skills program since 1991 and introduced the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program in 1994
(NCAA – CHAMPS, 2009; Carodine, Almond, & Gratto, 2001). Later that decade, the NCAA
Foundation, through focus groups with “five institutions that were judged to have highly
developed student athlete support programs: the University of Arizona, East Carolina University,
Georgia Institute of Technology, the Ohio State University, and Pennsylvania State university”
(Carodine, Almond, & Gratto, 2001, p. 26) improved the CHAMPS/Life Skills program by
adding a commitment to the following five areas: academic excellence, athletic excellence,
personal development, career development, and community service (Carodine, Almond, &
Gratto, 2001). CHAMPS/Life Skills programs are still used across the country (NCAA –
CHAMPS, 2009)
Cooper (2016) noticed gaps within the CHAMPS/Life Skills model, notably that it does
not account for the critical force that systemic racism plays in the United States. Cooper (2016)
recognizes that race cannot be separated from the experiences of Black male student-athletes and
created a more holistic model for counseling these students. Cooper (2016) proposed Excellence
Beyond Athletics (EBA) a six-point approach which holistically supports Black male student-
athletes through six different themes. Figure 1 provides a visual of the six themes explained
here. These themes include self-identity awareness which aims to foster an “holistic
consciousness and internalized empowerment” (Cooper, 2016, p. 273); positive social
engagement through “social integration, internalized empowerment, and engagement in counter-
actions” (Cooper, 2016, p. 274); active mentorship that includes “holistic consciousness,
academic integration, social integration, and institutional involvement” (Cooper, 2016, p. 275);
academic achievement by means of “academic integration, internalized empowerment, goal
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 21
commitment, and engagement in counter-actions” (Cooper, 2016, p. 276); career aspirations
including “goal commitments, holistic consciousness, internalized empowerment, engagement in
counter-actions, and social integration” (Cooper, 2016, p. 279); and balanced time management
through “internalized empowerment, social integration, and goal commitment” (Cooper, 2016, p.
279).
In reviewing previous literature, this thesis seeks to inform practitioners on how to better
support their students through counseling and advising conversations, making informed
adjustments to current services so they are more inclusive, and creating more effective programs
by giving student-athletes a voice and hearing their needs.
Brief Description of Methodology
This thesis is primarily a literature review. This thesis also takes a transformative
approach, recognizing that student-athletes’ lived experiences do not occur in a vacuum but
rather are the results of political and social forces, and ultimately calls on making positive
change. The benefits of using constructivist and transformative approaches is that it recognizes
that marginalized voices have the power to be change agents.
Overall Organization of the Thesis
Chapter 2 describes the research and design approaches in this literature review. Chapter
3 offers a review of relevant topics within the literature, specifically, Critical Race Theory’s
history and how it relates to student-athletes, mental wellness and well-being, identity, and
microaggressions. Conclusions and suggestions for future research are presented in chapter 4.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 22
Chapter 2: Research and Design Approach
This chapter of the thesis will discuss my research process, including search terms and search
engines, number of articles reviewed. It should be noted that during my two years as a graduate
student at the University of Southern California (USC) I have researched and worked directly
with, in various capacities, the student-athlete population. As a result of this on-going focus, I
have significant prior knowledge regarding certain authors and topics. Therefore, I was able to
apply this prior knowledge when selecting articles and compiling my research. Anecdotal
comments from working directly with student-athletes are not included in this work.
Design and Technical Standpoint
This literature review takes a constructivist approach and sees the student-athlete
“participants” as the only ones who can define their experiences. Because this thesis focuses on
marginalized student-athletes (e.g., Black males), it understands that their experiences are the
results of political and social forces, and ultimately calls on making change, a transformative
approach is also of value. The benefit of using constructivist and transformative approaches is
that it gives marginalized voices the power to be change agents. Moving beyond this literature
review, the work done here sets the stage for future qualitative studies to measure change over
time recording the participants’ own words as with a phenomenological study. Looking for
commonalities among participants to better understand shared lived experiences could also be
accomplished using an ethnographic approach. Creating a new theory using the grounded theory
approach could also be of value to future researchers (Creswell, 2014). Each of those design
approaches has its benefits in supporting student-athletes, and possibly other high-need/at-risk
student populations.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 23
I used USC Libraries’ homepage to search scholarly and peer reviewed journal articles.
The available databases included EBSCOhost, Sage, Project Muse, and Proquest, which I
accessed by the suggestion and availability of an article through USC’s Libraries. Initially I
searched using the following terms:
1) “student-athlete AND mental health” and found 1,329 articles. These terms were
used because this is the main part of this research.
2) “Student-athletes AND identity” found 10,920 articles. Student-athlete identity is
another important aspect of contextualizing and understanding their college
experience and development.
3) “College AND mental health AND critical race theory” uncovered broader, but
relevant discourse on race and ethnicity, with over 47,813 articles. These broader
search terms were used to find general literature on Critical Race Theory and mental
health among college students.
4) “College student AND microaggressions” pulled up 1,820 articles. The previous
search led to looking up these terms since they began to appear relevant within the
context of Critical Race Theory and identity. College student, rather than student-
athlete, was used because student-athlete was too narrow a scope.
5) Searching “Marcia AND student athletes and identity foreclosure” found 371 articles.
Because student-athletes often have little time for activities outside of academics and
sport participation, identity and student development theorist, Marcia’s work is
relevant.
To ensure as standardized a search process as possible, I looked at the first 20 articles of
each search. If a search did not lead to an increase in information about student-athletes’
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 24
identity; minoritized populations; mental health/wellness in college, both generally and
with student-athletes; critical race theory; or microaggressions, I modified my search
terms and/or parameters.
As I continued to search, modifying the search parameters to narrow down only to have
journal articles from a time period of 2014 through 2018 provided more recent, relevant results
and 15 articles that supported this literature review. In some cases, I would read the references
pages of articles. There were times when I would also search specific authors, such as searching
“Myers, J. E., & Sweeney, T. J.”, “Singer, J. N.”, or “Sue, D. W.” to find specific articles.
Finally, some search terms lacked sufficient research, such as “sports psychologists AND
student-athletes”. For example, the use of sports psychologists on campus is a recent
phenomenon. As such, there is very little literature on this topic. Any review of this topic would
be anecdotal and thus has not been included in this thesis.
Researcher’s Relationship to the Topic
I worked directly with Division I student-athletes for nearly two years during graduate
school. Working one-on-one and in groups as a tutor and Assistant Learning Specialist, I
counseled student-athletes and supported their holistic development as they transitioned into
college, navigated academics and university and NCAA administration during college, or
transitioned to professional athlete or professional. I collaborated with students to increase their
academic skills, self-awareness, and self-efficacy. We discussed career and major choices and I
reviewed resumes. I worked with graduate and undergraduate first-years, transfer students, all
the way through juniors and seniors as these students prepared to move on to their next steps. In
my graduate program, I took courses that focused on athletic administration, student
development theories, counseling theories and practice, learning and individual differences, and
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 25
academic advising. I have also written papers on various topics related to the student-athlete
population, including student-athlete career development, group counseling, student-athlete
transitions to professional or professional athlete, academic advising, athletic administration, and
student development.
I am a female, cisgender person. My ethnic (or racial depending on the form I am filling
out) identities are Italian-American (White) and African-Egyptian (Other) and I can pass as
White. “Whiteness, it turns out, is not only valuable, it is shifting and malleable” (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001, p. 77) and I have seen that phenomenon in my own ethnic identities.
Specifically, with the Egyptian identity which I have seen fluctuate from being African, to
Middle Eastern, to being White, to being Middle Eastern. Being multi-ethnic (or racial) I have
never been White enough or ethnic enough to each in-group; I tan very easily in summer but am
not fluent in Arabic. I have come to see being multi-ethnic as a gift because, while I was
exoticized by my peers and sometimes by adults while growing up, being an inbetweener allows
me to build bridges among communities and seek out connections and commonalities while
recognizing and respecting historical differences.
While I can empathize with different lived experiences, given my identities, I can never
have lived or experienced life as a Black male and recognize my privilege as a researcher. A
Critical Race theorist could argue that I am using my privilege as a form of interest convergence,
meaning that I am seeking to benefit from working to advance Black student-athletes’ status in
order to help myself. To that I would respond, I am using my positionality to be an accomplice
(Osler, 2018) with these students, letting the literature, and their voices within the literature,
speak. It would have been a conflict of interest to interview student-athletes at my university
while being an Assistant Learning Specialist; I valued my working relationship with each of my
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 26
students too much to give that up for this thesis. Working with these student-athletes inspired
me and continues to inspire me to pursue this work.
I grew-up loving sports and joined band. In high school and college, I was in marching
and pep bands so that I could support my schools’ teams and student-athletes who gave so much
of their time and themselves to their school and sport. Growing up in public housing. I had
different neighbors of color whose children played sports with the hope that they would get a
college scholarship and go on to play professionally, similar to the movie Hoop Dreams (James,
Gilbert, Marx, (Producers), & James (Director), 1994). Growing up in a densely populated city
and racially diverse neighborhood impacted my world view and desire to dismantle social
structures which saw my neighbors as entertainers rather than as full people. Again, I recognize
that my lived experience in public housing is different from my neighbors of color, since I can
pass as White.
Limitations of the Study
A limitation of this study is that it is a literature review and did not offer any first-hand
accounts of current student-athletes’ experiences. Another limitation is the lack of available
research in this area regarding mental well-being and wellness. However, I worked to alleviate
this limitation by using the search techniques noted in this section. Another limitation is that this
study looks at U.S. student-athletes and does not address mental well-being concerns of
international students who, in addition to transitioning into college, are also transitioning into a
new culture. Understanding the methodology of how literature was selected, and the limitations
of this study gives context to Chapter 3, the Literature Review. The following chapter reviews
the most relevant literature on the history of and relevance of Critical Race Theory as it relates to
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 27
the student-athlete experience, then explores mental well-being and holistic health, identity, and
microaggressions.

CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 28
Chapter 3: Review of Relevant Literature
This chapter investigates the research related to student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness
as it relates to their identity development in college using a lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
After a discussion of the history of CRT and how it relates to collegiate student-athletes, this
chapter will provide a more in-depth look at the research surrounding student-athletes by
reviewing literature on identity, microaggressions, and mental wellness and holistic health.
Since this paper is for higher education counselors and practitioners, relevant counseling and
student development theories will be discussed as relevant within each of these subsections.
Critical Race Theory
History. This paper considers issues of identity and mental well-being from a lens of
Critical Race Theory or CRT. Critical Race Theory, conceived in the 1970s by Derrick Bell,
Alan Freeman, and Richard Delgado, was a response to the United States’ Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s and critical legal studies and radical feminism. This theory “questions
the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightened
rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 3). In
questioning society’s norms and implicit culture, CRT takes the stance that there is nothing that
is politically neutral or free of underlying racial or gendered inequalities. Critical Race Theory
examines race, gender, and socioeconomic status as social constructs which were created and
reproduced to maintain social norms and social structures to benefit those in power (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001). This section will review the tenets of CRT and the hopefulness in CRT’s desire
to be change oriented and transformative.
The following six tenets of Critical Race Theory create a framework for better
understanding the study and support of Black male college student-athletes. First, racism is
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 29
ordinary, not an exception to the rule which makes it challenging to combat. This is important to
understand because when something is commonly accepted as a part of life, it is difficult to call
it out as wrong and combat it. Second, is the idea of Interest Convergence, also known as
material determinism, which serves to sustain and advance the interests of a majority of the
United States Whites elites (materially) and working-class (psychically). Given that they are the
majority, they have little reason to abolish something that benefits their personal advancement in
a society which values the individual. The third concept explores how these racial ideas were
created in a way which maintains them over time. It states that race is a social construction
where “race and races are products of social thought and relations” rather than being objective,
neutral, or inherent in and of someone’s existence (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 7). Critical
Race Theorists seek to understand why these pseudo traits are of more value than other scientific
traits, like personality and moral behavior (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). To help manage these
racial differences, CRT theorists recognize that a society must also create differential
racialization, “the idea that each race has its own origins and ever evolving history” (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001, p. 8) which is the fourth tenet. This fourth idea depends on social needs, such as
labor, where different historically minoritized groups are radicalized to serve a purpose. The
fifth idea, intersectionality, which relating back to differential racialization, recognizes that “no
person has a single, easily stated, unitary identity” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 9).
Intersectionality is significant because it has the power to actively chip away at social structures
and long-standing beliefs because it recognizes that people are complex and looks at the
scientific traits of personality and moral behavior as well as the overlapping socially constructed
ones. The sixth and final tenet is the voice-of-color thesis which demonstrates that “minority
status brings with it the presumed competence to speak about race and racism” (Delgado &
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 30
Stefancic, 2001, p. 9). That is to say that people who are historically minoritized are seen as
experts in experiencing race and can speak representatively for their racial or ethnic group.
Bell, Freeman, and Delgado also considered the relationship between power and the
construction of social roles. They assert that people experience their sociocultural identities,
such as race, class, gender, and sexuality individually and structurally. For this paper, Delgado &
Stefancic (2001) and Hancock’s (2011) work on intersectionality will be used to define this
important topic as it relates to identity. Hancock (2011) argues that “privilege and disadvantage
co-exist, not just in our world, but within a single person, a single group, and a single social
movement” (2011, p. xiv). Critical Race Theory was chosen for its intersectional nature and
critical look at superficial yet deeply critically important social structures which inform how
people live. Because these ideas are so ingrained in United States society, Critical Race
Theorists believe that “only aggressive, color-conscious efforts to change the way things are will
do much to ameliorate misery” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 22). This idea is perhaps one of
CRT’s most activist stances and why this theory was chosen as a framework for this thesis. CRT
scholars view legal rights as procedural rather than substantive (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p.
22). For example, the idea that everyone has the equal right to an opportunity to buy a house, but
not an equal right to receive housing. This procedural doctrine of the law makes it challenging to
use the law and legal means to adequately address issues of racism, since in effect, the law does
not recognize itself for what it is and how it was created. This belief conflicts with the ideals of
the American Dream, which says that if someone works hard enough, they will have money and
if they do not have money, it is because they did not work hard enough (Delgado & Stefancic,
2001). Perhaps one of the most relevant tenets of CRT is Structural Determinism, “the idea that
our system, by reason of its structure and vocabulary, cannot redress certain types of wrong”
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 31
(Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 26). They recognize that, one cannot easily “talk back to
messages, scripts, and stereotypes that are embedded in the minds of one’s fellow citizens, and,
indeed, the national psyche” (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, p. 28). Because these beliefs are so
systemic within society, simply changing the word of law would not bring social change. It is
radical beliefs and action which will affect true social change. The following section positions
student-athletes’ experiences within this theoretical framework.
CRT and Student-Athletes
Edwards (1984) along with McGee and Stovall’s (2015) work nearly 30 years later
continues Edwards’ conversation about how positive and negative stereotypes are both
problematic. These systemic problems are among the top reasons why I chose to focus on Black
student-athletes for this literature review. On college campuses, this tension between superiority
and inferiority plays out in many ways.
Black males have been historically and are currently believed to be naturally better at
sports than other races (Jackson, 2010). To bring to life the previous section’s concepts, an
example of a Black, 19-year old male student-athlete will be used. A Critical Race Theorist
would look at how his identities are experienced through self-defined traits, skills, and within
societal systems of oppression (Crenshaw, 1995; Hancock, 2011). A CRT researcher does not
believe people can be taken apart and only understood through a single, isolated lens. In the
current example, to only look at this student as a male would not give a holistic perspective of
who he is and how he experiences life as well as how he is seen within his society. Such a view
would be grossly inaccurate and not intersectional because intersectionality looks at self-defined
racial, gendered, and socioeconomic traits and skills within a societal system of oppression. A
Critical Race Theorist might also be curious about this 19-year-old male student-athlete
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 32
experiences with microaggressions. Microaggressions are subtle, sometimes unconscious,
comments or actions of prejudice or prejudging made by a person with power and privilege
towards a minoritized person (Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, & Esquilin,
2007). In the current example, if all that was known about the student was that he is a Black
college student one might assume he is a student-athlete based common stereotypes in the United
States and because people of color are historically minoritized and not represented in large
numbers at universities (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2016). Whether or not a
microaggression is intended to be a compliment or an insult, it is inappropriate because it does
not consider the whole person, their experiences, and their sociocultural context (Sue, 2013).
In his 2009 piece on community college student-athletes, Shaun Harper studies Black
male student-athletes’ “lived experiences with racial stereotyping, low expectations, and one
specific outcome variable (bachelor’s degree completion), these topics remain largely unexplored
in the context of community college sports” (p. 30). This article is significant because it applies
the Critical Race Theory concept of Interest Convergence. That concept states that White people
support the advancement of minoritized populations only if it ultimately helps White people
themselves. Interest Convergence is seen in Harper’s suggestion of supporting college athletes
because a university’s brand is strengthened if the teams are successful. Harper selected Critical
Race Theory because it is “a conceptual lens used to examine racism, racial(dis)advantages, and
inequitable distribution of power and privilege within institutions and society” (2009, p. 31).
Additionally, CRT “challenges misconceptions regarding colorblindness, merit, and racial equity;
critiques the presumed innocence of self-proclaimed white liberals; and ignites consciousness
that leads to social justice and advances for people of color” (Harper, 2009, p. 31). It is these
actions which will support change for the current and future generations.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 33
Another significant aspect of Harper’s article is that community college student-athletes
often want to transfer to a 4-year institution to continue playing their sport. Due to the NCAA’s
transfer requirements, community college leaders expect that athletic departments will contribute
significantly to the institution’s transfer rate (Harper, 2009; NCAA – Transfer, 2018). In other
words, community college coaches and athletic staff must support the student and the athlete
dichotomy. With the goal of transferring, being both a student in good standing and a good
athlete is essential. Thus, it is necessary that coaches and counselors be engaged in holistically
supporting the student-athlete. Harper suggests, “as a community college helps more Black male
student athletes actualize their goal of transferring to a four-year institution, its reputation for
doing so will improve” (2009, p. 34). He goes on to suggest that perhaps the “1.2 percent drafted
by NBA or the 1.8 percent drafted by the NFL” (Harper, 2009, p. 35) might return to their
community college and become alumni donors as it is the place which first supported their
higher education journey. In a way, his final suggestion follows CRT’s concept of Interest
Convergence by perpetuating the interests of White college administrators.
Smith, Clark, and Harrison (2014) explore the dominant historical narratives of Black
student-athletes and find inconsistencies when valuing them as both students and athletes. They
argue that while dominant narrative situates Black collegiate athletes within a mind-body duality,
they are only being valued for their athletic abilities rather than their academic capabilities. In
cases where the Black student-athlete excels in both arenas, they are seen as an anomaly or
simply not part of the narrative. They found that Paul Robeson, for example, is relatively
unknown for being a student-athlete because “the master script silences” him (Smith, Clark, &
Harrison, 2014, p. 220) and he is known more for being a stage and film actor and singer. It is
important to point out that even in this dominant narrative of Robeson he is in the role of a
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 34
performer, rather than an activist or a lawyer of which he was both. This article is significant
because it highlights the inconsistencies in what it means to be a student-athlete and counters the
narrative by telling the stories of successful students and performers who were also skilled and
accomplished athletes. Smith, Clark, and Harrison (2014) suggest that it is only through
documenting and telling these counter-narratives that will challenge the “master script” (2014, p.
229) and give current student-athletes a voice. This conversation about the importance of
narratives and having student-athletes tell their own stories is seen in more articles.
Singer (2008), along with Armstrong and Jennings (2018) recognize the importance of
using a narrative approach and having student-athletes describe their own experiences. Singer
(2008) explains that athletes do not like or agree with the term student-athlete because they felt
like it was an inaccurate portrayal of who they were (2008, p. 5). Most of the time they felt more
like athletes than students. One of the student-athletes Singer (2008) interviewed described a
typical day in season:
You wake up and it’s already like 7 or 8 o’clock; then you got class from 9 to 1; then you
put six hours straight to football – six to seven hours straight to football, because they
want you to lift and run to get better; you want to watch film and study and learn the
plays because you have to go out there and practice it. (p. 405)
Although he only interviews four student-athletes, Singer’s work is significant because it gives
voice to Black male student-athletes’ narratives and documents their lived experiences. It also
demonstrates the time commitment and resulting Identity Foreclosure which can be experienced
by this student population.
The concept of navigating social structures outside of one’s control, can be felt, observed,
and commented on by student-athletes without having the specific vocabulary of
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 35
“intersectionality,” “microagressions,” or “Critical Race Theory” (Armstrong & Jennings, 2018).
Armstrong and Jennings (2018) use an existential-phenomenological approach and investigates
the juxtaposition of race, sport, and higher education the influence of overt and covert elements
of race. That is, these authors look at the human issues faced by these students over time. The
article looks at how race intersects with age, gender, socioeconomic class, and the surrounding
environment. Their findings are significant because it challenges the idea of colorblindness and
that the United States is a post-racial society by giving Black male student-athletes a voice in
their own experience.
Eric, a student-athlete they interviewed for the study, discussed the “sociocognitive
displacement and diminished expectations of his student peers and faculty in classes and on
campus that stemmed from his racialized student experience” (Armstrong, & Jennings, 2018, p.
357). In other words, Eric’s experiences cannot be separated from his experience as a Black
male because it is that outward identity which people see and prejudge their expectations of his
academic abilities. Regarding coaches’ lack of cultural familiarity, DJ, another student-athlete
remarked, “if your parents have money, it’s not your fault . . . If they did not have money, it’s not
your fault” (Armstrong & Jennings, 2018, p. 359). DJ’s comment is important because while he
does not use the term Critical Race Theory, he recognizes implicit social norms. He understands
that having money or not having money is not an individual’s fault. Furthermore, generalizations
and assumptions about the socioeconomic class of an individual cannot be made based on their
surface identities without also considering the greater social and historical context in which they
live, which is a foundation for CRT. Eric’s and DJ’s experiences are important because they
demonstrate students’ ability to sense social norms without having the specific terminology to
articulate their experiences. These situations are examples of when a student affairs practitioner
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 36
could support these student-athletes by validating and normalizing their experiences and give
concrete language to these experiences. The importance of mentors is discussed in Bimper’s
(2017) article.
Using CRT as a frame, Bimper (2017) discusses the importance of mentorship among
Black male and female student-athletes as they strive to make the most of their college
experience. This article investigates the perceived challenges of navigating college social
structures which Bimper collected through the students’ journals and interviews. Some topics
included race and privilege, the lack of experiential knowledge that people of color have in
traditionally White spaces, Whiteness on campus, social capital, and self-advocacy. In some
cases, these mentors helped students make sense of and begin to deconstruct spaces. One student
perceived her mentor as investing energy in identifying or deconstructing a culture of norms
(Bimper, 2017, p. 185). That experience is significant for two reasons. First, the mentor not
only created a relationship with the student, but the student recognized the support provided by
the mentor, a recognition which Rogers’ person-centered theory deems necessary for growth.
Second, mentors are needed to deconstruct traditionally White spaces. Bimper’s research adds to
the growing knowledge of Black male and female student-athlete development. His inclusion of
females is especially significant as typically Black male student-athletes’ experiences are
investigated more than Black female student-athletes.
In this next article, McGee and Stovall (2015) take a closer look at mental well-being in
education through the lens of Critical Race Theory and intersectionality. They call out the
damaging implications of assuming that qualities such as grit or resilience, usually attributed to
Black students, as being race neutral. Rather, by applying CRT, it becomes obvious that grit and
resilience have different meanings for different people and social groups. McGee and Stovall’s
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 37
goal is to challenge “the current research trend of attributing the survival of [B]lack students at
traditionally White institutions primarily to grit, perseverance, and mental toughness, noting that
research on the aforementioned qualities often fails to properly acknowledge multiple forms of
suffering” (2015, p. 491). A Critical Race theorist would argue that ideas like grit incorrectly put
the responsibility to adapt or change on the minoritized individual, rather than putting that
responsibility to change on society.
By looking at the “physiological manifestations of social inequality” (2015, p. 491)
McGee and Stovall successfully demonstrate the negative manifestations of so-called positive
stereotypes on Black students. There is much danger not acknowledging the impact of the
implicit culture and social norms of different coping strategies, such as grit. “Grit is presented as
a racially neutral construct that does not impact all demographics equally. The emotional and
psychological trauma that African Americans experience in navigating White spaces and their
structural foundations is underacknowledged in grit research” (McGee & Stovall, 2015, p. 499).
Whenever something is presented as racially (or otherwise) neutral or without bias, it must be
examined further. This study is significant because it looks as mental well-being concepts, such
as grit, that are assumed to be racially neutral when in fact they are entrenched in the “emotional
and psychological trauma that African Americans experience in navigating white spaces and
their structural foundations” (2015, p. 499). While there are some universal, existential human
experiences, such as living and dying, higher educators and mental wellness practitioners must
be aware of constructs such as grit or resilience that appear racially neutral or if they are more
likely to be attributed to one race or ethnicity, as demonstrated by McGee and Stovall (2015).
Having this grounding in Critical Race Theory and seeing its impact on student-athletes sets the
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 38
stage for the following research overview section which continues the conversation about
student-athletes’ identity, microaggressions, and mental well-being and wellness.
Research Overview
Applying Critical Race Theory, this section will discuss the paper’s central themes of
identity, microaggressions, and mental well-being and wellness as they relate to student-athletes
and college life.
Identity. Identity, as stated earlier, is defined as one’s intersectional and self-defined
traits, skills, and innate traits within a societal system of oppression (Crenshaw, 1995; Delgado &
Stefancic, 2001; Hancock, 2011). When studying mental wellness and well-being among Black
male student-athletes, understanding they ways in which identity and identity development
affects them is critical.
The centrality of race is significant because it speaks to the fact that the United States is
not a post-racial society (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). Linley (2017) studied the significance of
Minoritized Peer Socialization Agents (MPSA) composed of Black and Latinx students. These
MPSAs “employed a theory of individual meaning-making and a theory of systemic racism”
(2017, p. 644). Overall, Linley found “the dominant narrative identified by MPSAs was the
range of meaning-making inter-permeability, and the centrality of race” (p. 648). Linley’s article
found that having peer influencers can help create spaces for minoritized populations to engage
in counter-culture and counter-narratives. This article looks generally at minoritized populations.
Harper, Williams, and Blackman’s (2013) research on Black male student athletes adds to the
literature on educational inequities. According to Harper, Williams and Blackman (2013),
“between 2007 and 2010, Black men were 2.8% of full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate
students, but 57.1% of football teams and 64.3% of basketball teams” (p. 1). They suggest the
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 39
“NCAA establish a commission on racial equity” (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013, p. 16).
Additionally, they would use the money generated from these sports to enrich “educational
experiences beyond athletics (e.g., study abroad, summer internships, service learning, and
research opportunities with faculty), and post-college pathways (graduate school, employment in
one’s major field of study, etc.)” (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013, p. 16). To support the
general student body, this money can also provide centralized resources to Black men, just as the
Black male student-athletes have access (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2013, p. 17). Notably,
Harper, Williams, and Blackman mention Black women who comprised 3.7% of undergraduate
student enrollments across the 76 colleges and universities in the six NCAA Division I
championship conferences – they were 59.4% of women’s basketball teams on those campuses
(2013, p. 17). More research is needed on Black women student-athletes which Harper,
Williams, and Blackman (2016) do begin to investigate.
Despres, Brady, and McGowan (2008) conducted a literature review of athletic culture
within higher education and uncovered ways in which that culture can hinder identity and
personality development. They found that “an excessive sense of entitlement may restrict an
individual’s development academically, socially, and emotionally. ... Athletes with a strong sense
of entitlement may lack maturity and responsibility, because they may not expect to be held
accountable for their actions” (p. 202). This article makes a case for improving the culture and
environment surrounding student-athletes throughout their time in college. The article suggests
that student-athletes might not be ready to engage in self-discovery or self-exploration because
they are used to being told what to do and not having a choice. In a sense, they are in student
development theorists’ Marcia’s Identity Foreclosure, which is defined as committing to a set
path without having explored alterative options. For minoritized student-athletes, this dilemma
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 40
could be very common as sports can be, incorrectly, seen as a path to help their families improve
their situation (James, Gilbert, Marx (Producers), & James, (Director) 1994). Because this
phenomenon could be common, it is critical for educational counselors and higher education
practitioners to be prepared to engage in intentional and exploratory conversations with students
and build a relationship from which the students can grow as seen in Killeya-Jones’ (2005) piece.
Killeya-Jones (2005) looked at elite male football players because they, along with
college male basketball players, are the revenue generating collegiate student-athletes. The
article argues that it is important for the student-athlete, rather than a peer, coach, professor,
parent, or anyone else, to be the one who defines and makes meanings of the roles. Using
Rogers’ “person-centered approach to understanding the potential for role conflict when an
individual holds two roles that compete for temporal and psychological resources in a shared
domain… [such as] elite college student-athletes enacting both student and athlete roles in the
college environment” (2005, p. 168), Killeya-Jones found that role conflict occurs because the
two identities of being a student and an athlete are not in relation to each other for Black males.
In other words, Black male student-athletes are not used to being valued as academic and
athletic, only athletic. In addition to the academic and athletic dichotomy, overall congruence of
self is important in personal development and satisfaction with life. It is important to note that
congruence and having “less discrepancy between the student and the athlete roles was
significantly associated with more positive well-being, and higher levels of life satisfaction and
academic satisfaction” (Killeya-Jones, 2005, p. 177). Working towards this congruence allows
the individual to hold multiple meanings of self together, seeing them each as valid and
important, and taking ownership of each (Rogers, 1961).
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 41
Lally and Kerr (2005) examine the relationships between student-athletes’ athletic and
student roles in their career planning. While this article does not discuss mental well-being or
wellness, by exploring student-athletes’ relationships to their identities, it allows for a
conversation about moving away from Identity Foreclosure, as most student-athletes will not go
on to play their sport professionally after college. As part of fostering holistic identity
development, “investment in identities other than athlete, namely student, may allow or promote
the exploration of other interests and nonsport vocational options” (Lally & Kerr, 2005, p. 276).
Having student-athletes recognize their own transferrable skills from the playing field to other
areas of their life is invaluable in their holistic development and career exploration. This study
found that there is an either/or nature to the student-athletes’ identities - the decline of the athletic
identity gives space for the academic and career focused identities.
Positive stereotypes are even worse than negative ones as Czopp (2016) brings to light in
his research; so-called positive stereotypes still make assumptions about how and who someone
is, just like pre-judgements do. Since people have different lived experiences that occur within
the context of their personal identities and within society’s structural racism, positive stereotypes
can hurt those who do not meet those expectations due to circumstances outside of their personal
control (Czopp, 2016). Czopp (2016) shows how counselors and people might not be aware that
they are reinforcing positive or negative stereotypes. In his study, White participants assumed
the role of a career counselor and offered guidance to fictitious Black or White students who
excelled in a stereotypic domain (e.g., Black students excelled athletics) (2016). Without being
told how to act, except the instruction to “act normal,” (Czopp, 2016, p. 477) male participants
acting as counselors who personally endorsed positive racial stereotypes discouraged the Black
student, but not the White student, from academic-related goals and behaviors. “The results of
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 42
this study generally support the hypothesis that a Black student would be discouraged from
school to pursue career goals consistent with positive stereotypes. This effect was found among
male participants high in their endorsement of such stereotypes and not among those low in
positive stereotype endorsement” (Czopp, 2016, p. 496). Czopp’s study is significant because it
calls on counselors, who would likely be trained in issues of social justice and equity, to be more
self-aware than the White college students in this study. Being aware of one’s biases and
automatic thoughts and working towards keeping them in check is essential for all higher
education practitioners. Because the world is dynamic and ever-changing this will be a life-long
journey, rather than something that can be corrected through a one-time workshop or diversity
training. It is done through everyday actions and conversations with peers and with students.
Students and counselors must continuously check their positive stereotypes and be vigilant of
their thought patterns. This article is also significant because of peer influence among college
students. The fictitious career counselors were real college students who might be in classes
with student-athletes. They too need to be cognizant of their own positive stereotyping and how
it impacts their relationship to others, which leads into a discussion about microaggressions.
Microaggressions. Within the context of Critical Race Theory and identity,
microaggressions are unconscious or conscious comments or actions that perpetuate prejudice
and are made by a person with power or person of privilege towards a minoritized person (Sue,
Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, & Esquilin, 2007). This section will connect
microaggressions to identity and aspects of mental well-being and wellness as it relates generally
to minoritized populations and to student-athletes.
Microaggressions, whether overt or covert, can negatively impact well-being, including
cases of anxiety and depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms, high blood pressure, and
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 43
educational performance (Keels, Durkee, & Hope, 2017). Furthermore, Sue (2013) reports that
“students of color reported emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions” (p. 667) to
microaggressions. Keels, Durkee, and Hope’s (2017) longitudinal study demonstrated that
“racial-ethnic minority students are reliable reporters of their experiences of racial-ethnic
microaggressions and detect shifts in climate as they transition from one educational context to
another” (2017, p. 1336). Their findings are in keeping with researchers (Armstrong & Jennings,
2018; Singer, 2008; Smith, Clark, & Harrison, 2014) who saw value in taking a narrative
approach. If a person-centered approach is applied, as suggested by Killeya-Jones (2005) then
racial-ethnic minority students would be the most reliable reporters of their own experience and
their voices valued.
Notably, students coming from “mostly non-White high schools reported an increase in
exposure to Academic Inferiority microaggressions; correspondingly, students transitioning from
mostly White high schools reported no change in exposure” (Keels, Durkee, & Hope, 2017, p.
1336). These environmental dynamics are significant because in addition to transitioning into
college, each of these sets of students is coping with a lifetime or newfound academic inferiority
microaggressions. Academic inferiority is significant in terms of mental and emotional well-
being in student-athlete’s transition into and during college. The study addresses the experiences
faced by the student-athletes in Armstrong and Jennings’ (2018) article regarding the
intersections of race age, gender, socioeconomic class, and the surrounding environment. Some
students Keels, Durkee, and Hope (2017) spoke to found it difficult to simply relate to or speak
to White peers because they never interacted with White students in an academic setting.
Interacting with someone for the first time can be nerve-wracking, much less someone who is not
only physically different from you, but also, within society holds a position of power and
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 44
privilege. This interaction is a very real concern given that unless a university is a minority
serving institution or Historically Black College or University, Black students are in the minority
of students as well as faculty and staff. Depending on the region of the United States, Black
students might see themselves mostly represented in revenue generating sports. Finally,
decreasing stress and anxiety with White peers and people in authority (Keels, Durkee, & Hope,
2017) and building their own self-efficacy will be critical (as well as increasing understanding
around implicit bias and actively combating it among non-Black populations). Upon graduating
and entering the workforce, these students will be working in ethnically and racially diverse and
non-diverse spaces, so all need to be aware and practice making conscious steps to combat
society’s embedded racism. This research relates to Czopp’s (2016) study on positive
stereotypes and increasing counselor awareness. Constantine (2007) makes a case for cross-
cultural competence and an increase in self-awareness among counselors. Constantine found
that microaggressions and a lack of counselor self-awareness have negative impacts on the
therapeutic alliance and thus, on helping the clients, or in this case helping student-athletes.
Nadal, Wong, Griffin, Davidoff, and Sriken (2014) found that racial microaggressions
had a negative impact on students’ self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as “the belief that the self
is worthy, competent, and capable may foster a positive internal sense of self, which in turn may
augment the individual’s ability to overcome difficult life events and stressors” (Nadal et al.,
2014, p. 463). Nadal et al.’s work connects to Carl Rogers’ conditions of worth. Nadal et al.
(2014) found that students were “likely to exhibit lower self-esteem when they concurrently
experience (a) microaggressions where they were treated like second-class citizens or criminals
and (b) microaggressions that occur in school and workplace settings” (2014, p. 468). These
findings are relevant to Black male student-athletes’ development because they are often not seen
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 45
as academically skilled (Edwards, 1984; Singer, 2008; Smith, Clark, & Harrison, 2014) and
might feel out of place in traditionally White spaces (Armstrong & Jennings, 2018; Keels,
Durkee, & Hope; 2017).
Given this information, it seems critically important that student affairs practitioners
support their Black male student-athletes’ development in such a way that both does not deny
these lived external experiences while also creating a space for them to develop an internal sense
of self-worth and value. More than self-esteem, which is a comparison of self to others, is self-
acceptance and self-compassion. Rolin (2018) further explains, “self-acceptance, which can be
made stable through curiosity, understanding, and kindness (e.g., meeting yourself where you
are) over self-esteem, which fluctuates continually, up or down based on the context of the
comparisons being made (comparing yourself to where others are)” (L. Rolin, personal
communication, October 5, 2018). Self-acceptance is practiced when someone can meet
themselves where they are at that present moment, with external ups and downs not affecting
their sense of worth. These concepts and others are discussed more in-depth in the next section
which focuses on mental well-being and overall wellness.
Mental Well-being and Wellness. This section will discuss mental well-being and
wellness as it relates to student-athletes and argue that mental well-being and wellness needs to
be part of the holistic development of Black male student-athletes.
Parham (1993) found that student-athletes face academic challenges, social and leisure
challenges, challenges to succeed, health and injury challenges, termination challenges to a
greater degree than their non-student-athlete counterparts. Parham writes, “attempting to
effectively and efficiently maximize one’s participation in both [academic and athletic] domains
really does test the mental and physical stamina of even the most well-balanced and committed
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 46
student-athlete” (1993, p. 413). College stress, regardless of ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic
status, and academic class level affects all students, Parham (1993) recognizes. Because athletic
participation impacts even the most balanced of student-athletes, these highly involved students
require support in order to excel in the different areas of their college careers. Parham argues
that “the degree of existential discomfort that any of these concerns generates caries in intensity
and duration. Past coping responses and self-esteem help student-athletes cope” (1993, p. 425).
While a Critical Race theorist would understand the context in which Parham was writing (e.g.,
the early 1990s), they would argue that the idea of self-esteem places responsibility on the
individual, when the reasons for the existential discomfort are from outside of the individual.
Framing mental well-being and wellness in a way that highlights performance enhancement in
one-on-one sessions and having group interventions for disordered eating and athletic career
termination could prove useful. The NCAA responded with CHAMPS/Life Skills program in the
1990s and it still exists today (NCAA – CHAMPS, 2019). Having dedicated most of their lives
to sports, the sport itself has come to “satisfy some very fundamental and life-sustaining
emotional needs” (Parham, 1993, p. 417). As Parham insightfully recognizes, student-athletes’
sport participation due to the time dedicated throughout their life thus far, is part, if not most or
all, of who they perceive themselves to be. This idea connects back to CRT and Jackson (2010)
and the fact that for African-American males this athletic identity is often the only one other’s
see and praise.
Counseling centers are expected to “consult to help students at academic risk; offer expert
advice on how to intervene when students are at risk for suicide; serve on interdisciplinary
retention task forces; participate on committees to identify students of concern” (Brunner,
Wallace, Reymann, Sellers, & McCabe, 2014, p. 289). Brunner et al.’s (2014) comprehensive
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 47
and historical review of college counseling centers found that “as each college or university has
its unique culture and mission, so too does each counseling center” (Brunner et al., 2014, p. 259).
They found that the important parts of a college counseling center were direct service, prevention
through outreach, prevention through education in classroom and using peer educators,
university multidisciplinary teams to support students, and collaborative efforts with other
university offices such as disability services or athletics (Brunner et al., 2014).
This article’s discussion of the differences between consultation and collaboration are of
note. The authors define consultation as being indirect help since help seeker is voluntarily
participating on an as needed basis. Collaboration is defined as a direct engagement, which
provides a more holistic level of support. Brunner et al.’s (2014) recommendation is that
university counseling centers should take on a more collaborative and proactive approach.
Collaboration puts less pressure on the help-seeker and greater emphasis on the community and
its ways and means of education, advocacy, and support. By beginning to transform the
university community’s perception of and attitudes toward engaging in holistic wellness and
mental well-being support, perhaps a shift in university systems can take place at the student,
staff, and faculty levels. Having a place, like a university, which is often its own community, be
a safe space for holistic development, as it was originally intended (Rudolph, 1990) albeit for
wealthy White males, might begin to allow for systemic growth and change, which is to allow
part of Critical Race Theory via interest convergence. Understanding the history of campus
wellness centers allows for the exploration of the barriers to care that occur on college campuses.
Yorgason, Linville, and Zitzman (2008) sought to find out if college students in general,
not specifically student-athletes, knew about and used campus clinical mental health services.
Their work is significant because it provides an understanding into campus services, their use,
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 48
and areas of improvement. The authors observed that “differences between the sexes have been
attributed to a number of factors, many of which stem from sex-role stereotypes and sex
socialization” (Yorgason, Linville, & Zitzman, 2008, p. 174). This finding could account for
women being more likely than men to seek counseling services. The authors argue for more
intentional promotion of mental health services available. They note a significant limitation that
“84% of the respondents to this study were Caucasian” (2008, p. 179). This limitation might be
due to the time period in which the research was done and very small numbers of people of color
on college campuses. Yorgason, Linville, and Zitzman (2008) suggest that minoritized
populations and men would benefit from an increased awareness of services provided. They
found that not having enough time was a main factor in use of services and recommended online
services, walk-in services, and the use of brief therapy approaches for all students (Yorgason,
Linville, & Zitzman, 2008). Given that time was an issue for the general student body’s lack of
use, the time constraints student-athletes face is likely an issue, which is what Sudano, Collins,
and Miles’ (2017) investigate.
Sudano, Collins, and Miles’ (2017) research focuses on reducing barriers to receiving
mental health care. They acknowledge “collegiate student-athletes are just as likely as the
general population to experience depression and other mental health issues” (p. 82). In addition
to the typical college stressors, student-athletes experience “extensive time demands, pressures to
achieve, injuries, burn out, and conflict with teammates or coaches” (Sudano, Collins, & Miles,
2017, p. 82). If these experiences are not addressed, they “may lead to increased anxiety and/or
depression” (Sudano, Collins, & Miles, 2017, p. 82). Sudano, Collins, and Miles call for mental
health providers to be present at staff meetings and communicate with staff members “to identify
barriers and/or concerns for student-athletes accessing care” (2017, p. 80). Their suggestion is
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 49
another way in which mental health practitioners can put into practice Parham’s (1993) vision of
support and leadership. Having a fully integrated care model which proactively collaborates
with students, as Sudano, Collins, and Miles (2017) call for, could be beneficial to students’
mental and emotional well-being. This model takes a proactive approach and engages the
student in help-seeking behaviors. By taking this approach, colleges can begin to destigmatize
mental well-being concerns. Furthermore, with this approach, college campuses can begin to be
models to local communities in addressing mental well-being and wellness concerns as well as
influence more national and global perspectives.
Putukian’s (2015) discusses the current state of knowledge regarding the psychological
response to injury and the importance of delineating resources necessary to direct the injured
athlete to a mental well-being care provider. Providing mental well-being support to injured
athletes is one of the more common, socially acceptable, reasons for seeking clinical services.
Because the article only focuses on injured athletes, this article does not discuss the multitude of
issues faced by student-athletes. Putukian (2015) does not take a stance on if athletic
participation is helpful or harmful to mental health. She does write that, “exercise and
participation in sport is generally favourable, improving mood and self-esteem, at the extremes
of exercise we see increased stress and burnout and the potential for adverse effects” (Putukian,
2015, p. 145).
Suicide is another important topic among college-students, student-athletes, and mental
wellness. The University of Pennsylvania is known for its track and field program and for
hosting the oldest competitive track events in the United States. It is also known for two recent
suicides of its track and field student-athletes. The story of Madison Holleran (Fagan, 2017), a
White female University of Pennsylvania track student-athlete, who committed suicide in
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 50
January 2014 received much attention as did the later suicide circa December 2014 of Timothy
Hamlett, a Black male University of Pennsylvania track student-athlete. During his sophomore
year, Hamlett’s coaches upped him “to run the 800m for the sake of the team [thinking that] the
shift would give one of their most talented runners a competitive advantage. The 800, however,
was out of Hamlett’s ‘comfort zone’” (Ching, 2018, para. 13). These suicides caused student-
athletes at Penn to survey their peers and propose solutions to the university. As of Spring 2018,
student-athletes at the Penn are still advocating for themselves and for services that fit their
schedules, arguing that access to these services is a barrier, rather than merely knowing about
services available (Spinelli, 2018).
Ashwin, Asif, Drezner, Toresdahl, and Harmon’s study (2015) breaks down suicide by
race, gender, and sport. According to Ashwin et al. (2015), “the greatest number of cases was
reported among football athletes (n = 13), followed by soccer (n = 5), track/cross-country (n = 5),
baseball (n = 4), and swimming (n = 3)” (p. 454). Based on their findings, authors argued that
“suicide is an important and preventable cause of death among NCAA student athletes” (Ashwin
et al., 2015, p. 455). Because it is preventable, these authors believe there are ways to
proactively address suicide by utilizing support systems. They go on to explain, “the Durkeim
theory of suicidality suggests that students are more tightly integrated into conventionally
supportive social networks that buffer against psychological consequences of social isolation”
(Ashwin et al., 2015, p. 456). Given that statement, one would think that student-athletes who
have the support system of their teammates, coaches, training staff, and academic counselors
would be less likely to commit suicide.
What the Durkeim Theory does not consider though, is the amount of control and
autonomy that individuals possess, which for student-athletes, most of their time is dictated to
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 51
them and their autonomy is limited. Ashwin et al.’s article is significant because they go on to
discuss “factors such as injury and a failure to successfully compete or live up to self-
expectations and the expectations of coaches, teammates, and family may lead to an increased
risk of depression and suicidal behavior” (2015, p. 456). A preventative measure the authors
suggest is “training medical staff to identify and manage mental health emergencies is an
important concept that requires further development, given the variability of available mental
health training” (Ashwin et al., 2015, p. 456). This study connects back to the research question
of how clinical staff and non-clinical higher education practitioners can proactively support
student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness in being part of their support system and if they
are trained in recognizing warning signs. It must be noted that non-clinical practitioners, have an
advantage in supporting their students because they presumably build a relationship with them
and get to know who they are and how they act or respond to certain stressors. They would
know the baseline behavior for most of their students and be able to understand each of their
students within the context of their unique experiences. That knowledge would be advantageous
in truly supporting their student-athletes.
The findings in Gavrilova, Donohue, and Galante’s (2017) article about student-athletes
who seek help without having a formal diagnosis are useful in continuing Ashwin et al.’s (2015)
insights into preventative care. Their work is significant because it states that it can be helpful to
frame mental wellness services in a way that initially supports the student-athlete’s sport
performance, an approach that is more client- or person-centered (Rogers, 1961). According to
Gavrilova, Donohue and Galante, the “use of culturally sensitive and client-centered adaptations
in evidence-based practices is continually cited as essential for optimal care” (2017, p. 249).
Gavrilova, Donohue, and Galante recommend minimizing barriers to care “through non-
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 52
stigmatizing team workshops that are focused on performance and administrations of
questionnaires that assess psychologically relevant factors” (2017, p. 249). Their suggestion for
a client-centered approach, rather than a one size fits all, or one size fits most, follows the theme
that clinical and non-clinical professionals can support student-athletes in their development,
since they face greater challenges and time constraints than their non-athletic peers.
When taking a preventative or person-centered approach, Hattie, Myers, and Sweeney
(2004) discussion wellness and use of the Wheel of Wellness model to support and understand
students is of value. This work builds upon the research of Myers and Sweeney (2004) which
discussed the indivisible self. They use the World Health Organization’s definition of wellness
defined as, “mental, physical, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease” (World
Health Organization, 1958, p. 1 as cited in Hattie, Myers, & Sweeney, 2004, p. 354). Prior to
this model, previous models were based in health care rather than in psychological development
(Hattie, Myers, & Sweeney, 2004, p. 354). The Wheel of Wellness is more holistic and supports
people as they strive toward self-actualization because it “incorporates psychology,
anthropology, sociology, religion, and education” (Hattie, Myers, & Sweeney, 2004, p. 355).
Figure 2 displays how the their analysis of holistic wellness branches out from the center into
physical (nutrition and exercise), social (friends and love), essential (essence, self-care, gender
identity, and cultural identity), coping (leisure, stress, worth, and beliefs), and creative
(intelligence, control, emotion, humor, and work) thus making it important in a person’s holistic
development (Hattie, Myers, & Sweeney, 2004, p. 358). Finally, the authors argue this model is
practical and comprehensive (Hattie, Myers, & Sweeney, 2004, p. 362). Their model, they
found, “shows promise as an adjunct to counseling to engage clients in meaningful dialogue
about the value of wellness to them, as well as ways to enhance their wellness” (Hattie, Myers,
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 53
and Sweeney, 2004, p. 363). Given that evaluation, utilizing the Wheel of Wellness and their
tool could be very useful for practitioners who want to support their student-athletes’ holistic
development.
Watson and Kissinger (2007) investigate if there is a difference in wellness between
student-athletes and nonathletes. They value the wellness approach of looking at the whole
person, not just the physical or mental or emotional self (2007, p. 154). Watson and Kissinger
recommend using the “Total Wellness [approach because it encompasses] the Creative Self,
Coping Self, Physical Self, Social Self, and Essential Self” (2007, p. 154). As might be
presumed with most of their time being spent in athletics, student-athletes scored lower on the
Social Self than their non-athletic peers. The Essential Self, “the process by which individuals
define their sense of meaning and purpose in life” scores were also lower. (p. 158). The authors
suggest that counselors look at the athletic identity. Watson and Kissinger (2007) believe that
students in non-revenue sports or those who do not aspire to have a career in playing their sport
might report a greater holistic wellness.
The challenges faced by student-athletes is exacerbated by their athletic participation
argues Watson (2016). Among the challenges are “finding balance between time for studying
and repetitive and exhaustive training schedules, frequent travel and competitions, recovering
from injuries, pressures to win, conflict with coaches and/or teammates, social isolation, and
burnout (Watson, 2016). Like Harper (2009) before him, Watson looks at community college
students, which is important because community college student-athletes will transfer to 4-year
institutions with the hopes of continuing to play their sport and for the possibility of playing
professionally (Harper 2009; NCAA – Transfer, 2018). Watson says, “community college
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 54
student-athletes not only face their own unique set of challenges, but also many of the same
issues facing their peers at 4-year institutions” (Watson, 2016, p. 730).
Watson’s research seems to be a continuation of Harper’s 2009 work studying community
college athletes. Watson argues that “individuals who believe rewards to be contingent on their
own actions (internal locus) generally experience less anxiety than individuals who believe
rewards to be contingent on factors beyond their control (external locus)” (Watson, 2016, p.
730). That is to say when someone feels they have choice rather than being dictated to, they
experience less anxiety. This belief ties back to Yalom’s idea of freedom, choice, and
responsibility. Watson believes, it is essential for higher educators to know the transfer process
and establish a structured tutoring and mentoring process. Watson recommends that student-
athletes “socially connect with other students who are not athletes, explore career options, and
prioritize the importance of maintaining satisfactory academic performance” (2016, p. 736).
This Indivisible Self model of wellness (Myers & Sweeney, 2004) would show student-athletes
how what they do in one area of their lives impacts the other areas which could prove
meaningful in their holistic development during their time in college and beyond (Watson, 2016).
The Indivisible Self is similar to the concept of intersectionality within Critical Race Theory
because it recognizes the importance of congruence and the inseparable aspects of a person.
Given that time constraints are one of student-athletes’ main barriers in accessing mental
wellness resources, higher education counselors can focus on holistically helping student-athletes
build self-regulatory behaviors, self-compassion, and a mindfulness practice (Dembo & Seli,
2016; Gross, Moore, Gardner, Wolanin, Pess, & Marks, 2016; Neely, Schallert, Mohammed,
Roberts, & Chen, 2009; Neff & V onk, 2009). Once learned and practiced, these skills can be
practiced independently or with others. Neely, Schallert, Mohammed, Roberts, and Chen (2009)
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 55
investigate the “constructs of goal and emotion regulation as a way of understanding college
students’ well-being, building on previous work that identified the ability to disengage in goal
pursuit and to redirect energy toward alternative goals as an important contributor to well-being”
(2009, p. 88). Neely et al. (2009) view “self-compassion as a healthy form of self-acceptance”
(p. 89). Self-compassion includes treating “oneself kindly in the face of perceived inadequacy
by engaging in self-soothing and positive self-talk; recognizing that one’s discomfort is an
unavoidable part of the human experience; and facing their own painful thoughts without
avoiding or exaggerating them” (Neely et al., 2009, p. 89). Neely et al. (2009) found that
individuals benefit from mindfulness instruction programs (p. 96).
Neff and V onk (2009) studied different ways people relate to themselves by looking at
global self-esteem versus self-compassion. Although they did not study student-athletes or Black
males, Neff and V onk’s work is significant to understanding the value of self-compassion over
self-esteem. Neff and V onk (2009) explain that self-esteem values self-worth and “rests on
positive evaluations of the self” (p. 27), whereas self-compassion has three main components,
“self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and mindfulness when considering personal
weakness or hardships” (p. 25). Neff and V onk’s (2009) research relates to McGee and Stovall’s
(2015) discussion on grit and racially neutral concepts because “self-compassion is felt precisely
when life is not going so well, allowing for greater resilience and stability regardless of particular
outcomes” (Neff & V onk, 2009, p. 27). What their study does not explore is microaggressions
and self-compassion, which would be useful when studying Black male student-athletes.
Ultimately, Neff and V onk (2009) suggest that “self-compassion is not redundant with self-
esteem and that the self-compassion construct provides additional explanatory power when
considering what constitutes a healthy attitude toward oneself” (p. 38). Neff and V onk’s (2009)
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 56
insights are contrary to Parham’s (1993) earlier insight into self-esteem because self-esteem is
based on outward comparisons whereas self-acceptance and self-compassion are inwardly
focused which Rolin (2018) explains more in-depth. “Self-acceptance, which can be made stable
through curiosity, understanding, and kindness (e.g., meeting yourself where you are) over self-
esteem, which fluctuates continually, up or down based on the context of the comparisons being
made (comparing yourself to where others are)” (L. Rolin, personal communication, October 5,
2018). Having student-athletes practice self-compassion would be of value, which is what
Gross, Moore, Gardner, Wolanin, Pess, and Marks’ (2016) research.
The work of Gross, Moore, Gardner, Wolanin, Pess, and Marks (2016) in mindfulness,
acceptance, and commitment therapy applies aspects of the previous literature to student-
athletes. Gross et al. (2016) explore the benefits of mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment
therapy in female student-athletes. They agree that, “ultimate goal of [Psychological Skills
Training] is the development of the athlete’s capacity to monitor and manage his or her thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors” (Gross et al., 2016, p. 3). They found that the ability of a student-
athlete to practice and “remain non-judgmentally present with his or her internal experiences,
while persisting with the task-at-hand despite possible internal discomfort, and without losing
present-moment focus on the environmental demands of a given performance” (2016, p. 4) is
more beneficial than previous beliefs about achieving optimal performance. They write,
“optimal performance does not necessarily result from anxiety reduction, increasing confidence,
and minimizing negative cognitions and other internal states” (Gross et al., 2016, p. 4). This
study is significant because the ability to be present in the moment and non-judgmental of their
present moment experiences will allow the student-athlete to begin to transfer this mentality off
the playing field, if they are properly supported by their different college counselors.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 57
In order to holistically support Black male student-athletes Cooper (2016) utilizes a CRT
approach to identify unwelcoming campus climates, inadequate academic support, and an
overemphasis on athletics all of which, he argues, contribute to negative psychosocial
experiences by Black male student-athletes at four-year institutions. He asserts that Black
intellectual inferiority and athletic superiority maintains societal inequities. Cooper presents
strategies and recommendations for enhancing Black male student athletes’ educational
experiences and their holistic development (2016). He offers the Excellence Beyond Athletics
(EBA) guidelines for colleges to follow as part of his key findings. As shown in Figure 1, the
EBA approach consists of the following six holistic development principles (HDPs): (1) self-
identity awareness, (2) positive social engagement, (3) active mentorship, (4) academic
achievement, (5) career aspirations, and (6) balanced time management. Cooper offers a more
in-depth holistic development model than CHAMPS/LifeSkills (Despres, Brady, & McGowan,
2008; NCAA – CHAMPS, 2009). Cooper’s work is a holistic and intersectional approach
because it looks at individuals acting within defined social structures and how they can navigate
within those realms.
Conclusion
This chapter reviewed Critical Race Theory and its impact and relationship to collegiate
student-athletes’ experiences. By looking at identity, microaggressions, and mental well-being
and holistic wellness, this chapter provided insights into Black male student-athletes experiences
and the challenges they face. It also provided insights into evidence-based ways practitioners
can support student-athletes.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 58
Chapter 4: Conclusions
In this final chapter, existing programs at the state and university level, as well as ideas for
program and service implementation based on the literature are discussed. The chapter
concludes by making recommendations about the ways that student affairs professionals and
higher education counselors can support student-athletes and offering suggestions for future
research. The purpose and goal of this literature review was to review the literature on student-
athletes, mental well-being and wellness, and identity through a lens of Critical Race Theory.
The goal of the thesis was to inform higher education practitioners about ways they can support
their student-athletes’ holistic development, including their mental well-being. This literature
review found that student-athletes, especially Black male student-athletes, are not receiving the
support they need as individuals as they grow and connect college life. These findings are
significant because Black males make up a significant portion of student-athletes in revenue
generating sports (Harper, Williams, & Blackman, 2016). This paper calls on higher education
practitioners to act to provide holistic support to this student population. Higher education
practitioners should understand their own personal and social biases when working with students
one on one or groups, in departmental meetings, and when creating programs or assessing
structures in place. It would be useful to have university practitioners, and even faculty,
understand Critical Race Theory and apply it in their settings. In doing so, they would be able to
better understand and relate to their students within their context and thus better support them.
Sue (2013) offers views of race talk (conversations about race) from faculty and students of color
and from White faculty and students. Rather than putting the burden on students or faculty of
color, Sue (2013) calls on White Americans to face head on:
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 59
the greatest challenge in achieving honest racial discourse [and make] the ‘invisible’
visible. The conspiracy of silence allows them to maintain a false belief in their own
racial innocence, lets them avoid personal blame for the oppression of others, and
prevents them from taking responsibility to combat racism and oppression. (p. 671)
Utilizing Critical Race Theory, Sue (2013) recognizes the major role in which structural silence
plays in maintaining racial disconnect and inadequate services for this student population.
Mental well-being and holistic health should be an area of focus for student-athletes. Supporting
student-athletes’ mental well-being and overall wellness is an essential piece of their college
experience; they, like all other students, deserve to have opportunities to healthily develop during
their time in college.
Existing Programs and Strategies at the State and University Levels
This section will highlight selected programs, resources, and events from New York state
and different universities including the University of Pennsylvania, Saint Michael’s College, the
University of California Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, and Columbia
University which support student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness.
New York State’s Mental Health Education Act, 2018. New York state passed the
Mental Health Education Act, which went into effect July 1, 2018. This Act requires
elementary, middle, and high school students to participate in mental health and wellness classes
starting in fall 2018. These classes will fall under physical education, which is significant
because doing so recognizes the connection between mental and physical wellness. To aid in its
implementation and communication with all pertinent parties, New York state created a website
to help parents, students, educators, and community partners navigate this new program
(MHANYS, 2018). This act is significant to my work because it not only creates the space for
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 60
students, educators, community partners, and parents or guardians to learn more about mental
wellness and well-being and have informed conversations about different topics but also allows
them to explore what mental wellness and well-being looks like for them.
Surveying Student-Athletes at The University of Pennsylvania. As a response to the
suicides of her classmates Madison Holleran and Timothy Hamlett, Ashley Marcus, a student-
athlete member of The University of Pennsylvania’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee,
created a Qualtrics survey in which “two respondents from each sport filled out the survey on
behalf of their teammates and the results, while specific in desire and need to each particular
team, were unanimous in their call for a deep change in the ways athletes accessed mental health
resources at Penn” (Spinelli, 2018, para. 9). Marcus found that a main issue was one of
accessing services rather than student-athletes not knowing if services were available. One
finding included that it would be ideal to merge part of campus wellness into athletics and have a
dedicated Sports Psychologists or Licensed Clinical Social Workers on site for student-athletes,
just as they have on-site athletic trainers. Another suggested option was to better integrate the
two offices, so they communicate and could offer late evening or weekend session to create
options that work for student-athletes who have limited time, which is in line with Sudano,
Collins, and Miles’ (2017) suggestions.
Saint Michael’s College - Hope Happens Here. After sharing about his friend Timothy
Hamlett’s suicide, Justin McKenzie teamed up with friend and hockey teammate Danny Divis,
from the Saint Michael’s College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, to create an organization
Hope Happens Here. This organization promotes “mental health awareness and mental well-
being on college campuses, in particular for student-athletes” (McKenzie, 2017, para.1). Hope
Happens Here expanded and has chapters at multiple universities. Given McKenzie’s and Divis’
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 61
work and Marcus’ work with their respective Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, it would be
advantageous to have higher education professionals with a background in counseling serve as
advisors or liaisons on such a committee and make sure the progress made and administrative
hurdles needed to overcome are understood and documented.
The University of California, Los Angeles’ Mindful Awareness Research Center.
Neff and V onk’s (2009) and Neely et al.’s (2009) research on individuals and mindfulness, and
Gross et al.’s (2017) work on mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy with student-
athletes support the conclusion that practicing mindfulness and a non-judgmental awareness can
benefit the student-athlete when facing challenges on and off the playing field. Therefore,
resources which serve to increase one’s self-compassion “which can be made stable through
curiosity, understanding, and kindness (e.g., meeting yourself where you are)” (L. Rolin,
personal communication, October 5, 2018) are useful. The Mindful Awareness Research Center
(MARC) at the University California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is one such resource. MARC is both
research-based and community-oriented. Among some of the programs offered are drop-in
meditations across Los Angeles, a weekly podcast, free downloadable guided mediations in
English and Spanish, in-person and online classes and events, single- and multi-day retreats,
workshops, and trainings (UCLA – MARC, 2018). These online and community resources can
be used by students and practitioners across the country in both two-year and four-year
institutions. Because MARC is accessible to all students and practitioners it can be a resource
used by student-athletes and their counselors to explore mindful awareness.
The University of Southern California’s Support Programs. Other universities are
beginning to incorporate create ways in which their student population and community can
practice mindfulness as well. The University of Southern California has a mindfulness phone
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 62
app with guided meditations, on-campus mindfulness classes at different times during the day
and workweek for students, staff, and faculty, and has different mindfulness programs (USC –
Mindful, 2018). The university also has a program called Trojans Care for Trojans, where
students, faculty, and staff can fill out and submit an anonymous or non-anonymous form for
someone they are concerned about. That form is then reviewed by a professional in the Office of
Campus Wellness and Crisis Intervention and action is taken to support that person of concern
(USC – TC4T, 2018). These resources, particularly Trojans Care for Trojans, are helpful to
student-athlete populations because a friend, teammate, coach, trainer, counselor, or even
professor can anonymously complete the form and know that the student in need will receive a
follow up.
The NCAA and Columbia University’s Mental Health Forum. Columbia University’s
School of Psychiatry and the NCAA Sport Science Institute held a mental health forum which
brought together coaches, student-athletes, and national authorities in mental health in May 2018
(Columbia University Athletics, 2018). While it is important to educate practitioners and
coaches at a large scale by hosting an event such as this one, real change happens in the everyday
interactions and conversations (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). The coaches on the panel were the
track and field assistant coach and the men’s head soccer coach. For future panels, it would be
useful to include coaches from revenue generating sports, such as football, or inviting coaches
from big programs such as head coach Tom Izzo of Michigan State men’s basketball, coach Mike
Krzyzewski from Duke men’s basketball, or Nick Saban Alabama’s football team head coach
based on findings from the 2016 NCAA GOALS Study.
The NCAA (2016) found that approximately one-fourth of the 21,000 student-athletes
surveyed, “reported being exhausted from the mental demands of their sport” (p. 5). Even more
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 63
student-athletes, nearly one-third (more in Division I in certain sports such as football; fewer in
Division III), reported that “due to the physical demands of their sport … they struggled to find
energy for other tasks” (NCAA – GOALS, 2016, p. 5). These numbers indicate a need for
increased services and having higher education practitioners be proactive. The following section
gives recommendations on how higher education practitioners can be proactive.
Recommendations on How Higher Education Counselors Can Holistically Support
Student-Athletes’ Mental Well-being and Wellness
It takes a campus to support students’ development. Because higher education
counselors, and academic, career, and other advisors interact with students, it would be beneficial
for them to have a background in counseling techniques and an understanding of student
development theories. This section offers guidelines for how higher education practitioners and
educational counselors can support student-athletes’ mental wellness and well-being by
improving athletic culture on campus, when working one-on-one with student-athletes, and by
using their self-awareness as counselors and continuing to learn and grow professionally to
counsel their students. These suggestions are in line with humanistic therapy and take a person-
centered or client-centered approach of building a working relationship and seeing and genuinely
understanding the world through the eyes of the student.
Improve Athletic Culture on College Campuses. Improving athletic culture on college
campuses by building a trusting counselor-student relationship, helping student-athletes remain
in good standing, being a voice of progress over time while acting as a liaison to the university,
and, at the community college level, being aware of NCAA transfer requirements is discussed in
this section. Moving away from a sense of entitlement and towards holding students accountable
for their actions or inactions (Despres, Brady, & McGowan, 2008) allows counselors to
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 64
collaborate with students, giving students the freedom, choice, and responsibility to make the
most of their college experience and help them develop as people.
Build a Trusting, Person-Centered Relationship. Counselors can begin building
trusting, supportive relationships with each of their students from the first meeting, whether it is
in a group or one-on-one, by conducting an intake assessment (Corimer, Nurius, & Osborn,
2017). In this first meeting and subsequent ones, recognizing the student-athlete as a person,
rather than as someone with athletic abilities, will be important. Conducting this intake will help
student-athletes begin to value achievement off the playing field by articulating their intrinsic
and extrinsic motivations (Dembo & Seli, 2016). Such an assessment will also allow the
counselor to hear the student’s needs, values, and motivations, actions, and decisions like
choosing their college or their intended major and begin to set expectations for the relationship.
An example of setting expectations could be a counselor saying, “I will be on time to our
meetings and I expect for you to do the same. If you are running late, please email me at
[provide email address].” Having the counselor set and follow through on expectations helps
build trust which can lead to the counselor being an extra layer of support when students need it
most (e.g., having a student confide in the counselor when they face the loss of a family member,
an injury, or when navigating college). Conducting an intake allows counselors to take an
equitable approach to supporting their students by meeting each of them where they are.
Counselors must be familiar with how to access current campus resources such as tutoring,
counseling, and navigate the university. It might even be possible that the student-athlete has
never emailed a professor, so the support might also look like listening to a student-athlete read
aloud an email draft and giving feedback on verbiage or offering to have a practice conversation
about what the student could discuss during office hours. Sitting knee to knee and listening to the
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 65
student-athlete during meetings, instead of having the counselor half listen while also checking
email or a cell phone, is also helpful in having the student-athlete recognize that they are being
heard and are valued (Corimer, Nurius, & Osborn, 2017).
Help Student-Athletes Remain Students in Good Standing. Counselors can help their
student-athletes remain in good standing is by supporting student-athletes’ self-efficacy, time
management, and emotion regulation (Dembo & Seli, 2016; Pajares, 2006; Pekrun &
Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2012). Because self-efficacy is “both a personal and social construct”
(Pajares, 2006, para. 5) the counselor can help the student understand how they are experiencing
it both individually and structurally within the context of CRT. Regarding time management,
Dembo and Seli (2016) point out that in high school, about “30 hours per week [was spent] in
class and 10-15 hours a week on homework” (p. 147). Whereas in college, students spend about
“12-16 hours in class per week … and about two to three hours studying for every hour spent in
class – so 25-30 hours a week” (p. 147). They offer ways in which students can “analyze their
use of time, identify their time wasters, develop a time management system, and use strategies to
reduce procrastination” (Dembo & Seli, 2016, p. 148). Dembo and Seli (2016) suggest using
self-observation strategies, (pp.149-152), Covey’s urgent versus important tasks chart (p.153),
and time management strategies such as setting regular study periods or estimating the time
needed for an assignment (pp. 153-157). Pekrun and Linnenbrink-Garcia (2012) found that prior
studies of emotion regulation did not “pay sufficient attention to activity emotions such as
enjoyment [a positive activating emotion] and boredom [a negative deactivating emotion]” (p.
262). Their work is relevant to student-athletes because it can offer insights into students’
classroom experiences and engagement with learning. These three skills of self-efficacy, time
management, and emotion regulation are also important for life beyond athletics as adults and as
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 66
professionals, either professional athletes or as professionals. For students at the community
college level, it would be beneficial for transfer counselors, in addition to student-athletes’
academic counselors, to be familiar with current NCAA transfer regulations (NCAA – Transfer,
2018).
Be a Voice of Progress While Acting as a Liaison to the University. Administrators
need to be proactive by seeking input from student-athletes when creating programming and
evaluating exiting support services and use that input to improve those services. As of April
2018, Ashley Marcus, a student-athlete member of The University of Pennsylvania’s Student-
Athlete Advisory Committee who surveyed her peers to see how to improve student-athlete
access to mental health services, “was given no indication whether her proposal is still even
being considered” (Spinelli, 2018, para. 13) and she graduated in May 2018. This scenario is
where higher education administrators and counselors need to step up, be knowledgeable about
what their students are doing and what they need so they can advocate for appropriate services
and support. Administrators and counselors can act as consistent bridges between student
representatives and upper administration. They are likely to be at a school longer than the 4-5
years that a student-athlete might attend and will have memory of student-athlete needs over
time. While student-athletes’ voices must be given a forum for dialogue, universities should not
put the burden of identifying student needs on student-athletes (Brunner et al., 2014). A
collaborative approach, defined by direct engagement will provide a more holistic level of
support (Brunner et al., 2014). Collaboration puts less pressure on the help-seeker and greater
emphasis on the community and its ways and means of education, advocacy, and support.
Counseling Student-Athletes. This section focuses on ways that counselors can
holistically support their student-athletes’ mental well-being. It focuses on counselors’
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 67
engagement with self-awareness, being critical of “racially neutral” concepts, supporting student-
athletes’ individual meaning making, helping students tell counter-narrative stories and engage
them in self-discovery by using a total wellness approach, being knowledgeable about campus
mental wellness and well-being services, and being a student-athlete accomplice though
continuously checking one’s own personal social biases.
Counselor Self-awareness. Sue (2013) offers views of race talk from faculty and
students of color and from White faculty and students. Rather than putting the burden on
students or faculty of color, Sue (2013) calls on White Americans to face head on:
the greatest challenge in achieving honest racial discourse [and make] the ‘invisible’
visible. The conspiracy of silence allows them to maintain a false belief in their own
racial innocence, lets them avoid personal blame for the oppression of others, and
prevents them from taking responsibility to combat racism and oppression. (p. 671)
Utilizing Critical Race Theory, Sue recognizes the major role in which structural silence plays in
maintaining racial discourse.
Be Critical of “Racially Neutral” Concepts. Being critical of racially neutral concepts
such as grit and resilience helps take the burden off the individual student because it recognizes
that society plays a role in creating and maintaining such narratives (McGee & Stovall, 2015).
These terms mean different things for different groups of people (McGee & Stovall, 2015) which
is why it is imperative that counselors and administrators “look at the physiological
manifestations of social inequality” (p. 491) in order to help their students. McGee and Stovall
successfully demonstrate the negative manifestations of so-called positive stereotypes on Black
students. There is much danger not acknowledging the impact of the implicit culture and social
norms of different coping strategies, such as grit and resilience.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 68
Focus on Individual Meaning Making. Providing peer and adult mentorship and
allowing the space and time for students to journal or creatively express themselves and reflect
with a mentor are two practices which allow for student-athletes to engage in individual meaning
making (Bimper, 2017; Linley, 2017; Killeya-Jones, 2005). The relationships built with mentors
help these student-athletes deconstruct social norms as they navigate college life and prepare for
life after college (Bimper, 2017; Linley, 2017; Killeya-Jones, 2005). Providing peer and
counselor mentors can help student-athletes navigate college by dismantling social structures
(Bimper, 2017; Cooper, 2016; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Watson, 2016).
Help Student-Athletes Tell Counter-Narrative Stories and Engage in Self-Discovery.
Throughout the literature (Armstrong & Jennings, 2018; Killeya-Jones, 2005; Singer, 2008;
Smith, Clark, & Harrison, 2014), having students engage in telling counter-narrative stories
proved meaningful. Additionally, having counselors use narrative or person-centered counseling
approaches (Killeya-Jones, 2005; Rogers, 1961) helped support student-athletes’ development.
Because student-athletes scored lower on the Essential Self, which is defined as “the process by
which individuals define their sense of meaning and purpose in life” (Watson & Kissinger, p.
158) having student-athletes engage in self-discovery would be meaningful (Cooper, 2016;
Killeya-Jones, 2005; Lally & Kerr, 2005). Using a holistic “Total Wellness [approach because it
encompasses] the Creative Self, Coping Self, Physical Self, Social Self, and Essential Self”
(Watson & Kissinger, 2007, p. 154) would begin to allow student-athletes to develop their mental
well-being.
Be Knowledgeable about Campus Mental Wellness and Well-being Services. Yorgason,
Linville, and Zitzman’s work (2008) urges an increase in services that promote a more nuanced
awareness among men and minoritized populations. In certain cases, having the educational
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 69
counselor disclose their experience with speaking with a therapist or joining a counseling support
group could be of value to increasing awareness regarding help-seeking behavior. Sudano,
Collins, and Miles (2017) suggest that health providers be present at staff meetings and
communicate with staff members “to identify barriers and/or concerns for student-athletes
accessing care” (2017, p. 80). I would go further and suggest that mental wellness practitioners
be present at team meetings and some practices because it will help to normalize helping
professionals and help-seeking behavior. Brunner et al., (2014) found that direct service,
prevention through outreach, prevention through education in classroom and using peer
educators, university multidisciplinary teams to support students, and collaborative efforts with
other university offices such as disability services or athletics was useful in supporting campus
wellness. Regarding time constraints that student-athletes face, Yorgason, Linville, and Zitzman
(2008) recommend online services, walk-in services, and the use of brief therapy approaches for
all students.
Practice, Promote, and Teach Self-Compassion and Mindfulness. Self-compassion and
mindfulness need to be incorporated into student-athlete well-being - not just at the psychologist
or trainer level, but also with academic or career counselors (Gross et al., 2016; Neely et al.,
2009). Cooper’s (2016) Excellence Beyond Athletics combined with building self-regulatory
behaviors, self-compassion, and a mindfulness practice are useful tools for practitioners who
work with student-athletes to holistically support their identity development (Dembo & Seli,
2016; Gross et al., 2016; Neely et at., 2009; Neff & V onk, 2009). Gross et al. (2009) found that
for student-athletes, remaining “non-judgmentally present with his or her internal experiences,
while persisting with the task-at-hand despite possible internal discomfort, and without losing
present-moment focus on the environmental demands of a given performance” (2016, p. 4). This
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 70
piece very closely connects to my research question in different ways. It brings together mental
well-being and holistic wellness strategies for student-athletes on and off the playing field. By
using strategies that can support the athlete part of a student-athlete, the identity with which they
most identify, they can begin to trust that a skill or trait could be applied to and work in other
areas of their life. Non-clinical counselors, who have presumably built a Rogerian working
alliance with these student-athletes, can also use mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment
therapy strategies in helping students cope with their everyday experiences. These strategies can
be used to support students’ during different ups and downs and transitions experienced in
college, and in coping with racism, demystifying college, and dismantling racist social structures.
Self-compassion strategies and practices (Self-compassion, 2018) can also support Black male
student-athletes’ development.
Be a Student-Athlete Accomplice. Ultimately, a counselor should strive to become an
accomplice (Osler, 2018) with their Black male student-athletes. An accomplice is a White
person who “directly challenges institutionalized racism, colonization, and White supremacy by
blocking or impeding racist people, policies, and structures” (Osler, 2018, p. 1). Cross-cultural
counseling and counselor self-awareness are essential (Constantine, 2007) when counseling
Black male student-athletes. Continuously checking personal social biases of both counselors
and student-athletes’ peers (Czopp, 2016) will aid in shifting from ally to accomplice. By
modeling this behavior and being transparently real with their practitioner peers and students,
especially the White ones, counselors can dialogue with White students and peers. This dialogue
can open others’ eyes to see, understand, and challenge the forces of power and privilege which
benefit White people through oppressing people of color.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 71
The examples provided here were from both the literature and my own experience
working with student-athletes. There are other ways in which the literature can be interpreted
and additional ways to support the student-athlete populations which were not explored in this
literature review. It would be beneficial to study these additional topics in future research.
Future Research
There are different topical areas of future research which this literature could help
support. Using this literature review, future researchers could do a longitudinal study of student-
athletes in Olympic sports and revenue-generating sports, looking broadly at self-regulatory
behaviors; conduct quantitative studies that look at wellness, including financial wellness, and
mindfulness practice among student-athlete populations; conduct a longitudinal, qualitative study
to give voice to student-athletes’ lived experiences and development; study how well different
student-athletes acclimate to college or follow up on Lally and Kerr’s (2005) work on career
choices; investigate the body image standards in male and female sports, e.g., a male body in
football versus track and field, and how it impacts identity experiences among different student
populations; or study mental well-being among LGBTQ athletes. It would be interesting to
study the effects of volunteering or community involvement on student-athletes and see if that
increased involvement helps or hinders their development.
Although there are many directions future research can take, it would be remiss not to
begin to make changes in practitioner’s everyday interactions now. While a society deeply
embedded with racism cannot transform overnight, what can begin to change is how higher
education practitioners support their student-athletes’ holistic development. A first step can be to
see student-athletes as people who live within the context of a racist society, rather than only
seeing them as merely the face of a sport, the school, or as a future professional athlete.
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 72
Collegiate student-athletes are people, then students, then athletes. Black male student-athletes
are people, then students, then athletes within a society deeply embedded with racism. As higher
education practitioners begin to understand their college student-athletes through CRT and in
person-centered contexts, this perspective could translate into a more person-centered view in
practitioners’ interactions beyond their work, which is the transformational change that CRT
calls for. Higher education practitioners do not live in an isolated bubble, and thus this study is
also relevant to student-athlete populations in K-16. Many practitioners are part of local
communities where they can make a positive impact in the lives of others outside of their work.
For instance, if someone volunteers as a youth basketball coach, they can take extra care to get to
know their players as people and begin being accomplices to younger student-athletes.
Finally, mental well-being and holistic wellness in college are essential for all students,
especially Black male student-athletes. It is my hope that this paper will inform higher education
counselors and practitioners in focusing on holistically developing these student-athletes as self-
aware people able to face the expected and unexpected challenges of school and life while
navigating and dismantling a society deeply embedded with racism. Higher education
practitioners must educate themselves in the tenets of CRT, be leaders and also follow the lead of
student-athlete activists, and continue growing as self-aware accomplices so that the next
“‘outstanding young man’ who was ‘intelligent and athletic, a charismatic, energetic person with
a sharp mind and high moral compass’” (Timothy Hamlett’s mother in Landau, 2015, para. 6) to
walk into their office is not soon spoken of in the past tense.

CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 73
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CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 81
Table
Table 1
Visualization of John Marcia’s (1966) Identity Quadrants
Crisis No Crisis
Commitment Identity Achievement Identity Foreclosure
No Commitment Moratorium Identity Diffusion

Note: Marcia’s identity experiences do not occur in a particular order and students need not
progress through them as if they were steps; Marcia is merely noting the different types of
identity development students, more generally adolescents, can experience (Marcia, 1966).

CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 82
Figures
Figure 1

Figure 1. Cooper’s (2016, p. 273) Excellence Beyond Athletics Model
Going clockwise: self-identity awareness which aims to foster an “holistic consciousness and
internalized empowerment” (p. 273); positive social engagement through “social integration,
internalized empowerment, and engagement in counter-actions” (p. 274); active mentorship that
includes “holistic consciousness, academic integration, social integration, and institutional
involvement” (p. 275); academic achievement by means of “academic integration, internalized
empowerment, goal commitment, and engagement in counter-actions” (p. 276); career
aspirations including “goal commitments, holistic consciousness, internalized empowerment,
engagement in counter-actions, and social integration” (p. 279); and balanced time management
through “internalized empowerment, social integration, and goal commitment” (p. 279).
CRT AND BLACK MALE STUDENT-ATHLETE MENTAL WELL-BEING 83
Figure 2

Figure 2. Hattie, Myers, and Sweeney’s (2004) holistic view of wellness branches out
from the center into physical (nutrition and exercise), social (friends and love), essential
(essence, self-care, gender identity, and cultural identity), coping (leisure, stress, worth, and
beliefs), and creative (intelligence, control, emotion, humor, and work) thus making it important
in a person’s holistic development (Hattie, Myers, & Sweeney, 2004, p. 358).

Abstract (if available)

Abstract In recent years, mental health and wellness are coming to the forefront of conversations surrounding professional and collegiate athletics. This literature review thesis focuses on Black male student-athletes, their identity and mental well-being and holistic health through the lens of Critical Race Theory. This thesis purposely switches around mental health and well-being into mental well-being and holistic health or wellness to engage the reader to begin to think differently about these concepts and chip away at the longtime social stigma surrounding mental well-being since Critical Race Theory calls for transformative action. It concludes with examples from existing programs, resources, and events, offers practical suggestions on how higher education counselors and practitioners can improve their practice, and offers ideas for future research.

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Creator Acito, Susan M. (author)

Core Title Developing holistic identities: critical race theory and Black male student-athletes’ mental well-being and wellness

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Master of Education

Degree Program Educational Counseling

Publication Date 12/12/2018

Defense Date 12/11/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag African-American,Black,college,Counseling,critical race theory,Higher education,identity,Mental Health,OAI-PMH Harvest,student affairs,student-athletes,well-being,wellness

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Advisor Venegas, Kristan M. (committee chair), Banuelos, Sheila M. (committee member), Lundeen, Rebecca J. (committee member)

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