FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Wade Davis, an openly gay former football player for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks, will visit Fayetteville State University on Feb. 6. Davis, who now works as executive director of the You Can Play Project, will speak about the importance of inclusion in sports and elsewhere. The event is free and open to the public.
Davis was named executive director of You Can Play last year. The organization is dedicated to ending discrimination and homophobia in sports. He’s also the co-founder of the “You Belong Initiative, an organization that offers Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and straight allied youth a series of four-day comprehensive sports instruction and leadership development clinics. He’s the former assistant director of academic enrichment and work readiness for the Hetrick Martin Institute, where he taught at-promise LGBTQ youths how to define success for themselves. Wade was also an LGBTQ Surrogate for President Barack Obama during the 2012 election and is currently a visiting professor at Rutgers University where he’s taught courses on leadership and diversity.
Davis’ speaking engagement will be held at Shaw Auditorium in the School of Business and Economics and is part of a speaker series titled “The Whole Student: Student Learning and Development Across Multiple Boundaries.” Following Bowie State University and North Carolina Central University, Fayetteville State University became the third historically black college or university to open an LGBT student resource center in October 2013. For more information, call 910-672-1474. : :
— from releases